FlyZlow

Copy/paste of my post on another forum. I thought it might be of interest to the H-T crowd also.

Car - 1990 Integra LS
Weight - 2530# w/ driver
Rotors - stock size w/ stock calipers
Front compound - Cobalt XR2
Rear compound - Axxis Ultimate
Ducting - 2.5" to the fronts
Fluid - ATE Superblue

Cliff's notes - Very good pad. Lots of initial grip. Works well at low temps. Doesn't fade. Reasonably modulation friendly. Pretty expensive.

Ok, so I had the chance to try out my shiny new XR2's this weekend, which are replacing the Cobalt Spec VRs that I had been running for the past ~5 events. They were in the ballpark of $30 more expensive for the pair than the VRs were, but the claim is that they will last longer and perform better over that lifespan. The VR's still had a pretty good amount of meat left on them, but since I was doing a 90 min enduro this weekend, I decided to swap them out. I didn't swap rotors and just threw the XR2s on the VR dusted rotors. I had heard that these pads needed very little bed in and were effective immediately, so I went out for first practice not planning on doing much light braking. The first thing I noticed about the pads was that they had pretty good bite just driving around the paddock with no heat in them. When I got them on track, I was totally unprepared for how quickly the full braking potential became available. On the first hot lap, I went for the brakes into turn one (coming down from ~115mph to ~80mph) and completely locked the front tires because the brakes apparently already had more grip than the still-cool tires could handle. Modulating out of the lockup was about on par with what I've experienced with the Spec VRs. I don't know if I'd say the XR2s were easier to modulate, but they were definitely no harder than the VRs IMO. Due to a shortened schedule, I only did 4 laps in the first practice, then came in and let the brakes cool. I figured I'd call that a bed in. I went out for second practice 2 hours later, but again only got 3-4 laps before having a problem with my splitter.

Anyway, fast forward to the 90 min enduro. This is what I was really waiting for to try out the pads and I was not disappointed. The pads came to life immediately and gave me very good, consistant brake feel all race long. The initial bite was just as good as the Spec VRs and the sustained bite felt a little better even. I lost my passenger side brake duct about 45 mins into the race, but it didn't seem to matter much as my braking still seemed limited by the tire traction at any speed. The pedal never even got close to what I'd consider spongy and I was even very impressed at how well the fluid held up with that pass side duct trashed. One of the other H4 drivers claimed that he could see the bright red glow of my rotor as I came by him under brakes into turn 1. I basically drove the race as a 90 min sprint race and even set my personal best time on the track despite it being dark (race start was 11pm) and around 90* ambient temp. I never changed my braking point for turn 1 (which was considerably deeper than most of the people I was racing with) from the beginning of the race to the end. I was braking later than I had with the Spec VRs, but I think that was also thanks to my new splitter, so I can't compare apples to apples in that respect. Overall, I was very impressed. These pads are definitely good for aggressive brakers and might even be too much for anything lighter than the integra. Once I have some time, I'll try to gauge how much pad material was used and the usage delta between the 2 sides of the car (with and without brake duct).

- Scott

slofu

what tires?

slammed_93_hatch

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by slofu &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">what tires?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Toyo RA1's the spec tire for Honda Challenge.


I think i might be giving the XR2 a try, i love the XR3 and after some discussion it seems like the XR2 might be better

slofu

i currently rock the old comp GTS w/Azenis 615s and love them. if your XR3s have some decent meat left on them and you think they'd not be overkill, i'd consider buying them. hopefully soon i'll complete my changeover to manual brakes (no compliance), so the extra bite might help.

FlyZlow

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by slofu &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">what tires?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Like Jimmy said, RA-1s ... 225/45-15

Solless

Good write up, I will be running my first set friday at Blackhawk Farms.

Solless

IMO you're spot on with the pad feel.

I did check the pads after three 20min sessions and noticed minimal pad wear compared to spec vr's and down

Eyal 951

Do you guys think these pads are too much for Azenis to handle?

slofu

i was going to ask that about the XR3s. i'm assuming that the XR2s are too much, unless perhaps you're running dx 9.5" front brakes.

George Knighton

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by FlyZlow &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
Cliff's notes - Very good pad. Lots of initial grip. Works well at low temps. Doesn't fade. Reasonably modulation friendly. </TD></TR></TABLE>
My experience mirrors yours.

I've been using these pads on my DC2 ITR K20A track car for a little longer than most people because I got a sneak peek last year before they were on the shelves.

I have <u>nothing</u> bad to say about these pads.

They last longer than Spec VR, and they seem to be able to somehow build up heat on the rotor while still being friendly to the rotor.