Brakes, Rotor, & Tires

[Jtribble]

Just tore down the Z06 and after last weekend at Beaver run I need:

Tires
Brakes
& Rotors

I'd like your recommendations ... here is a little more info. to help better define what I'm looking for ...

I'm looking at comp. tires ... Hoosiers ... I don't drive the car much on the street, but occasionally I drive it to my parents house 3 miles away to clean it. My street tires put up with 4,500 miles of track abuse, so now I'm looking for something that hold up better on the track.

Brakes I tried the Hawk pads and they made it for about 4 days at the track. I liked the stopping power, but they didn't seem to last long (approximately 4 days at the track).

Rotor I've grooved and heat fractured the stock rotors. I want to replace the rotors with stock rotors and would like to find the best price on them.

[Black396]

As for the rotors, people on the Corvette Forum are using the Raybestos rotors. http://forums.corvetteforum.com/showthread.php?t=901506

John Shiels is a very heavy track guy and if they hold up to him you shouldn't have any problems.

As for pads, you've got a choice of Performance Friction, Hawks or CarboTech. You tried the Hawks and didn't have much luck. Give the PFCs or the CarboTechs a shot. You may find that the composition is just enough different to work for you.

If you are going with the PFC try the 01s or the 93s. If you go with the CarboTechs try the XP10s.

Ralph and I both replaced our pads before going to BeaveRun with the CarboTech XP9s. His pretty much went the same way your Hawks did.

You may also find that you have to get some serious air ducting in to your brakes. So you may want to look at the DRM and or LGM ducting solutions.

[urtoslo]

John,

Those items you need are all "consumables" for the autoxer/HPDEr. When I was really into it (60 autoxes and 8-10 HPDEs in 1991), I could get a set of Kumhos to last one season, a set of front brakes (pads and rotors) to last 1/2 a season and the rears to last a whole season.

You may get a good price from Koon's on the rotors, and you can check www.tld-corvette also. I get my pads from OG Racing and I can highly recommend the Performance Friction 01 pads. Work great cold and get fantastic when heated up. Get as much air via cooling ducts to the rotors as you can.

Tires I get from Tire Rack, using the link from this web page. The good thing about R compound tires is they make car handle great and they're cheaper than the stock tires! Hoosiers work great on a few heat cycles but won't last a whole season (see my schedule above). I also wouldn't drive them more than 50 miles to an event, as they are a very light tire. The Kumho 700 Victoracers are durable/heavy, but the whole story may not be out on the 710's yet. They are lighter than the 700's. I am thinking about getting Toyo RA-1s for the Vette next year, but they may not come in your sizes.

[Black396]

It looks like all of the competition tires of choice are changing. Kumho is replacing their V700 VictoRacers with the V710s. Hoosier is replacing their R3S03 with the R3S04.

The Toyos Andrej mentioned are used in a number of different series but I haven't seen them in our tire sizes 315/35-17s - 265/40-17s & 295/35-18s.

The verdict is still out on the Kumho V710s since the recall. I have been seeing bad reviews about the Hoosier R3S04s and Hoosier has on their web site that the tires will require a different setup (suspension and probably tire pressures) from the R2S03s.

[Jtribble]

Thanks for the advice.

And what about someone to mount the tires on my rims? Who has the best equipment for the job?