Running different types of pads on the same rotor?

I thought we had discussed this in the past but my search-fu appears to be weak.

I've got some very aggressive (Carbotech XP10) for the BRZ. According to the bumpf that came with them, they need to be bedded in on the track, not on the road. They're also rather aggressive for street driving.

That wouldn't have been an issue as I could just trailer the car to the track, but that was before the tow vehicle's V8 started identifying as something like a V5.

How detrimental is it to basically drive to the track on "normal" pads, then swap them out for track use and revert the operation before driving home? Other than the potential burns from changing hot brake pads...

Ideally swap pads and rotors at the track if you can. 

Definitely swap pads/rotors at once. Spending your first couple laps scrubbing off the old stuff and bedding in the new stuff is no fun.

How far is the track? You could probably get away with driving conservatively to the track on the Carbotechs.

dean1484 said:

Ideally swap pads and rotors at the track if you can. 

I was afraid that that would be the answer. That certainly is a bit of a faff.

hunter47 said:

Definitely swap pads/rotors at once. Spending your first couple laps scrubbing off the old stuff and bedding in the new stuff is no fun.

That's what I was concerned about. So far with the other track cars I've mostly managed to get decent dual-use pads so this wasn't much of an issue. However it looks like the recommendation for the Frisbies is to use more aggressive/higher temp pads. 

How far is the track? You could probably get away with driving conservatively to the track on the Carbotechs.

Summit Point isn't that far away - something like 45 miles and an hour's drive. Problem is that either of the next events I'm planning to attend is a couple of hundred miles and 3h+ drive away. So I'd end up attempting to bed in the Carbotechs on the way if I wanted to or not.

I'd drive them to the track.  Too aggressive is a random term that may mean that the stopping distance is slightly longer when cold... but probably still better than stock ones.  Or, they may just be noisy as hell.

Bed them once you get to the track.

Or don't.  I went both ways when I was running Hawk Blues, and I honestly saw zero difference in performance or lifespan.

I'm not an expert so take this for what you paid for it. You really don't want to be fully re-bedding pads at every swap. But if you get some kind of carbotech street pads they *should* be compatible and once you bed everything once it should need minimal effort to swap. I'm doing this with porterfield pads; the race pads took more bedding than I expected but switching back to the street pads they felt normal about three stops in. Haven't gone back to the race pads yet.

Alternatively, you might need to fully bed the pads on track, but they should work well enough to drive to the track. Also the XP10s are on the lighter side of the range, I'd guess with an empty and long enough road you could get them mostly or fully bedded on the street, it's just not the kind of thing that carbotech can condone doing. There are definitely pads that can legitimately only be bedded on track, but I'm pretty sure they're more serious than what you're working with.

I had these on an FRS that was driven 120 miles to the track.  No issues.  I'd swap them out when I got home.

FWIW, I'm running G-Loc (which I've been told are essentially the same as Carbotech) track pads on our NA.  They squeal on the street to the point you want to wear ear protection, but I've never had a problem with stopping.  I'd just drive them to the track.

The other alternative is to buy compatible street pads from Carbotech.  I called G-Loc and they advised there would be no issues and no need to re-bed when swapping out street/track pads.  I bought a set of street pads and use them for my very limited street driving.  No issues at all.  I do make sure to use the first couple laps at the track to work up to maximum braking, but you'd probably do that anyway... ;)

Streetwiseguy said:

Or don't.  I went both ways when I was running Hawk Blues, and I honestly saw zero difference in performance or lifespan.

Biggest issue with running track pads for the drive to/from the track is that if it rains the dust will do nasty (cosmetic) things to the wheels.

I run PFC track pads, 08/11's.  I install them in my garage, drive to the track, do the event, drive home and then take them off.  Driving them on the street wipes any vestige of street pad material from the rotors and they do fine at the track.  Same thing with the street pads once I get home.  I've done this for years with various cars and never had an issue.

As Codrus says, you really don't want to get the track pad dust wet, it's nearly impossible to remove from your wheels at that point.

I swap my HPS and HP+ pads back and forth (HPS for rallycross, HP+ for stage rally). That said, the car usually gets a good 20 miles of transits to bed pads in before the first stage, so never had an issue. 

irish44j (Forum Supporter) said:

I swap my HPS and HP+ pads back and forth (HPS for rallycross, HP+ for stage rally). That said, the car usually gets a good 20 miles of transits to bed pads in before the first stage, so never had an issue. 

Do you bed them each time you go back and forth between these two pads?

docwyte said:

I run PFC track pads, 08/11's.  I install them in my garage, drive to the track, do the event, drive home and then take them off.  Driving them on the street wipes any vestige of street pad material from the rotors and they do fine at the track.  Same thing with the street pads once I get home.  I've done this for years with various cars and never had an issue.

As Codrus says, you really don't want to get the track pad dust wet, it's nearly impossible to remove from your wheels at that point.

Signal boost.  I do this with my M2.  Did it on two previous M3s.  No issues.  Sometimes I don't even swap out the track pads -- the noise discourages putting additonnal miles on the M2 :)

BoxheadTim said:

I thought we had discussed this in the past but my search-fu appears to be weak.

I've got some very aggressive (Carbotech XP10) for the BRZ. According to the bumpf that came with them, they need to be bedded in on the track, not on the road. They're also rather aggressive for street driving.

That wouldn't have been an issue as I could just trailer the car to the track, but that was before the tow vehicle's V8 started identifying as something like a V5.

How detrimental is it to basically drive to the track on "normal" pads, then swap them out for track use and revert the operation before driving home? Other than the potential burns from changing hot brake pads...

I run XP12s and 10s as track pads on my M3.  They do need track-like conditions to properly bed in. CT also offers a pre-baked option for a reasonable upcharge.

I drive to the track on them, drive home, and leave them on the car for a few drives.  They're so aggressive that they will scrub off their own transfer layer after a hundred miles or so of cold usage and get really noisy.  After that happens, I throw OE pads back in and re-bed them.  It's not ideal, but I've had pretty good results.

For a street car, that is not driven in rush hour traffic, go to a full race or near full race and wear the pads in per the instructions.  For a car that is a daily drive, two sets of rotors might v-be the right way to go.

On my track 911 I updated to Wildwoods and they had 5 different levels of pads.  Did not have to wory about the different material.  used the softs for qualifying, mediums for practice and sprint races, hards for the enduros.

For a street car, that is not driven in rush hour traffic, go to a full race or near full race and wear the pads in per the instructions.  For a car that is a daily drive, two sets of rotors might v-be the right way to go.

On my track 911 I updated to Wildwoods and they had 5 different levels of pads.  Did not have to wory about the different material.  used the softs for qualifying, mediums for practice and sprint races, hards for the enduros.