I have been thinking of trying the Bobcats on my 01 Prelude for Autoxing only no track days. The car is also daily driven. Does anyone have experience on these pads? Thoughts and impressions? Thanks

 

Not personally. But I know Tom Hoppe (Nationally-competitive Solo2-only STX Subaru) runs them and swears by them. He posts up on here sometimes, maybe he;ll chime in.

 

I'll lurk around for him, thanks.

 

For autox, I prefer the Axxis Ultimates.

I put a set of Bobcats on my daily driver because I was thinking about switching pads on my autox car, but at this point I'm sticking with Ultimates for now.

The benefits the Bobcats offer over the ultimates are:

1) not as much dust
2) reported to be easier on rotors (just heresay at this point)
3) has a bit of a higher heatrange (good for heavier cars)

Ultimates benefits over Bobcats

1) better cold stopping
2) much quicker bite
3) overall seem to just bite a little better, even when the babcats are warmed up, IMO.
4) cheaper price

So, take that for what it's worth.

 

I've autocrossed with them on two separate STX WRX's and I can say with confidence that they don't suck. In STX at least, it's so easy to get in to the ABS in a WRX that stock pads would be fine, I would imagine. On my car, I prefer my Panther + pads with a little brake pedal dragging as I drive up to the line. I liked the feel of the P+ over other pads on other cars I've driven with and without as well.

That's my take. I use the Ultimates on the rear of my car.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Solo-X &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">carbotech bobcats:
- minimal dust (slightly more then stock, but not much)
- awesome cold braking
- awesome warm braking
- good fade resistance (i've only had them fade a bit on me after 3 autocross runs on a 70+ second, brake intensive course with only 2 minutes between runs)
- excellent modulation (important for street tires)
- strong initial bite, very linear braking response vs. pedal pressure (important for street tires)

for a street tired autocross car i think these things are about as good as it can get. any more initial bite and you'd lock the tires at initial application.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

i originally said that in May of this year. i still feel the same way. i daily drive these, plus autocross nearly every weekend. they dust the most on the daily driving, but i typically will go almost 2 weeks before needing to clean the wheels. lately i've had a little noise coming from the pads as well. i don't use any isolaters on the pads though like the factory does, so that might be the cause. it only happens when i'm not applying any brake force. goes away as soon as i touch the pedal.

one thing i have learned though. if you aggressively left foot brake, you _might_ experience a little pad transfer onto the rotor. once these pads wear out i plan on trying the panther plus to see if this goes away. of course, i could just learn to use the brakes less...

nate

 

Not sure why the thread starter has had a bad experience with carbotech. I use to run 1108s on a 3400lb. tt supra at Road Atlanta (easy on brakes except for 10a), TGPR (rough on brakes and tires) and Barber (somewhere in between). I did duct the crap out of my rotors. I never had issues with them failing or getting used up that fast. And with a heavy car you have to both street bed and then track bed the pads (1st session short and light). I may not be the latest braker on the planet but I do brake aggressively (in the supra I could feel abs pulsing at several points each lap). I just put 1109s on the front of the B18c CRX and have bedded them in but no track work yet. I have once again run ducting to the rotors which I think it is penny wise and pound foolish not to and even more so that lower temps equal better performance and less maintenance issues. I know several people in Improved touring running 1110s and 1109s and they like the pads.
Barry H.

 

I didn't see him having a bad experience, just asking for opinions about the bobcats.

 

Should of mentioned this earlier in the post, the car is an 01 Prelude no mod's except for AEM CAI, runs in STS on Falken Azenis. I am still on the OEM pads (but will need to change out soon). I appreciate all the replies

 

I've got Bobcats on both my Impreza 2.5RS and also my Civic. Both cars get autocrossed quite a bit and the Bobcats work great. No complaints.

 

Lots of guys in STS and STX are running Bobcats. You can't run a really whoop-*** strong pad with street tires. You just lock up/ABS all over the place. I tried Panther Plus (too strong for STS, IMO), and recommend them to guys on R-compound tires. But for STS/STX, Bobcats are the choice.

I extend an open invitaion for anyone to ride with me on an autocross course that doesn't think the Bobcat is a top-notch street/autocross pad.

 

Word on the street tires, I forgot about that. I'm going to switch to the Bobcats or similar for STX next season.