Mike D

A recent post motivated me to post this info so it will maybe help people out in the long run.

Now the car is a 92 civic dx with stock brakes, stock engine(even the I/E), and azenis. Both were used on the same track, Lime Rock park. Both days i had near/over 1.5 hours of track time.

The ultimates are indeed a nice pad, but i wouldnt buy them again unless it was for a street car that didnt see track time, or they were a"street" pad. They held up good for my first ever track day, but once i got comfortable, they were kind of mushy by the end of the last session and the ride home. Overall decent for the track, but if you plan on doing numerous track days and take them seriously, dont waste your money.

The GT sports were a good bit better than the ultimates. They didnt offer really what i wanted, but were better. They did seem to overheat a little bit into T1, but i was beating them harder than i did with the ultimates. They didnt fade at all until the very end of the last session, but even then it wasnt half as bad as the ultimates. Personally i wish i would have bought the gt sports first. Im going to throw the ultimates on once the weather gets cold but thats just because the gt sports squeak.

Im my opinion, i wouldnt buy the ultimates for a street/track pad. Waste of money. They are a good street pad, however. GT sports are a much better option for street/track. Both throw lots of dust.

Even now, my next set will be a more dedicated track pad. Maybe ferodo's or carbotechs.

Hope this helps someone.


Mike

Todd00

Here's my take on the Ultimates:

Out of 5 stars.

Street:
Autox:
Track: *

*note that I have not used the Ultimates on the track, but from going by other folks--they do not hold up to the heat. I have heard that they work well on the rear of a track car.

However, They were not designed to be a good track pad. They do not need much heat in them to work, which is great for a street pad and excellent for an autox pad. The only reason they did not get 4 stats for the street is because of the way they dust.

Evan55

I have used the GT-sport on track, and street
I have used the ultimates on track, autox and street.

Ultimates: great street pads, good bite. some dust that sprayed off easy. Great autoX pads, no warm up time decent bite. On track, they held up great even on Jefferson Circuit on a July day with 2 people in my 3100 lb car. very little fade. pads were crumbling on the edges when I took them off . (I probably wasnt braking as hard back then as I do now though)

GT-Sport: horrible street pads. absolutely kills your rotors. Had them on the car for about a month of street use and they destroyed an almost new rotor pair. Dust caked onto wheels, would not come off.
on the track, did not perform well for me. At VIR they would not get through a single braking zone without fading to almost no torque. modulation and bite was good. Again I have a heavy car and brake pretty hard, but this was also on a track pretty easy on brakes.

I have heard of others having good luck with GT-S so YMMV, but personally if you are going to spend the $$ on a set of race pads for the track you should go with something that will hold up better

MaddMatt

I like ultimates. I currently have them on the daily driver POS Eclipse. I'll swap out between several different pads (Ultimates and Bobcat in particular) to remind myself how they perform and therefore be able to speak intelligently to customers about them. They dust a good bit. That's actually the #1 complaint we get about them. Work well though. And the price is right ($45-75 for most front pads).

.RJ

I have ultimates on my integra on the street. They are better than stock and a decent street pad. For the price they were pretty good, but if i had anything other than steelies on the car i'd probably just use stock pads since they dont dust.

RJ

cobalt

Brake pad performance will differ from vehicle to vehicle, as well as be somewhat dependant upon the conditions under which they are used.

The results that elgorey experienced are not typical for various reasons, though I certainly appreciate the frankness of his response here. Elgorey was provided with a set of beta-test Cobalt GT-Sport pads in December 2002, during which time we were testing various versions of this compound (among others). The final version (current formulation) of the Cobalt GT-Sport was not released to the public until March 2003.

The Cobalt GT-Sport is designed to be a dedicated Solo2/Autocross compound, while also being suitable for track use on lighter vehicles. The intended use of the GT-Sport on the WRX, which is a rather heavy and fast vehicle, is not track, but Autocross and street only.

The optimal temperature range for the Cobalt GT-Sport is 100F-900F, and during the winter time (December-February), in the geographic region where elgorey tested/ran the GT-Sport, daily ambient temperatures often go as low as 30F, which are well outside the operating ranges of high-performance street pads, including the Axxis Ultimate. In retrospect, having elgorey as a beta-tester for the GT-Sport, primarily given the seasonal weather conditions, was not the best decision on my part; elgorey was selected and offered the chance to test the beta-version of the GT-Sport because we had a mutual rapport, and he is both objective and open in his opinions.

