Full-time YouTuber and part-time racer Speed Phenom is back again with a video.
This time, instead of showing how good the Corvette C8 is on the track or how it stacks up against other cars, he’s showing the lesser-known and potentially expensive result of tracking your car.
One of the first things that he points out, and rightly so, is that tracking your car and pushing 9/10ths or even 10/10ths puts a lot of strain on any car. Thankfully, the Corvette is engineered in a way that the body has natural bracing points in its design.
The interesting thing, however, is that the brake pads, for a car as fast and powerful as the C8, are actually remarkably small. This is because the six-piston calipers exert more pressure over four- or two-piston calipers that “regular” cars will have.
However, that also means if you’re pushing it super hard on the stock Brembo pads, make sure to bring a replacement set with you to the track.
During his replacement of the pads, the rear pads aren’t too bad, not even hitting the warning strip after two full track days at Laguna Seca. Still, when changing your rotors or pads, it’s best to do all four corners at the same time.
The front pads, however, are shocking. They have literally no pad left, and the warning strip has been worn down as well.
As well, his rotors show the first signs of a warning strip gouge. Realistically, the rotors should be sent off for a resurfacing or outright changed, but it’s not to the point that the brakes will outright fail to engage the surface.
Also, the “gold spots” that have appeared in his pad are the rivets that actually hold the pad in place against the backing. Those have been significantly worn down.
Also, on his front right brake pad, the pad backing was separated from the actual pad. When he showed what had happened, the pad backing showed evidence of extreme overheating, with marks speaking potentially about a brake fire at some point.
So, fellow enthusiasts, if you plan on tracking your Corvette, of any generation, we have two recommendations.
The first, invest in track-grade brake pads. The stock pads are great on the C8, but getting pads from companies like Raybestos, RB Brakes, Hawk Performance, or numerous others that are meant to handle extreme use is a great money saver in the long run.
The second recommendation is if you do go with the stock pads, bring a spare set with you in your track kit. You should have all the tools you need to work on your car at the track, and brake pads should be in there, as well as heat resistant gloves to prevent burning your hands.
And even in endurance racing, with full-on race-spec brakes, teams will often do a brake pad or pad and rotor change halfway through the race because they just wear down so quickly!
