Ford Focus RS Forum banner

Carbotech Brake Pads Are Here!

14K views 31 replies 12 participants last post by  DocWalt 
#1 ·
Kaizen Tuning is happy to announce brake pads for your RS are finally here. We worked with Carbotech as quick as we could to get these going. So far we will have couple compounds and packages available for street and track driving.
Text Font Company Logo Brand


Carbotech XP12: Highly successful XP™ series compound with an excellent initial bite, torque and fade resistance over and above the XP10™ compound. XP12™ has temperature range of 250°F to 1850°F+ (121°C to 1010°C+). The XP12™ has that excellent Carbotech™ release and modulation that has made all other Carbotech™ compounds so successful. The XP12™ is more rotor aggressive than XP10™, but compared to the competition the XP12™ is still very rotor friendly. XP12™ is NOT recommended for use as a daily driven street pad due to possible elevated levels of dust and noise.

Carbotech XP10: When Carbotech™ unleashed the XP10™ to the general public it immediately gathered multiple regional, divisional, and national championships. The XP10™ has a very strong initial bite with a coefficient of friction and rotor friendliness unmatched in the industry. Fade resistance is in excess of 1475°F (801°C). XP10™ still maintains the highly praised release, excellent modulation and rotor friendliness that have made all Carbotech™ compounds so successful. Carbotech™ XP10™ is not recommended as a daily-driven street pad due to possible elevated levels of dust and noise.

Carbotech 1521: The Carbotech™ 1521™ is our high performance street compound. The 1521™ compound is known for its release and modulation, along with unmatched rotor friendliness. 1521™ is also a very low dusting and low noise compound with an excellent initial bite. This compound's excellent linear torque production provides incredible braking force without ABS intervention. Carbotech™ 1521™ operating range starts out at ambient and goes up to 800°F (426°C+). 1521™ is suitable for ALL street cars, perfect for your tow vehicle or fleet vehicle. Carbotech™ 1521™ is NOT recommended for ANY track use.

Auto part Electronic device


Packages with front and rear pads or pads, brake lines and Motul RBF600 racing brake fluid are available.
PM me or send me and email:george@kaizentuning.com for any additional info.
Pricing info is in our vendor thread:
http://www.focusrs.org/forum/48-kaizen-tuning/14257-kaizen-tuning-carbotech-brake-pads-here.html
 
See less See more
2
#7 ·
Is the xp8 better fade resistant than oem?? I did 3 session pf 25 minutes and 4 sessions of 30 minutes and i have approximately 60% of my oem pads that are gone (front pads). I did a cold lap every 10 minutes to make sure my pads were not to hot and to let the chance for the temperature of my oil to go donw i little... What s the spec of the oem??
 
#8 ·
Do the 1521s dust less than stock pads on the RS? I'm going to assume they're fairly similar to stock dust levels because 1521s are fairly dusty on my BRZ.



I wouldn't do XP8s, they're going to behave like OEM in regards to the excessive wear. You may fade them as well, just like you can fade stock brakes.
 
#10 ·
anyone running these and have any feedback on their cold noise level? I don't mind brake dust, I'm used to that from my speed3 (that thing dusted like a sieve) and I don't daily it much anymore since I started working from home...but noise is a concern of mine
 
#12 ·
I just picked up a set of XP20 for the front and XP12 for the rear. (Track use)
I like a lot of braking power
Also working on cooling ducts to the rotors I'll post pics of progress.
 
  • Like
Reactions: DocWalt
#16 · (Edited)
I've been running CTBrakes pads on various cars (M Coupe, Sti, RS4, GT-R, Legacy GT, for street and track) since the early/mid 2000's. I've used 1521 (Bobcat) pads, XP8, XP10, and XP12.

Here's my experiences for anyone interested in some anecdotal evidence.

1521 will be no better than the stock RS pads. Imo and experience, the only reason to get 1521 pads is if you plan on tracking the car with XP pads and want to swap pads in/out. CT states that their pad material should not be swapped back and forth with non-CT pads , so if you are the type that likes to swap in track pads for track days, then using 1521 for street and XP for track is a decent combination.

However...

Personally though, if I were moving to CT pads in general, I would use XP8 for street (which I do on my Legacy GT) and just skip the 1521 altogether. Once you experience the XP pads performance you'll likely just be disappointed when you go back to the 1521 street pads - and for most people the bit of noise of the XP8 is justified by the greatly improved braking performance.

On my GT-R I was initially swapping b/w 1521 and XP12, but then I got lazy and just started running the XP12s 24/7. Yes, they are a bit noisy, but so's the entire car, so whatever.

Some other notes...

- the 1521 pads are quiet - just like (or even better than) most stock high-perf pads
- the XP pads WILL make noise. Even the XP8 will make a little bit of noise (squeal), but imo the XP8 is not too bad at all. However, if you are the type that ANY brake squeal noise drives you crazy, the running XP pads on the street will not be for you. The higher the XP number the more noise they will make - absolutely.
- Imo anything above XP12 is overkill for a car in the RS's weight/performance class. It's a waste of $. I will probably not go above XP10 on my RS. In fact my plan is to put XP8 in the rear and leave them there (because the rears, not being Brembos, are PITA to change) and I'll experiment with XP8/10 in the front to see how the bias pans out. But honestly, if you're overheating/fading your brakes using even just XP8 for example, then "moving up" to XP10/12/16/20 is not going to help a lot more - instead you likely need to adjust your braking habits, and/or flush/fill with a better fluid.
- XP pads WILL greatly increase rotor wear. Even for just street use.
- XP pads WILL dust - a lot. But thankfully, unlike more ferrous pads, the dust cleans rather easily and is generally not destructive to wheel finish - just don't leave it on too long. I recommend spraying your wheels with a protective coating or waxing to ease cleaning.