This being said, the current/final formulation for the Cobalt GT-Sport has provided our customers with an effective, high-performance solution for a combination of street/autocross and light to moderate track use, and continues to be one of our most popular products. Elgorey's results on a beta-version formulation of the Cobalt GT-Sport do not reflect accurately on the current/final formulation of the Cobalt GT-Sport compound. I will say that the rotor aggressive nature under the cold winter conditions were discussed very briefly, but the severity of it, as described in this thread, were not made clear to me at the time we conducted a performance review via telephone.

The other end of the spectrum in terms of typical results with the Cobalt GT-Sport, includes customers who have used the compound at the track and autocross with excellent results, including the easy removal of brake dust after not having washed the wheels in over one month. Noise and dust levels are made clear to all customers who purchase the GT-Sport, as while the compound is streetable, it is designed to be a class-leading Solo2 compound, and not a dedicated street compound.

-Andie

siisgood00

I left [TONS] of the Gt-Sport dust on for over a week after I tested them @ Sebring full and it came off like OEM dust.

.RJ

do they come off after being rained on and sitting for a month like that?

siisgood00

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by .RJ &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">do they come off after being rained on and sitting for a month like that?</TD></TR></TABLE>
dunno.

Eee Pee

Yes they do.

Simple Green and a long toothed brush.

My wheels look almost black, then back to silverish.

.RJ

cool, Panther+ dust doesnt come off very easily if left on

my own fault though

Mike D

I have never used the ultimates in an auto-x, but i have heard from many(like those in this thread) they do very well.

The Gt sports i used must have been the newer compound since i bought them about 3 weeks ago. Havent noticed any problems with my rotors. They dust like heel, but it does come off pretty easy.


RJ. Did you get my IMs??


Mike

whitney

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Todd00 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Here's my take on the Ultimates:

Out of 5 stars.

Street:
Autox:
Track: *

*note that I have not used the Ultimates on the track, but from going by other folks--they do not hold up to the heat. I have heard that they work well on the rear of a track car.

However, They were not designed to be a good track pad. They do not need much heat in them to work, which is great for a street pad and excellent for an autox pad. The only reason they did not get 4 stats for the street is because of the way they dust. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Just to chime in, I agree with this assessment 100%. I had been looking for a cheap street and autocross pad with excellent bite that can handle longer autocross courses, and I found it in the Ultimates. And I'm not dumb enough to try them on the track, but I bet they would be fine for a beginner in most circumstances.

I run them on all my street and autocross cars - Miata, Civic, E30 BMW and E36 BMW, and they perform very well in all cases. Very similar to OE BMW Pagid pads in many respects. The dust sucks, but I don't care about that. I'm considering getting ultimates for my tow rig as well

Solracer

I used Axxis Ultimates at my very first HPDE.. .at CMP and they held up for 5 novice sessions, and I also ran them @ VIR north and VIR Full, I know have p+'s on the car and they are better, but the ultimates were definatly and improvment over what I had on before.

96 SOHC VTEC

Ultimate - Great street pad and beginner track pad. I had no problems with this pad and I continue to use it on the street now. I love them and I will purchase them again.

GT-Sport. I noticed the difference immediately. It grabbed a lot harder and was less prone to fading on the track in my second HPDE. It does squeak on the street though. I think it produces more dust as well.

The brake dust came off rather easily with a few towels.


Both pads are great, but I think one issue that I never hear touched on is speed people are acheving. I think this is one reason I have liked the pads so much, and may here more complaints from others.

The power of the car should be mentioned sometimes. Not only does the WRX weigh more than my car, but you would be hitting a lot higher speeds on a straightaway than my Civic Ex would. More speed, more braking.

Just something to think about IMO.

Mike D

<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">Both pads are great, but I think one issue that I never hear touched on is speed people are acheving. I think this is one reason I have liked the pads so much, and may here more complaints from others.

The power of the car should be mentioned sometimes. Not only does the WRX weigh more than my car, but you would be hitting a lot higher speeds on a straightaway than my Civic Ex would. More speed, more braking.

Just something to think about IMO. </TD></TR></TABLE>

at lime rock i was hitting a hair over 100, to 105 on the front straight. I have 97 crank hp, so braking was minimal over the rest of the track.

Good Point though.

Mike