How to Choose the Right Brake Pads for Your Corvette

Written by Danny Kellermeyer/DJ Racing

Good brake pads are a necessity for all vehicles. Trying to determine what you need for your driving application can be difficult, and the more money you spend doesn’t mean it is the best selection for your Corvette.

What Are Brake Pads, and How Do They Affect Corvette Performance?

Brake pads are what stop your car. The pads are in the caliper and are touching the spinning metal rotor, so when the brake pedal is pressed, the caliper closes to clamp the rotor and slow or stop the car. This causes friction (and heat) at every stop. The rotors are designed with vanes inside the rotor sides to vent and dissipate the heat produced.

Fig. 1 – Front Caliper Pads and Rotor

The pad material (pad compound) changes to give different characteristics for your driving needs. Organic, ceramic, or semi-metallic compounds are used. So, what do you need? The first question is, what are you expecting from your brakes? Are they being used for street driving, performance driving, auto crossing, or full road racing?

Fig. 2 – C7 Ceramic Front Brake Pad

First, determine how your Corvette is going to be used. Are you street driving only, or are you doing a combination of street and auto crossing? How you will be using your car and the proper pad choice will give you the best stopping power and the best life of the pad.

The Best Corvette Brake Pads for Street Driving

Let’s first talk about street driving. Street pads (or street compounds) give you good stopping power with low noise and little dust on the wheels. Organic and ceramic pads have been very popular for production and service. These compounds do not damage rotors and provide smooth and even friction during braking. Ceramic pads are also clean and produce less dust as they wear. Organics pads offer the advantage of lower cost. Ceramic street pads can operate in a heat range from 100-600°.

 

Fig. 3 – C5 Street Corvette

The Best Corvette Brake Pads for Autocrossing

Using your Corvette for auto crossing or Track day events requires more than organic, and ceramic compounds can offer. The stopping power of the organic and ceramic pads starts to fade as continuous heat generation is created. Autocross/trackpads have a great initial response, great modulation characteristics as well as greater stopping power. They will produce light noise levels, medium dust levels, and can operate in a higher temperature range (200-900°). These pads will usually cost a little more but are also more conducive to repeated stopping power.

Fig. 4 – Autocrossing Events

The Best Corvette Brake Pads for Road Racing

Road racing events place the brake pads under extreme conditions. These pads are not designed to be quiet. They are designed for continuous stopping power and are required to take the heat over and over again with little brake fade. Road racing pads have an excellent initial response, excellent modulation, excellent stopping power but will exhibit high noise levels as well as high dust levels. They can operate and maintain high torque capability under extreme heat (400-1400°)

Fig. 5 – DJ Racing Corvette Front Rotors Glowing

How to Measure Corvette Brake Pad Performance

The friction against the brake rotor surface (i.e., coefficient of friction) is measured in terms of Mu. If no friction is present, it is measured as a Zero. While full friction, which stops movement, is equal to 1.

The Mu factor will change with brake pad temperature. The pad compound will determine how quickly it will ramp in to stop your Corvette as well as how fast it will drop off (or fade) at higher temperatures. The Chart from Hawk Performance (Figure 6) describes the relationship of Mu change to temperature conditions. Street pads (Performance Ceramic) will usually operate in the 300 ° range. Auto crossing (HP+) will operate approximately in the 500° area. Full racing (DTC70) will operate in the 800° range and can spike up to 1300°.

Fig. 6 – Hawk Performance: Temp. vs. Mu Plots

The Bottom Line: It’s All About Brake Pad Compounds

Do a little research to find out what compound you are buying. This will give you what you need for your Corvette, whether it is low dust, quiet operation, or full out repeatable stopping. When asking your Corvette to drive in different applications, it will be a give and take when it comes to dust or brake fades.

Sources:

Hawk Performance

920 Lake Rd

Medina, Ohio 44256

Wilwood Disc Brakes

4700 Calle Bolero

Camarillo, CA 93012