Sportskid1

iTrader: (1)

So i just installed my 2008 IS350's Christmas present. A set of StopTech slotted rotors all around and CarboTech brake pads. XP10 in the front and XP8 in the rear. I have not found any IS350 reviews for these pads so I thought I would get this out. I have been running EBC yellowstuff for the last 1.5 years and while they are great on the street they just don't cut it on the track any more as I get more aggressive. Good track pad for the rookie or less aggressive person though. Got them all installed in about 2.5 hours with a floor jack and stands in my garage. Love how easy the brakes are to work on in these cars.

I only have a few street miles on the setup so far so this initial review is still very initial. Install was very easy. CarboTech recommended no shims on these pads as they are slightly thinker than OEM pads to increase life. I am going to a Streets Of Willow track day tomorrow for a proper bed in and track test and I will follow up after that about the track performance as well as street performance once they are bed in properly. So far though they are just as quite as my EBC pads and have pretty good cold bite despite not being broken in. I sure hope they stay that way. Stay tone for more updates.

Gville350

iTrader: (10)

Looking forward to your street and track review!

If anyone wants to read up on these pads specifically, view the website link here : http://carbotechperformance.com/brake-compounds2.asp

Very curious to see what "noise" they give off in daily driving conditions, since the website warns of noise and dust "issues" with the XP8 and XP10 pads.

Good to see that they offered good, initial cold bite; that was one thing I had worried about since being on a DD.

FSportIS

iTrader: (13)

I can't wait for your review. Are your Stoptech cryo[ed]?

I recently replaced all my IS350 rotors with Stoptech too and I love the look

RangerJoe

iTrader: (1)

I ran EBC yellow's for my first few track days. They worked pretty well, but certainly didn't last. I got 3 weekends out of them, then they were pretty much dead.

I have the same Carbotech set up on my M3 now, but I don't have many miles on them. They sure do make a ton of noise on the street. When they are cold, they are quiet, but after a few stops they squeal like crazy. On the track they quiet down though. Oh, and the dust. I thought the Yellowstuffs were bad...

Are you planning to DD these pads? What tires are you running? I'm so happy when I read about people tracking their IS!

Sportskid1

iTrader: (1)

I got a solid five 20 min sessions in at Streets of Willow on Sun and these pads kicked ***. The first session was my bed in so I didn't push to hard. Last last 4 sessions I pushed them harder and harder and never found the limits of the pad. I could brake so much later than my EBC's it was ridiculous. Many of the corners where i had to do a long slow brake in the past due to fade I could just do a quick mash of the brake and set myself up for the turn. Very impressed with the performance of these.

Now the downside. They unfortunately will not stay as my DD pads. As RangerJoe stated they are whisper quite when cold but after a few stops they are unbearably loud until you get them to track temps which will never happen on the streets. The cold bite is very good but unless you drive with ear plugs these are not the pads you want to deal with every day. I guess I will have to suck it up and change pads each track day as well.

My track set up is a square 255/35/18 Toyo R888 R compound tires. So happy to say even R Compound tires the CarboTech's hold up grate.

Sportskid1

iTrader: (1)

So I played with it a bit more. The ear bleeding screech seemed to come from the front pads but it was hard to tell. I switched the front pads to some StopTech street pads and left the rear XP8 in to see how noisy they were. I drove around for 20 min or so with some hard stops to warm them up a bit and little to no noise. Every once and a while I would heard a faint squeel but not anything that would be hard to live with. I will try this setup for a while and see how it works. Not sure if it is the difference between the XP10 and XP8 compound or due to the fack that the rear brakes so much smaller. May be a set of XP8's all around would work for a DD setup. I did notice that on hard stops the rear tires would lock up though due to the much more aggressive pad in the rare.

As much as I did not want to switch pads for track days now that I have done it its really not to bad. I already have a dedicated set of track tires and once the tire is off switching the pads took me 3 min a side today to switch out. Just needed a pair of needle nose pliers and and c-clamp and they were done. The rears will probably take a bit longer (6-7min) but in the long run I may just take out the CarboTech's in the rear as well and save a $160 race pad for when I need it.

FSportIS

iTrader: (13)

Congrats on your new set up. It seems like you can have a dedicated track tires and pads for track day now. How did this new pads help you on competing against the M3 I'm not sure if my previous question was overlooked but are you using the Stoptech slotted rotors cryo version? Do you think the cryo version worth the extra cost and how does it fare with the regular Stoptech rotor?

