What is the wear like on the pad?

What about wear on the rotor?

Noisy? (Let me know if you shim and grease your pads, thanks.)

Performance?

I did a search, but want more info, preferably from folks who've been using them for a while.

I'm planning on using these mostly on the street. I have Ultimates now and want something a bit better.

Info on the Cobalt G3000 OEM replacement rotors would be appreciated too.

Thanks.

 

Here is a pretty good review on the pad.

https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=364348

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 96 SOHC VTEC &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Here is a pretty good review on the pad.

https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=364348</TD></TR></TABLE>

Welll, I dont know about that

What do you mean you want something "better" than the Ultimate for the street? Does that mean it takes too much pressure to lock-up? If you read my review, I talk a little about the performance of the pad at street temps. The pad is not as linear as the Ultimates on the street. As the GT-Sport gets some heat, it really starts to bite. I have both a set of Ultimates and a set of GT-Sports at my house and I choose to run the Ultimates on the street for whatever thats worth... the Ultimate is just a better street pad IMO. Let me know after you read the review if you have any other specific questions I didnt get to in that post.

Actually, I am getting my wisdom teefes out tomorrow so I may be out of commission for a day or two. Sorry I will not be at your service!

 

I've gotten some info on this pad since I posted that indicates that they are very noisy, not particularly good at the track (really more of a super auto-X pad) short-lived and hard on rotors, along with corrosive dust.

The post I just read in the link given seems to be more favorable to their track use, and didn't mention noise or wear (that I noticed), and indicated that the dust wasn't a problem.

Needless to say, the two versions of the story that I've gotten are confusing.

Anybody try Ferodo DS2500 or the Carbotech bobcat?

Thanks.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Bill Hook &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I've gotten some info on this pad since I posted that indicates that they are very noisy, not particularly good at the track (really more of a super auto-X pad) short-lived and hard on rotors, along with corrosive dust.

The post I just read in the link given seems to be more favorable to their track use, and didn't mention noise or wear (that I noticed), and indicated that the dust wasn't a problem.

Needless to say, the two versions of the story that I've gotten are confusing.

Anybody try Ferodo DS2500 or the Carbotech bobcat?

Thanks.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Where have you been getting that info?
First, the dust is definately NOT corrosive. Please go back and read my review. I said that I left the dust on for about 1 week and it came right off like OEM dust.
The pads make slight noise and very low speeds (esp. on the street.) But, they are NOT a street pad. The noise levels really arent that big of a deal and it is definately berarable to keep them on the car for a week if you have back-to-back racing weekends.
Not good on track? If you have run less than 5 events I guarantee you they will be MORE than enough. Period.
Short-lived? I absolutly beat the **** out of these pads with Andie @ Sebring full. A whole day of lapping @ Sebring+3 AutoX's on them+1 or 2 thousand street miles=half of the pads left!
Hard on rotors, not too bad. I managed to get them slightly warmer than their intended purpose so my rotors had some slight hazing, nothing to serious. Some normal street driving after the event cleared things up.
Anyway, please go back and read my review as it dosent sound like you even went through it all.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">The post I just read in the link given seems to be more favorable to their track use, and didn't mention noise or wear (that I noticed), and indicated that the dust wasn't a problem.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

Actually, I did go through it which is why I posted the cliff notes above.

I can't say who told me the info I mentioned earlier, since they feel that Cobalt has a cult-like following that won't criticize when criticism is deserved and censures those who make these criticisms.

Personally, Andie has been helpful to me in the past when I bought pads from him.


To All:

Don't post replies that aren't factual. Leave the praise, criticism, etc. out UNLESS you can quote a specific FACTUAL instance to support it. This way, no flame wars will get started.

 

Oh, BTW. Does anyone have info about the Bobcat or DS2500?

Thanks.

 

Evan (elgorey) tried out a set of the GT-sport pads and they ate up his rotors pretty bad.

I may not be using the IT-R spec b pads anymore because i'd rather just run XP's and not change them to drive home - street driving on the IT-R pads is out of the question, even just putting them on for the trip to beaver (4 hr highway trip) grooved up the rotors.

RJ

 

Could it be the weight that was a factor for a WRX?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Bill Hook &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Could it be the weight that was a factor for a WRX?

</TD></TR></TABLE>

Probably. It weighs 3200 lbs or so.

 

I am still running the GT-Sports on my WRX and probably have more time on them than anyone else. In cold weather when I used them (sub-50 degree temps, occasionally 20-30 degrees), they were pretty hard on rotors. This was pretty much expected. In warmer weather, they're still more rotor aggressive than stock pads, but it's not bad at all. I am not using any anti-squeal shims or anti-squeal compound on the backing plate. I lubed up the guide pins when I installed the pads. They do squeal a fair bit at low speeds on the street, but... again, it's expected since they're not recommended as a street pad. I think the dust may be a bit more than Ultimates (Ultimates dust a lot on WRXs, for some reason). In my opinion, the GT-Sport offers MUCH better pedal feel than the Ultimates and a very strong initial bite. I've found them to be easier to modulate at threshold, and require less pedal pressure to haul the car down. They haven't faded on my car during an autocross, whereas I could get fade out of the Ultimates on brake/left-foot-brake intensive courses. I don't think that they'd be a good choice on my ~3000lbs car with decent power for roadcourse use. However, they do make an exceptional autocross pad. The pads are pretty dusty, but it comes off pretty easily if you wash the wheels weekly. Leave the dust on for 3 weeks, and it'll leave some specks behind. I've had them on the car for probably 6000 miles, 60 autocross runs, and entirely too many violated offramps; still have a lot of meat left on the pads.

