jemm

iTrader: (2)

What about rotor life?

erioshi

I haven't posed a full review of my experience with my Carbotech Bobcats, but plan to once I get more data. If you are looking for a large gain in braking performance, my opinion is look elsewhere. The Bobcats are slightly above stock for heat range, offer stock or slightly longer stopping distances, less dust, more noise, harder on your rotors (and appear to have a very high metal content).

I have Bobcats on all four corners and will probably be trying a different set of pads next time. I've been comparing them to my stock pads with a G-Tech Pro, and have some data, but need to try a couple more things before I post a full review.

Maddmatt

This I absolutely must disagree with. I installed these pads with new rotors on my gf's Altima over 2500 miles ago. After those 2500 normally driven street miles, 25-30% of the original cross-hatching is still visible on the rotors.

The metal content has essentially nothing to do with rotor aggressiveness. Our past research has indicated that carbon content is the culprit (forms iron carbides when subjected to heat/pressure) when it comes to rotor degredation and is exactly why all our formulations are ceramic based, not carbon based.

I can garuntee, however, that the brake shudder so many of you think is warped rotors is a non issue with our pads.

bullfrg

iTrader: (42)

Don't argue brakes with Matt he really knows his stuff. I have had good luck with the pads I got from him for my SE-R and would buy another set from Carbotech in a instant.

jemm

iTrader: (2)

Do bobcats have to be beaded in?

Maddmatt

Yes.

sanjaya1

I have used EBC Greenstuff on my previous car, a VW GTI GTI. The problem was that they warped my rotors, twice. First was the factory rotors. I like the EBC pads so much that I got another set with Cross-drilled Zimmerman rotors. They warped those rotors as well. So I had the rotors turned and got Mintex pads, which worked great together. If the Ferodos are better than the stock EVO pads by a significant amount with comparable longevity, I think I will go with the Ferodos. I have learned my lesson and try to stick to more widely used brands. I mainly race on streets for brief periods of time, so I don't really need pads suited for track use.

erioshi

You could well be right about the wear, Maddmatt, I haven't had a chance to re-check them closely since my last track day.

I did do a full break in on the Bobcats and had my rotors scuffed before installing the new pads.

drmosh

Hey Maddmatt, you guys should really lose most of that Java on your site, it slows the load time significantly.

mayhem

iTrader: (9)

Maddmatt

Ah, now it's making sense. Bobcats were designed for street use. So, yes in the track environment, they may very well only be as good (performance wise) as the OE Evo pads. That material was designed for street/autox/Prosolo use. I'm not trying to bust your chops or anything, we knew people would take them to the track desite our recommendation not too. We have track materials, Bobcat isn't one of them.

Working on it. Someone is redesigning the site as we speak. Hopefully it will be in place by the end of the year.

Matt

erioshi

Fair enough - the salespersone even mentioned that the Bobcats were not a track pad. I was hoping to find a solid crossover pad that would handle my track days better than my stock pads, but be street oriented enough to make decent daily drivers. I was also looking to improve my overall braking picture.

While the Bobcats are alright, they didn't seem to make a noticeable difference for me in any heavy braking situations. I do like their improved bite over the stock pads in light braking, however.

Arcarsenal

Have you considered either Project Mu or Endless? Both make top-flight brake components. Endless is a bit pricey though.

ACM

I use Porterfield R4-1 on my autocross car, they will lock up fresh Hoosiers with ease, they also have probably the best feedback I've ever experienced. Almost too agressive in the wet, the ABS is unable to modulate effectively.

I have EBC Greens in my AEM'd street 2G. Insufficient milage for a solid analysis, but so far so good. Greens weakness is they cannot handle heat; a stock 2G on street tyres will fry Greens to the point of barely working at all.

I used to run Porterfield R4S on both cars - great street pads imo, the only reason I don't have them on the AEMs is because Geens appear not to wear the rotors at all, although R4S don't cause much rotor wear either. If the Greens don't hold up I'll just go back to R4Ss.

On the subject of AEM rotors, their fit is abysmal - I had to turn 20 thou off the fronts to get them to fit over the hubs, and the rears are 1mm thicker than stock where they fit over the wheels studs.

Evo11V

iTrader: (18)

How about a pair that are high performance and dont DUST like crazy... anyone have any recomendations on those?