[naz]

i put carbotech panther plus front brake pads on my sube the other day and so far i've been very happy with them. panther plus is marketed as a 'club race' type pad with a temperature range of 150F-1300F and mu of 0.54-0.56

i think these pads are great. higher max temp than hawk blue and they aren't portable brake lathes when cold (ie they don't chew up rotors when cold any worse than a 'normal' street pad)

the brake pedal is nice and firm, and easy to modulate

i haven't really hammered on them yet other than bed in... but so far they seem like a very solid choice for a streetable lapping school pad

for reference, the rest of my brake setup is OE replacement blank rotors, hawk hps rear brake pads, ss brake lines, ate super blue brake fluid, azenis RT615 tires

EDIT: i put a few hundred street miles on these pads now..

- there is definitely dusting (comparable to stock, noticeable more than hawk HPS)
- there is definitely some occasional squealing with light brake pressure when the pads are cold (you can barely notice with the windows up, its not anything like the metal on metal squeal of worn brake pads)
- the initial bite is definitely less when the pads are cold (but there is more than enough power to stop when cold. you will not be blowing through a stop sign on your first stop of the day. in fact, i bet some stock econo cars have this kind of brake torque all the time)

i still think these are very streetable pads, and i definitely still recommend them.. the noise and dusting are very acceptable given the initial bite when warmed up and the high temp operating ability

[NefCanuck]

So if these new front pads pass muster I'm assuming you'll replace teh rears with thehm when the time comes eh?

NefCanuck

[naz]

NefCanuck,Apr 13 2008, 04:39 PM Wrote:So if these new front pads pass muster I'm assuming you'll replace teh rears with thehm when the time comes eh?

NefCanuck
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yea probably. right now they really do seem to do it all without any trade offs.

[naz]

http://www.scienceofspeed.com/products/bra.../NSX/Carbotech/

science of speed gave some subjective ratings to compare different brake pads

their numbers are pretty in line with my experiences so far

in their opinion carbotech panther plus gives you the cold stopping and rotor friendliness of hawk hps/hp+ plus the hot stopping of hawk blue (note that the max temps of hawk blue is 1050F versus 1300F for the carbotechs), at the expense of more noise and dusting

[ZED_not_zee]

price? what are they worth?

[naz]

ZED_not_zee,Apr 14 2008, 10:14 PM Wrote:price?  what are they worth?
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i picked them up for USD $128 shipped to my door. (this is for my '02 impreza wagon, but i expect the pricing should be very similar for a focus) for comparison, hawk hps for my car costs around $100 shipped, and those POS brembo sport pads costs $75 shipped

EDIT: personally i think these are a great deal, since hawk blues for my car cost around $200 shipped