I am still on my original set of rotors on the car (17k stock pads, 7k Ultimates, ~7k GT-Sport so about 30k total)

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Bill Hook &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Could it be the weight that was a factor for a WRX?</TD></TR></TABLE>
Car weighs in a little under 3100 pounds. The brake system on the car is actually sized very well for the weight of the car. Fat 11.5" rotors (bigger rotors than the 3500 pound Camaro) and 2 piston calipers.

 

Many interesting posts and opinions here, all of which are valid and mostly accurate, IMO.

The GT-Sport is a dedicated Solo2 compound -- it was designed to deliver optimal, class-leading autocross braking performance. While it is not a street compound (dust level is rather high, and it has a tendency to make noise in some applications), it is "streetable". The dust is non-corrosive, and when driven cold, it is rotor friendly. The Axxis Ultimate, however, is in fact, a better street compound, as it was designed specifically for that usage.

The Feodo D2500 is another compound/pad that falls into the high-performacne street category. This is actually the compound I use on our in-house cars for street use (2 S2000's and one RSX Type-S) -- we use the DS2500 in the front and the Axxis Ultimate in the rear. The Ferodo DS2500 has a very reasonable dust level -- about 15% higher than OE-Honda, and it exhbits quiet operation with ~20% greater braking torque than OE. On one of the S2000's, we currently have 2 tray days at Sebring, one SCCA autocross, and 16k street miles on this setup, and the wear has been very good...should go another 2-3k street miles before change-out (I prefer to change pads out at a depth of ~3mm.

The G3000-spec rotors are an extremely high quality OE-spec rotor. We have tested these in the past on street, autocross, and full IT race use with excellent results. Many of the NASA American Iron drivers use these rotors on their Mustang Cobra applications with excellent wear. Our RSX Type-S Grand Am/SPU car ran a 12 hours enduro on a used set of G3000-spec rotors, and they were still good for 3-4 more sprint races. I feel that the G3000-spec rotors are far better in quality and performance than Brembo "blanks", and our testing has shown as much.

I feel that Cobalt customers are, overall, very factual in their statements and online reviews of products, rather than emotional or "cult-like" in their support for what we do here at Cobalt. For example, in this thread, RJ, who is a Cobalt customer, has stated that he prefers the Carbotech XP to the Cobalt IT-R.spec(B) compound, due to the streetability of the XP compound, period. This is a fair and factual statement which I can certainly appreciate. Likewise, siisgood prefers the Axxis Ultimate to the GT-Sport for street use, and has listed his reasons why.

The Cobalt compounds are designed for specific types of use, as we believe in achieving the optimal performance of each type of vehicle and application -- in other words, we accept zero compromise when it comes to duty-specific performance. For those individuals who wish to change pads and/or tires at the track, and are looking for optimal on-track/competitive performance, then the Cobalt IT-R.spec and GT-R.spec series stand near the very top in terms of performance. For individuals who need or prefer a hybrid/compromise compound (i.e. acceptable streetability with good track performance), then other compounds, such as the Carbotech Panther line, may be a better solution.

The on-track/race performance of Cobalt compounds have attracted both grassroots and professional racers and teams, alike, who are looking for the best possible braking performance. American Honda's Team Honda Research, Roger Foo in Speed World Challenge, Corey Jacobs in NASA East Coast Honda Challenge, and Bryan Shugg in NASA American Iron, are among the numerous drivers/teams who have selected Cobalt race compounds for use on their vehicles, as their priority is zero compromise performance. These individuals/teams have used and tested a wide variety of brake compounds from different manufacturers before deciding to use Cobalt race compounds.

All in all, I feel that Cobalt customers take the time to offer us valuable feedback on our products...and it is this feedback that enables us to improve our product line offerings, rather than make positive or negative statements on public forums for "political" or related reasons. Just my $0.02 worth.

-Andie


Modified by cobalt at 7:20 AM 6/20/2003

 

I will add that i've been very happy with the performance and wear (both rotor and pad) of the IT-R spec(b) pads on track - as long as thats all i was using them for i'd probably stick with them. I'd like to give the GT-R spec pads a try as well, depending on what car i end up with.

RJ

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by .RJ &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I'd like to give the GT-R spec pads a try as well, depending on what car i end up with.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Saturn Ion?

