Brake Report – Carbotech’s XP10 Pad

[Mrk]

Ian from Carbotech sent me a PM to ask if I would like to try the XP10 Trackday/extreme road pad at the MLR Spa Trackday. I obviously replied yes, but can I have them for the two days at the Ring please, because if that’s dry there are some major braking points that I have already tested many a pad on, and would appreciate the comparison?

I already had a set of the XP8’s in the car which are great road pads so I was looking forward to trying the XP10’s especially as Ian claimed that I would not get the nasty rusty sticking wheel wrecking debris that I and many others have had with Performance Frictions .10 pads, he also claimed that they would perform just as well, and I really rate the .10’s to be fantastic on track. So the challenge was set.


I met Ian in the Ring carpark on the first tourist day of the trip and as the skies started to brighten and the ground began to dry, I popped back to the hotel to swap my pads over. Now these pads have a different bedding in procedure compared to the XP8’s so I went out for a lap, first to fade them out then proceed to use them at a medium pace. I would then have to let them cool for at least an hour before really going for it.

Me going through Wipperman

I have to admit that they were so good from the off that I think I may have abused them a bit on the bedding in lap and my inability to go slow on the Ring, as after they started to fade I experienced judder under light load which was due to my PF discs not being worn totally flat and probably overheating the pad in the high spotted areas of my discs, plus the pad deposits from the XP8’s.

Now I know what you are thinking that the discs are ruined and they need a skim blah-de-blah!! Utter rubbish, sorry but it is, all that was needed was a bit more care and patience, something I lacked. So after doing that lap and recording a decent 8min40 lap (I said I was being exuberant ) plus being very impressed with the stopping power I let them cool. Then I went out and the judder had gone and while carrying out a few 100mph to 30mph stops they were working exceedingly well, but I did still have some judder after they heated up. No worries I thought that will disappear with time and once the discs and pads have mated up properly, and by jove they did too.

The second day at the Ring was wet, wet and wetter, but it did not stop me running numerous pax laps and with the Toyo R888 tyres and I was having a ball .

The brakes were giving me great confidence hauling up my car 4 up lap after lap, the bite at light pedal pressures was excellent and they modulated superbly considering how slippery some of the Ring was.


Next up was Spa:

Firstly the drive to Spa showed the XP10’s as a good road pad, again good initial bite and modulation from cold, so no worries there.

On Spa’s smooth carpet of wide open black-top the XP10’s delivered, especially on a dry track where they pulled up my flying late breaking Evo everytime! With confidence and repeatability.

They were great in the wet, as you can see below with the car flying through Eau Rouge.

When it dried the three big braking points at Spa being at the end of the Kemmel Straight where 150+ was seen before jumping on the anchors just past the 150m board for the 3rd gear Les Combes, braking from a similar speed after Blanchimont then powering round to the super slow new chicane in 2nd. Even after that deceleration 140ish to 20mph the last few metres into the chicane the brakes ground the front end of the car into the ground to haul it up. It was quite an amazing feeling.

In fact thinking about it, you know when you brake from a high speed the brakes never seem to work aswell as they do at low speeds, well that’s normal but when on track and you do this braking from a high speed, do your brakes continue to increase their decelerating force the slower the car becomes? Most just simply give up, or the braking force remains a constant. Well going into that hairpin especially the XP10’s did not remain constant, even I was having to push hard against the wheel to stop me moving forward as the splitter on the car literally did feel like it was ploughing into the tarmac, the brakes still biting and for every mile per hour they lost they increased their friction on the discs in an order of magnitude. Excellent!!

Pedal travel did expectedly increase the more laps I piled on at Spa but the brakes never made me lose confidence in their abilities or power I was out there for 10lap stints, they were superb!!


I did 240miles on Spa and the brakes looked hot but not bothered at the end of the day


**NO sticking pad deposits**

I am also very pleased to report that despite all that rain we had over the length of the trip and the car travelled 900miles after XP10 fitment, and the bone dry afternoon at Spa where brake temperatures went very high and were abused, plus the wet drive home I had absolutely no pad deposits stuck to my wheels when I washed them 4days later. Finally a damn excellent road/track pad that I can leave in without worry

Dirty wheels, but nothing stuck

So not only do they perform aswell as the excellent PF.10’s but they do not ruin your wheels in the process

Who’s a happy boy then??


So a BIG Thank you to Ian from Carbotech for being the first manufacturer to say “Hey do you wanna try my pads, for free” and being on hand at an major MLR event to offer advice and demo’s of his gear.



UPDATE to report - Road Use

After coming home from Spa cleaning the car etc and now after having some time to sample the brakes on the road without the full load of spare wheels, tools etc, all I can say is WOW these things sure have some impressive from cold ‘bite’ you just have to brush the pedal to get buckets of feel and instant retardation at all speeds. And just hold your foot and the bite increases with duration. Ian said that I may find them too much on the road but they are certainly not too grabby for my road use.

If you want to stop quickly and you apply more pedal effort that initial bite and sensitivity makes way for pure power that is so easily modulated and controlled.