All the above notwithstanding, I am a firm advocate of CT pads and use nothing else but CT pads on all my cars for street/track. I even had CT pads on our T&C minivan!
 
  • Like
Reactions: The Stig and yogiRS
#20 ·
1521 will be no better than the stock RS pads.
Except for one thing they produce very little dust. With the stock RS pads, I cannot go 10 miles without my wheels going from gloss black to matte black. Now that I have the 1521's, my wheels just stay glossy. Also the type of dust is not so dark and sticky like the stock pads.
 
#17 ·
I melted XP12s on track in my first time in the RS... They never faded, but the pedal did get really long and I smeared the pads on the rotors making the pedal pulse a little bit.

That said, I LOVE the feel of Carbotech's pads and the dust is SUPER easy to clean. Just wipe it off. Don't let it sit there through an entire winter with the car parked outside immobile and you're fine (don't ask how I know that :) )

Also, I actually found the rears easier to change than the fronts, for a few reasons. The fronts have the extra cross-bolt, and you have to be really careful with the punch tools to not damage the calipers... The rears are two easy bolts and no problem.
 
#18 · (Edited)
I melted XP12s on track in my first time in the RS... They never faded, but the pedal did get really long and I smeared the pads on the rotors making the pedal pulse a little bit.
Less brake, more gas! Lol. Seriously though, that should not happen. It sounds like the perhaps the pads were not sufficiently bedded then cooled prior to being tracked. From experience proper bedding is very important for these pads.

That said, I LOVE the feel of Carbotech's pads and the dust is SUPER easy to clean. Just wipe it off. Don't let it sit there through an entire winter with the car parked outside immobile and you're fine (don't ask how I know that :) )
This is a good point in general. If you wash your car and have track pads on it, it's a good idea to take a little spin afterwards to dry off the rotors/pads. Otherwise if you let it sit wet overnight the next morning the car will likely feel "stuck" and you'll have to goose it to free the pads from the rotors - resulting in a bit of shocking (but harmless) bang noise that scares the crap out of people that have not experienced it before! ;-)

Also, I actually found the rears easier to change than the fronts, for a few reasons. The fronts have the extra cross-bolt, and you have to be really careful with the punch tools to not damage the calipers... The rears are two easy bolts and no problem.
There are two cross bolts in addition to the pins in the GT-R front Brembos, but I personally still find the top-slide-in aspect of pad swap a lot quicker and less hassle than having to completely remove a caliper to swap pads. But certainly someone else may find the opposite. Ultimately though, as I note, I tend to get lazy and just leave the XPs in all the time.

Re avoiding caliper damage when popping Brembo pins, a tool like this Brembo Caliper Pad Pin Punch is a good cheap investment.

I also have one of these that I find useful when it's time to swap out finished pads - a bit pricey, but handy! http://www.girodisc.com/Caliper-piston-spreader_p_5970.html
 
  • Like
Reactions: DocWalt
#19 ·
They were definitely bedded in before I got on track. I had the same problem on my BRZ, unfortunately. I wrote up my issues with the brakes in other threads so I won't go into much detail here. I'd consider myself a pretty advanced driver and doing 30 minute sessions with essentially a bone stock car (other than pads and brake fluid) the car did quite well. and yes, proper bedding is VERY important with any track pads (besides Cobalt pads, but they have other issues...)

The AP calipers on my BRZ were nicer to swap pads on than the Brembos IMO, one small bolt and no silly pins, clips, etc. I do agree that having to completely remove the rear calipers kinda sucks, but that's normal with parking brake integrated brakes, unfortunately. The BRZ was nice, you just undid one bolt and swung the rear caliper out of the way.

Thanks for the recommendation on the pin punch, that'll be easier than using the punches I have. :) That Girodisc tool is badass, I've used one a few times. I have a Lang Tools brake caliper compressor tool, works well enough because our pads have enough backing plate sticking out that it can grab and spread. https://www.amazon.com/Lang-Tools-2...484374465&sr=8-11&keywords=brake+caliper+tool
 
#21 ·
Eh CT pads are a **** option IMO. I have some for the car because nothing else was available but once I can find a good pad option I'll either give them away on here or, more likely, just throw them in the trash where they belong.
 
#26 ·
Can anyone list all of the pads that are made for stock calipers for the 2016 2017 RS?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#27 ·
I know of:
Carbotech
G-Loc
 
#30 ·
Many have had good comments about G-loc (on other applications)... I wanted more braking performance.
I tracked my RS with Cup 2 tires at Watkins Glen. See post #10 http://www.focusrs.org/forum/33-focus-rs-racing/9713-official-focus-rs-track-times-data-base.html
I was running 2:18 and was limited by the brakes. Slowing on the back straight for the bus stop (135-138 mph to 80-78 mph) as an example was a challenge for these pads (stock rotors) after 10 laps. I over-heated the brakes as some others have. Stock rotors held up well and didn't warp.
I'm adding direct brake cooling. see post http://www.focusrs.org/forum/29-focus-rs-brakes/43097-real-brake-rotor-cooling.html

I will be back to Watkins Glen April 28 to test again. This time with direct brake cooling and Carbotechs (more aggressive compound). I hope to learn if the RS brakes with these mods are up to the task or if I need to go different path to get the brake performance I'm looking for.
 
  • Like
Reactions: DocWalt
#32 ·
G-Loc is for all intents and purposes the same compounds as Carbotech for now. Unless they've developed a new set of compounds in the last few months... The guys behind G-Loc are guys that were with Carbotech and they took a lot of knowledge with them.

DS2500 isn't a hardcore track pad.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top