Brake pad questions

[RedStallion27]

2016 GT performance pack used for HPDE and occasional street driving (500-1000 miles per year).

Intermediate skill level. 200TW tires. Brembo DOT4 fluid. Stock pads lose a little bite near the end of my sessions.

1. At what thickness do you replace the pads?
2. Would G-Loc R10, R12, or R16 front pads make the most sense for how I use the car?
3. Can I keep using stock rear pad replacements or should those be upgraded at the same time?

Thank you.

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[NightmareMoon]

If you swap pad compounds, do front and rear together. You have to keep the brake balance and dissimilar pads will mess that up. Slightly higher temp front pads are fine but OEM rears and track fronts are not.

Consider swapping at 50% pad thickness for track. Why throw away so much pad you ask? 1) Because pad thickness also provides a thermal barrier. Thin pads will transmit more heat through to the brake fluid and will boil it a lot faster. 2) because track wear can surprise you and running out of pads during a session is Real Bad. So pad thickness is valualble insurance against two problems.

If the brake pedal effort gets higher for similar stopping distance, thats consistent with pad fade, so worth upgrading pad conpounds. If the brake pedal gets squishier, thats fluid, upgrade fluid and/or swap it more often. If you’re upgrading pads you should probably run a more serious brake fluid too. Track fluids have higher boiling points but they can absorb water faster and thus degrade performance faster, so if you’re on a track brake fluid, you have to change it more regularly (regardless if you’re driving street, track, or if its basically just sitting)

So probably yea you should consider upgrading pads if you are having pad fade. The OEM brembo pads are quite good for street with a bit of track work, but they have their limits once you start pushing hard enough.