In comparison with the PF.11’s they have made road driving easy with no effort or thought required to slow in either traffic, motorway or fast cross-country use. They have eliminated the panic where you had to push so hard to get them to work and they also reacted so slowly. The lightness of the XP10’s operation also compliments the rest of the Evo’s controls too, whereas the .11’s hindered.

The XP10’s have so far exhibited no squealing or any other intrusive noise.


UPDATE March 2008

I am still very happy with the XP10’s and now on my second set. Everything I have described above is still my way of thinking. The only reason for this update is to show you the complete picture of using these pads in all weathers and conditions and to try and give a rounded and unbiased assessment.

Below is a picture of the subtle surface cracking on my discs. Don’t worry though.

The discs have been checked by Chris of Performance Friction at the recent Brands Hatch Triple Club event and he said all was OK, normal for extreme use, and not to be worried. I was not as I have had discs do that before. And as long as the cracks spread out from the centre and are only surface cracks then roll on.

One thing that has been apparent is that I have been a victim of sticky dust. Not a lot, in fact a quarter of what the PF.10’s produced, and I haven’t been able to get it off as yet. This is partly my own fault as I left the car for and I am ashamed to say it about 6weeks over Xmas without a wash. Up until then I have not had much trouble. Occasionally I would have to break out the clay-bar but nothing serious or to worry about

So in conclusion they are an awesome ultra high performance pads that I am very happy using for road and track. In fact I will buy another set when these wear out.

[GSRed]

Great write up mate! hope to follow your report up next week when i'm at the Ring I've brand new PF's going on and a set of XP8's and XP10's to play with

[krazy_ivan]

nice write up, I have been toying with getting a set of carbotech pads for my RS.

Is there much difference between the 8's and 10's on the track then?

[thetyrant]

Nice report there Mrk, glad you liked them

Cheers
Ian

[thetyrant]

Originally posted by krazy_ivan
nice write up, I have been toying with getting a set of carbotech pads for my RS.

Is there much difference between the 8's and 10's on the track then?

There is a big difference between the 8 and the 10, but to be fair you really need to be pushing on to reach the limit of the 8 on the road and even on track and hence why we usually start people on this compound, but as Mrk has found they did have a limit when he really pushed his 500hp evo9 on the fast tracks, hence why i offered to let him try the xp10 as i knew he would love them ... the biggest downside to the XP10 is they are harder on discs due to the friction/heat generated, but if you have good quality discs and reasonble cooling there shouldnt be too much of an issue, also you need to be a pretty competent driver due to the fierce bite once fully upto temp...i had a few moments round the very slippy Nurburgring until i adapted to the grip levels availble then it was fine

Cheers
Ian

[Corbs]

Good news then mrk,i have had the xp8s on for a while now and am very pleased,but iam next up for the xp10s,but will hopefully be getting some brake cooling before i fit them

[spn]

Good writeup Mark

Do you think the XP10s are as good as the PF .10s or better ?

One thing I've found with dust is that at this time of year, even .10 dust doesn't tend to stick and washes off fairly easily.

For me the main problem is during the winter when the dust just seems to stick.

Cheers,

Simon

[MikeC]

Good info and it has confirmed which pads are the ones to get next time around Ian, can you please PM me with a price for my EVO VIII MR, as I am looking to possibly change the pads soon.

Mike

[Mrk]

Cheers GSRed let us know how the XP8’s go?

Krazy ivan – for me Yes, just more longevity in being able to stamp the life out of them continually, as they are more track focused than road compared to the XP8’s. I was out on Spa for 30mins at a time and Spa has three 150mph braking points Many others use the XP8’s on track with great success. Horses for courses Ian would say try the XP8’s first then go up to the XP10’s if you need that extra bite and power on track, and I would agree with him now I have used both.

And read Ian’s reply above, just about sums it up


Corbs – Rich where were you at Spa? Missed you and Kath? You’ll love the XP10’s.


Spn – Simon like I said I feel they are as good as each other, but no nasty dust, which for me I used to have a big problem with if the wheels got ‘wet’ summer or winter and they were left for more than 48hours, then it was refurb time

MikeC – Cheers, brakes are a strong issue on here so it helps to have some solid info. When you change the discs go for Performance Friction’s.

[MikeC]

I was planning on doing so, just trying to get the money together to do the GB Darin has set up.

[Mrk]

Update to Report on 1st post, about the XP10's road manners

[Scrappy]

nice report, these are the types of reports which are very benifical to the mlr as a whole, well done that guy..

tell me though, is it me or are you calipers changing colour?

[MikeC]

The callipers do change colour from a nice bright red to the dark red you see in the pic due to the MASSIVE amounts of heat being generated round a track/circuit. The decal also changes colour, I quite like that colour scheme

[Mrk]

Originally posted by Scrappy
nice report, these are the types of reports which are very benifical to the mlr as a whole, well done that guy..

tell me though, is it me or are you calipers changing colour?

Cheers Scrappy

Yes they have changed colour, a long while ago, after the first Ring session last year. Its perfectly normal. They go a very dark purple when hot but cool back to a tinted red. I have cooling on this car, whereas my old Evo8 didn't and they went permanently very dark

[EwanS]

great write up mate - I've now got my XP10's on order from Ian and I cant wait !!!!!!!!!