 

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

Saturn Ion? </TD></TR></TABLE>

You've got to be smoking crack

 

Anybody have Mu values for the Ultimates, GT-Sport, and Ferodo DS2500?

I'd like to get more info on the Bobcats, if anyone else has them.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Bill Hook &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Anybody have Mu values for the Ultimates, GT-Sport, and Ferodo DS2500? </TD></TR></TABLE>

Call andie @ cobalt

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I'd like to get more info on the Bobcats, if anyone else has them.

</TD></TR></TABLE>

call matt @ carbotech

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Bill Hook &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Anybody have Mu values for the Ultimates, GT-Sport, and Ferodo DS2500?

I'd like to get more info on the Bobcats, if anyone else has them.

</TD></TR></TABLE>

Per http://www.cobaltbrakes.com

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by WRXRacer111 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I am still running the GT-Sports on my WRX and probably have more time on them than anyone else. In cold weather when I used them (sub-50 degree temps, occasionally 20-30 degrees), they were pretty hard on rotors. This was pretty much expected. In warmer weather, they're still more rotor aggressive than stock pads, but it's not bad at all. I am not using any anti-squeal shims or anti-squeal compound on the backing plate. I lubed up the guide pins when I installed the pads. They do squeal a fair bit at low speeds on the street, but... again, it's expected since they're not recommended as a street pad. I think the dust may be a bit more than Ultimates (Ultimates dust a lot on WRXs, for some reason). In my opinion, the GT-Sport offers MUCH better pedal feel than the Ultimates and a very strong initial bite. I've found them to be easier to modulate at threshold, and require less pedal pressure to haul the car down. They haven't faded on my car during an autocross, whereas I could get fade out of the Ultimates on brake/left-foot-brake intensive courses. I don't think that they'd be a good choice on my ~3000lbs car with decent power for roadcourse use. However, they do make an exceptional autocross pad. The pads are pretty dusty, but it comes off pretty easily if you wash the wheels weekly. Leave the dust on for 3 weeks, and it'll leave some specks behind. I've had them on the car for probably 6000 miles, 60 autocross runs, and entirely too many violated offramps; still have a lot of meat left on the pads.

I am still on my original set of rotors on the car (17k stock pads, 7k Ultimates, ~7k GT-Sport so about 30k total)</TD></TR></TABLE>

Good info here. And thanks for stepping in Andie to clear up all the rest.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by .RJ &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">You've got to be smoking crack</TD></TR></TABLE>

...said the Saturn driver...

Personally, an optimal braking system does not a more aggressive pad on the street than the Ultimate or the Hawk HP pads. There is plenty of initial bite to lock up any street tire during heavy braking (though you shouldn't allow that to happen). You don't have fade issues from street driving and if you do, then your brakes are working improperly or you're a street racer blinger biznatch.

It really sounds like you are making too many compromises with things like cold-stopping, noise (subjective, I realize) and overall friendliness, for benefits you don't see off of the track.

Note: I have Ultimates/Azenis that I drive on the street with (and track when I can) and I can't think of a reason you'd need anything more for a car on the street, unless it logs more HPDE miles than street miles.

 

Oh yeah, forgot one interesting thing... at both ProSolos I've run this year, I've been using the GT-Sport pads. At both events, the other WRXs in my class were using stock pads and other performance pad companies; they all showed more rotor color change than my car... and I'm pretty sure none of the other drivers were abusing the brakes drastically more than I was (I don't think that could be done...) Mine had barely started to change color, while many of theirs were showing dark streaks of blue and purple. In my opinion, this indicates their rotors were getting hotter to generate similar stopping power while under competition use... cooler rotors should mean longer rotor life, so I'd chalk that up as another positive for the GT-Sport compound.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by GSpeedR &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
Note: I have Ultimates/Azenis that I drive on the street with (and track when I can) and I can't think of a reason you'd need anything more for a car on the street, unless it logs more HPDE miles than street miles. </TD></TR></TABLE>

You make an excellent point. I run Axxis Ultimates on the street as well, and I have tracked both the Ultimate and the GT-Sport at Sebring full before. I have wanted to get on the brakes like I do at the track just for the hell of it before on the street, but I can never get my tires warm enough on the street before they lockup. So I see no reason why the Ultimates wouldn't be more than adequate for the street.

As far as track duty, in my experience both pads are great for beginners at HPDE's, but I would go with the GT-Sport at the track, and the Ultimate for the street.

Like Siisgood said, I too felt that the Ultimate provides better cold bite, which is what you want on the street. The GT-Sports squeeked at low speeds and did get quite dusty, but the dust wiped right off when I cleaned them. I have not had any problems with rotor wear either. Once the GT-Sports were warm, they had a great bite and I never got them to fade. Now, I do drive a Civic Ex and I don't quite hit the speeds that some others are hitting, so that is something to keep in mind. However, I did have an instructor take my car for a few laps and he commented on how good my brakes were. This is a car with rear drums.

But in all in all the GT-Sport is a great pad and I will continue to use it as my track dedicated pad and run Ultimates on the street.