CGS service and pads.

[Tokay444]

I approached Mike here in a PM about a month ago looking for some guidance on pad selection. His responses were immediate and professional and gave me the insight I needed to be confident in his recommendation.
I was torn on what pads to put on my 2017 non-Brembos.
I track the car, but it's also my daily driver. I needed a pad that was better at both than what I've tried so far.
I run tires in the RE-71R, R-S4 range, in 245/40/17 on RCE Tarmac 2. I normally run Motul DOT 5.1 but have run RBF600 as well. I've faded my brakes with Carbotech AX-6 (or whatever that compound has now become), DS2500, and a few others I can’t even recall at the moment. I was running Power Stop Track Day Spec that I hadn’t tracked yet, because I needed something in a pinch. The dust sucks on both the DS2500 and the Power Stop. I liked PMus HC+800, but they discontinued them.
I like a lot of initial bite, and was hoping for less dust.
Mike came up with a combination of C1 on the front and C11 on the rear, and justified why. I pulled the trigger on the order and got everything on the car with fresh DBA disks.
My initial impressions are that these pads fit the bill for my requirements on the street perfectly. I’ll have to kick the crap out of them on the track next, and lastly will be their longevity. So far I have no reason to believe they won’t live up to their claims.

[churchx]

At one point i wanted to avoid pad swap pre/post trackday and wanted some that do acceptable at both, even if it costs more, so back then i thought that C1 would be "it", "the holy grail", but after DD using them throughout year i changed my mind, and went for pad swapping pre/post trackday as most do.
From my experiences (on stock brakes though), C1 has best braking feel from all the pads i tried, and keeps that feel consistently from cold brakes on street use to gloving red rotors (Mike certainly is right on that), and they didn't squeel like most other track-pads. Purely braking wise they do the job and do well. Just that .. they dusted even more then DS2500 (which i'm using for DD now), and during DD they wore down themselves & rotors much quicker (probably due used unbedded during DD). Dusting & lasting less despite high cost made me reconsider having one pad used for everything. Now i use DS2500 for DD & C1 on track, simply bought tools to quicken/ease swap (like cordless torque wrench, dynamometric wrench, light alu hydraulic jack, pad spreader tool, small rachet with ends for caliper bolts and so on). I simply don't want to wash wheels that often, and if i paid premium for wonderful track pads .. penny-pinching me don't want to "spend" most of those pads during daily driving.
BTW, imho motul rbf600 is slightly underspec for track use. It's relatively very cheap & commonly available, but imho needs to be changed often, rbf660 not much better, i'd consider something like PMU G-Four 335/Endless RF650/Castrol SRF/Brembo HTC 64T.

[ZDan]

FWIW for track+street usage I've always had better performance over a longer time with name-brand (Pennzoil, Castrol, etc) DOT4 or DOT5.1 from any auto parts store. Every time I've tried specialized high-temp "track" brake fluid I've had to caliper-bleed or flush it sooner. With ATE200 it was after one track day in the S2000, whereas I could go 4-6 track days plus street usage over 2-3 month period with off-the-shelf parts store fluid.

Currently running CSG C2 pads, love them. Great performance over a wide temperature range, with characteristics I like (strong initial bite), and very long life.
Might try Spec CP next time...

[Tokay444]

Originally Posted by ZDan

FWIW for track+street usage I've always had better performance over a longer time with name-brand (Pennzoil, Castrol, etc) DOT4 or DOT5.1 from any auto parts store. Every time I've tried specialized high-temp "track" brake fluid I've had to caliper-bleed or flush it sooner. With ATE200 it was after one track day in the S2000, whereas I could go 4-6 track days plus street usage over 2-3 month period with off-the-shelf parts store fluid.

Currently running CSG C2 pads, love them. Great performance over a wide temperature range, with characteristics I like (strong initial bite), and very long life.
Might try Spec CP next time...

I have a Motive Powerbleeder. Worth its weight in gold. SRF will be easier to get now that I’m living in the US.

[gcmak]

Originally Posted by ZDan

Might try Spec CP next time...

You might like CP on the street better, but I'm assuming with your track experience, you'll overwhelm their temp limitations after 1-2 hot laps in most situations. Although you do have PP brakes, which would help with the heat. I've run the CP on the Supra and GR86 (still do) and I like em a lot, just have to drive within their temp profile. They are holding up really well and have been very kind to my rotors.

[cmiovino]

Originally Posted by Tokay444

I have a Motive Powerbleeder. Worth its weight in gold.

I hate to admit it, but I've never actually bled brakes correctly. Tried once way back about 10 years ago on an Outback I was working on and only got them spongy enough to get it to the shop. This was doing your normal petal pump method.

I've seen videos on the Motive Powerbleeder and it looks like a piece of cake. Is it really that easy? Just pump it up ~10psi, go to a corner, open it up, keep the pressure up between bleeds, and that's it?

[NoHaveMSG]

Originally Posted by cmiovino

I hate to admit it, but I've never actually bled brakes correctly. Tried once way back about 10 years ago on an Outback I was working on and only got them spongy enough to get it to the shop. This was doing your normal petal pump method.

I've seen videos on the Motive Powerbleeder and it looks like a piece of cake. Is it really that easy? Just pump it up ~10psi, go to a corner, open it up, keep the pressure up between bleeds, and that's it?

Pretty much. Makes a full fluid flush and bleed a 30 min job.

Flush with denatured alcohol when finished.

[Tokay444]

Originally Posted by cmiovino

I hate to admit it, but I've never actually bled brakes correctly. Tried once way back about 10 years ago on an Outback I was working on and only got them spongy enough to get it to the shop. This was doing your normal petal pump method.

I've seen videos on the Motive Powerbleeder and it looks like a piece of cake. Is it really that easy? Just pump it up ~10psi, go to a corner, open it up, keep the pressure up between bleeds, and that's it?

Yep! I go diagonally still, but that about sums it up.

[CSG Mike]

Originally Posted by gcmak

You might like CP on the street better, but I'm assuming with your track experience, you'll overwhelm their temp limitations after 1-2 hot laps in most situations. Although you do have PP brakes, which would help with the heat. I've run the CP on the Supra and GR86 (still do) and I like em a lot, just have to drive within their temp profile. They are holding up really well and have been very kind to my rotors.

With PP brakes, the CP will most likely actually be able to hold up to more than 1-2 laps at a time; I had no issue with CP on my turbo BRZ with CSG Brembo BM4, but I'm also fairly nice to my brakes.

The only oddity is the CP is noisy on the PP calipers, even though it's quiet on the base calipers and every other BBK, as well as on the Supra.

Shims are included for the CP in PP fitment (and PP fitment only) for this reason.