Gville350

iTrader: (10)

^You'd be hard-pressed to find a side-by-side test of the non-cryo vs the cryo-treated rotors showing you cryo rotors provided me XX ft shorter stopping distance or whatever. Read up on what the cryo-treatment actually does to chemical composition of the rotor material and see if you feel it'll net you better results. Honestly, I'd never forked over the extra funds for them. But would I run them if they were the same price...sure!

Like you said, perhaps an XP8 pad setup all-around would be good for DD'ing.

Time to consider one of these for track days :

http://www.matcotools.com/catalog/pr...-PAD-SPREADER/

Anyone reading this ever used Axxis Ultimate pads on ANY vehicle? Sadly they only make the rear pads available for the IS350, of which I used and was very happy with.

Sportskid1

iTrader: (1)

Funny I was battling yet another M3 on sun which I was faster than. Dude was kind of an *** and would let other cars pass but not me. I guess he couldn't have a crappy Lexus that was faster than him!

I actually have the cryo rotors on the rear and the normal rotors on the front as the cryo wasn't avaliable. I can pretty much guarantee that the cryo rotors don't stop any better then the normal rotors. I think the pitch is that the cryo process makes the metal more structurally sounds and they have longer life and can with stand more abuse than non-cryo rotors. They were just $15 more a rotor so I figured I would give them a try. Time will tell.

Gville350

iTrader: (10)

Wiki says the following about cyro treatment :

"A cryogenic treatment is the process of treating workpieces to cryogenic temperatures (i.e. below −190 °C (−310 °F)) to remove residual stresses and improve wear resistance on steels. In addition to seeking enhanced stress relief and stabilization, or wear resistance, cryogenic treatment is also sought for its ability to improve corrosion resistance by precipitating micro-fine eta carbides, which can be measured before and after in a part using a quantimet."

Show those M3s whose boss! Now, how about an OS Giken LSD?

RangerJoe

iTrader: (1)

Besides the unbearable noise, the XP10 is going to be very abrasive when cold. Under non-track conditions, they are going to really tear up your rotors.

Several months back, I caught up to a new corvette on the track. I set myself up on the inside after a fast turn leading to a big straight so I could get a point. I saw the guy turn his head, look at me in his drivers side mirror, then punch it. A couple more turns though, and he had to concede the pass to my lowly Lexus.

FIGS

iTrader: (11)

Its good to see that some people are taking out their 350's to the track. We have been able to get away with the XP8 front and rear on our IS-F with 2P rotors and still use it on the street without too much noise if rebed occasionally. Our 2-P rotors use a very hard iron alloy though so not sure how the impact on factory rotors will be. We started shipping a BBK using the IS350 factory rotor with our aluminum calipers from RB and I have noticed how soft the rotors are on our track car during testing. Keep pushing em and if you want to go even faster we have a few small investment parts that make a huge difference at WOT speeds. We are also a CTBrakes dealer.
Mike

SpeedFreaksUSA

iTrader: (1)

Hi OP,

As suggested in the earlier part of the thread, XP10 and beyond do not have good wear rates if used as a DD. The occasional drive during the weekend on a track toy may pass, but as a DD it is simply too abrasive when out of it's operating temp range and wears away quickly.

The even spread of pad material on the transfer layer makes a large difference on the sound level. Sound levels can be on either end of the extremes, but more often end up on un-acceptable during low speed stops on streets. This is the main reason why a 1521 pad is your friend when using the vehicle off the track in DD duties - It will save you considerable pad material on the XP10 and above if you do a decent amount of daily driving. I cannot officially suggest this, but often customer preference is to get a set of 1521s for just the fronts, especially if using XP8s in the rear for relatively acceptable noise levels (this again is relative).

We are one of the few master distributors for Carbotech, and have plenty of personal experience. Please feel free to ask us as questions come up.

AR
SpeedFreaksUSA.com

FSportIS

iTrader: (13)

These pads are meant to be on the track, made for the track, and stop your car on the track You need 2 sets: DD set, and track set. Have you tried the Hawk high performance one that works fine on both occasional track and DD street?

Gville350

iTrader: (10)

^Where have you found that Hawk makes pads for the IS350? Their own website only shows pads for the IS250.