Brake pad compound - Same front and rear, or more aggressive up front?

[Cobra4B]

Do you run the same brake pad compound front and rear? Or, more aggressive up front? I've always run one step more aggressive up front on the Corvette (Carbotech XP12 or 20 in the front and XP10 in therear). The theory being the rear pads don't get as hot so you use a lower friction pad that works properly in that lower operating range.

I need to order new pads for the Panoz and am debating same compound all around or staggered like I do with the Corvette. Previously the car had PFC-97s all around. Would go with Carbotech XP12/10 or XP12s all around.

Input?

[Panoz60]

I think it really depends on the car. On my A/S Mustang I ran PFC -01's on the front and slightly less aggressive -97's on the rear. Most of that was from advice given by the tech-line. But that 3200# car was nose heavy and liked to stand on it's bumper during braking. I have no experience (yet) with the Panoz, but I am assured that braking is a strong point of the car (Panoz) and very little pressure bias is required, so I would think you need the same, front and rear.

I have never run Carbotechs, but know a bunch of buddies that do/have. I have tried Porterfields, Hawks, Wilwoods, and Performance Friction. Hawks and Porterfields worked well, but both liked to eat the rotors up, Wilwoods (to me) seemed mushy and inaccurate, and I love the the feel and response of the -01's up front. My experience with PFC -01's is they would barely stop the car when the brakes were cool. Almost had an incident in the paddock once for that reason. I used to drag the brake pedal coming to the green, so I had some stopping power going into turn #1. But once you got heat in them, they were sweet. But thats me...

My honest suggestion is to contact the tech line of the manufacturer you choose/prefer. It's in thier best interest to set you up with the best match for you and your car.

[boothkc]

01s front and 97s rear to start.

Warm them up before you need them by dragging, usually on the warm up lap.

Kevin

[Cobra4B]

Tech line people usually aren't worth much. I've been running Carbotechs for years and love them. Great feel, extremely low rotor wear, and brake dust that doesn't bond to everything when it gets wet.

The car won't be nose heavy but neither is my Corvette. I have the master cylinders sized for some front bias (7/8" front master vs. 1" rear) so I'll probably do XP12s front/rear and adjust the bias as needed.

[panozracing]

01s front and 97s rear for me. Never tried much else. They work great and low rotor wear and long pad life.