I've been running RB ET500 pads for over a month now, on stock rotors, with Z1 premium SS lines and Motul RBF600 fluid. I'm going to be tracking my sedan in a couple weeks so I wanted something that can stand up to the heat.

Racingbrake used to tout the ET800s as a trackable street pad but they have since changed their tune due to some folks reporting that the 800 compound hasn't held up in full on race conditions. Since I will be only doing HPDE I am willing to take the risk - if they don't work out I'll switch to Carbotech XPs for the track and DD the Bobcats. I didn't go this route to start with because I wasn't familiar with the Carbotechs until I had already started down the RB path. No worries though, it's fun to compare products!

Anyway, my initial impressions after just one day of driving on the 800s is that they- to my surprise- have much stronger initial bite than the 500s even in cool weather. It's about 60 degrees out right now. I was expecting them to need at least a brush of the pedal to heat up, but nope- they just bite really well and seem to stay linear at street temps. When I did my bedding the torque did ramp up a bit as the pads got hot.

I noticed very slight squeal at low pedal pressures and low speeds (coming to a stoplight, for example). The 500s have squealed a couple times on me but only under very specific conditions and not as easily as the 800s already have. That said, the volume of the squeal on the 800s is so slight. It's not annoying or attention grabbing at all. Will see how this pans out as I get more miles on the pads and few heat cycles.

Another thing worth noting is the 800s do not have chamfered leading and trailing edges like the 500s so, again, they are more likely to squeal but the offsetting benefit is more surface area on the pads when they are young.

I pre-scorched these pads in the broiler at 525 degrees for 45 minutes in order to speed up the green fade phase- and it seems to have helped as the bedding didn't take very long at all (and the pads didn't smell as much as one would expect during bedding). I've included pics of this below.

 

Thanks for the update. Did you get the feeling that these pads are similar to the Hawk HPS or closer to the HP+. Both have a stronger initial bite but the "S" pads don't have the higher heat capability. I also found that over time both of the Hawk pads seem to get very grippy while cold when first starting out and get a little more relaxed after they heat up. I'm also assuming that for a track school scenario where racing at top speed is not the criteria, these pads might be a good fit while still being able to use them on the street. Please more comments if you have any. Also do you feel that the extra pad material from the straight edged pad is one reason you got more bite than from the chamfered edged ET500's? I think that's part of the reason and for me that's a good thing. Thanks again.

Al

 

Excellent questions... I'll do my best to answer them all:

I don't know, as I haven't run the Hawks. incidentally, Hawk is the only brand RB endorses to use with their 2-piece rotors because the alloy used is too hard to cooperate with softer pads like Carbotechs. I think galling of the pad transfer layer ends up being the problem.

What I will say is the 800s seem to have much stronger initial bite and a firmer pedal which are both extremely noticeable. More importantly, snubbing the pedal didn't result in as much loss of speed with the 500s, while the 800s require a defter touch. If you like that sensitivity then the 800s are good. If you would rather require more deliberation than the 500s are the answer.


Time will tell- I'll report back after a month.

My HPDE is in a couple weeks! I will definitely have more to say about the track performance after that. I may remove the front dust shields for extra cooling capacity- depends on the weather (if it's raining I won't).

That's a very good point and could be contributing to the extra bite. I'm sure it's contributing to the improved pedal feel. I can definitely say the compound is different though- the 800s squeal much more easily than the 500s, but fortunately the volume of the squeal is about the same, which is not very loud. Just sounds like an economy car with a poor brake setup squeal. Doesn't **** off traffic.

I'll keep you updated.

 

If you want to run the Hawk's at any point in time, for your HPDE application I would run DTC-70 up front and DTC-60 in the rear. We have had good luck with this combo especially for track use.

-Nick

 

Thanks bud. If I try anything else it will probably be Carbotechs!

 

Nick,
I've heard that the DTC series are very rough on rotors. How true is that? Also I do mostly street driving and my track school instruction is around 20% of my use of the car. I don't think the DTC's would do well on the street since they need some heat before they are effective. Am I right on this?

Al

 

I've heard the same, and that the DTCs specifically chew up rotors if they aren't at track temps. Once up there, the compatibility between the materials is good.

 

Yes that is extremely true, the DTC's are only track specific pads, however when on track and when at the right temperature I believe they are the best pads to run. Carbotechs are good rotor friendly pads but on track they won't last as long as you'd like them to.

We had a customer run the XP12 front and XP10 rear who liked the bite but didnt like how long they were lasted.

If you do plan to run the DTC I would absolutly recommend only using them on track and not on the street. Which is why people who track their car and use it as a DD run dual pads and just swap pads in between the two.

-Nick

 

Are the DTC pads compatible with the HP+ compound?

That's something I really like about the Ctechs as well as the RBs.

 

Are the DTC pads compatible with the HP+ compound?

That's something I really like about the Ctechs as well as the RBs.

 

What do you mean by compatible?

-Nick

 

Compounds. So that if you switch pads you don't need to flex hone the rotors.

Most folks don't do this step but I always will, unless the manufacturer explicitly states that their transfer layers are chemically compatible. I haven't heard Hawk say that the HP+ is compatible with the DTC compounds. RB and CT have.

 

I am not aware of what the manufacturer has to say on this, but in our own experience we switch out HP + and DTC-70's. The Hawk pads all play nice together .

-Nick