CSG Spec C2 Brake Pads Review
 

- CSG C2 Brake Pad Review -

When I started tracking the goal was to keep cost down. I bought Winmax W4 a hybrid street/track pad. They were a compromise in both cases, not good enough on track and sub optimal on the street. They wore down quickly so I jumped to Winmax W5 and ultimately W6 when my pace increased.

Then I went to my first race pad and purchased Project Mu 999 pads. They were great on track with strong initial bite and plenty of capacity with absolutely no fade. The biggest con with those pads was they were an on/off pad with minimal modulation.

Finally I jumped to the CSG Spec C2 pads and they have been amazing! Just as much bite compared to 999, but much better modulation. My pace is even faster now and the pads won't fade whatsoever. Not to mention they last forever! I've done 9 track days on them so far and as you can see in the photos they have plenty of meat left. Higher cost yes, but they last twice or even three times as long so they end up saving money in the long run. Highly recommend!

you swapping pads for DD driving and rotors?

My bro used to have a Mini with brakes/pads (OEM) that felt ON/OFF too. Worst feeling brakes I have ever driven with. My current OEM PP brembo pads feel the best I have ever driven as well. Perfectly analog modulation, how much brake pedal force you apply is how much braking power you will get. I will either get OEM again or maybe try the CSG pads since their products are always good stuff.

How do you stop these pad from squealing? I've been running these for a month or so. Bedded in multiple times. Added Ti shims with a light coating of Brembo shim grease that promptly shot out all over my wheels(maybe it wasn't so light, lol). The Ti shims cut about 50% of squeal, but any hard braking once warmed up still feels like it could blow my ear drums if I have my windows down.

Interesting, mine don't squeal when warm only at light pressure at slow speed. I have driven them almost exclusively on the street with only one track day, because 2020.

These are track pads, are you sure you got them warm enough to transfer pad material?

You using any sort of shim?

I went though the full bedding process twice. I actually managed to boil my fluid the second time. I then bled the brakes, running 2L of Motul through to get as much of factory fluid out using a power bleeder.

I added the Ti shims and grease to try and reduce the crazy squeal I get. It cut out about 50% but, if I scrub a good amount of speed down to <15mph or so, they can squeal so loud its painful with the windows down. Like coming down main 55mph road to turn into side street.

I get these are track pads, I don't expect them to be quiet. I just didn't expect them to be so insanely loud.

No shims and the original grease burned off it the first two stops lol. The way I describe how they sound is like bus or industrial truck brakes. They make noise but it should be bearable. I have ridden in cars with Hawk track pads and those pads squeal like a banshee if you even look at them, warm or cold.

My best recommendation is to keep bedding them until the noise goes away. Also if you can take a picture of your rotors so the thread can see how much pad material has been deposited. :thumbsup:

I'm going to pull everything apart this weekend to clean off the ejected shim grease. I'll put it back together without any grease.

I had the blue hazing and smell after I bed them in the first two times. What should the rotors look like now?

front:
https://i.imgur.com/chcWQjm.jpg

rear:
https://i.imgur.com/GOVpyLy.jpg

1. Racing compounds will always be noisy. Some are noisier than others. Every compound has a nice resonant frequency that it hits to make that beautiful cry of greatness and some compounds have a much larger range of frequencies than others.

2. In terms of heat, the pads do need more heat than the normal sprint compound. It does, however, run "cooler" than other compounds considering its application window. On paper, CSG compounds appear to have a more narrow optimal temp range than competing compounds, but the operating window and max performance ceiling you will experience is consistent while other compounds drop off with heat.

3. Proper bedding provides a nice transfer layer on the disc. If you're putting in tons of street mileage and ultra light braking, the transfer layer will eventually wear off (think of sandpaper rubbing on wood). You'll want to bed (or also known as burnish) the discs again to create a good transfer layer. That transfer layer acts as a little lubricant and that effectively reduces the harshness of NVH.

4. Out of the many brake pads for large caliper setups, CSG C2 has been consistently reported as lower NVH than competing compounds. Of course, disclaimer is always, this is a race product and it's what our racing clients use to find an edge against their competitors.

5. Match up with stickier tire compounds and the brakes will feel confident and assuring. The stiffness and linear consistency is key so you, as the driver, can modulate the right amount of pressure to provide the optimum braking force required to slow down. :)

You'll want to properly burnish the pads. Get them hot enough to be smoking by accelerating and braking at about 70% pressure (NO ABS); that smoke is the resins from production burning off. Maintain that temperature until it stops smoking, and then let it evenly cool down. Highway driving is best; you don't want to come to a stop or drive at low speeds while cooling.

Once you do this, the noise should be minimal, and only manifest at low speed low pressure stops.

If you are using brake temp paint, you need green and orange to be oxidized. Pink/red doesn't need to be.

If you're boiling your fluid doing this, either you need a higher grade fluid, or you're inadvertently getting ABS intervention, or possibly both.

Your rotors look good, but if your pads smoked both times you went to burnish them, then they're probably not done burnishing.

Expect judder during the burnishing process.

Here's mine after the last event.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...1f0bd1b9_b.jpg

My first event on these pads was done with stock tires/wheels and suspension. This time I was on KWs and 18x9.5s with 255 width 200tw tires. Additionally, the last track was pretty much all 2nd and 3rd gear, where as this track was 3rd and 4th, and one straight long enough for 5th. Long straights down to 2nd/3rd gear hairpins essentially. So much tougher on brakes.

The brakes did get pretty hot. I got ONE instance towards the end of the day where I noticed a slight bit of fade and the pedal getting slightly mushy, but I finished that lap as a cooldown lap and then carried on without issue; perfectly firm pedal again.

After some discussion with Mike, the wear pattern suggests that the fact I've been using the same rotors between street and track pads (switching before/after events) has caused some built up material. So I'm gonna get another set of rotors.

Aside from that though, I'm really happy with the pads. Easier to modulate than my old PMU CRs I've run, and a bit more braking force, and a lot more fade resistant. They worked pretty well on the stock tires, and they worked great on these 255s.

Expensive, yes; but if I'm able to get as many events as some of the other people in this thread, I'll be pretty happy.

This is also track dependent and where your brakes are being used more. Paired with the fact that the transfer layer can be scrubbed off with enough street driving, you are essentially "rebedding" the brakes or perhaps bedding the brakes in for the first time. The green fade does make the pedal go a tad soft and the bite gets reduced. Afterwards, the pads become very consistent and linear with none of the "peaky" brake feeling you get when you first install the pads.

Looking forward to more feedback. :)