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Lotus in the Peak
28th - 30th June 2024

Brake Pads - Different Front To Rear?


DeanB

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I am weighing up whether to put different pads on the rear to those on the front axle.

I have CL RC5+ on the front and rear currently but the rears are about done.

The idea is to fit RC6s on the rear to try and get the rear brakes to do a bit more.

The standard car has most of the brake bias to the front to avoid any real chance of the rears locking before the fronts because rear lock ups usually mean spins and likely crashes. I suspect Lotus added a pretty big margin for error to be on the safe side which makes me think there is room for 'improvement' perhaps.

I am also mindful of the fact that my car is lower, has rake, stickier tyres and stiffer springs - all of which affect weight transfer and therefore brake bias. The bias is, dynamically, already different to the standard car.

 

I obviously don't want to change the balance too much, but might the RC6s be ok?

 

Jody has done this and says it works great. Alan on the other hand counsels against. At the moment I think I am more against the idea then for it because I don't want the car to be dangerous. Having said that the idea of more retardation is tempting, especially as the car does more

 

What says MLOC?

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I think on track where you have relatively stable conditions it would be fine.

 

That additional rear bias mixed with fast road use on uneven, manhole and cowshit covered roads where some moron could pull out on you at a moments notice would have me running for the hills though.

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My front cl5's were very low so I popped in a set of yellow stuff while the new cl5's arrived. Foot on brakes not much happened, pressed harder rears locked and the car snaked, fortunately it was on a straight section of road and I was able to ease off.

That was enough to to convince me to never mix pads. Your proposal is not as bad as the miss match I tried and is the combination Jody uses with great success. Not for me though

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I've fitted the Cl6's as mentioned, amazing difference really does now stop great.

As for being alittle to rearendy well I've had no issues so far, and in the wet seems fine too.

 

I do have 295 front disks however.

And will be running them like this from now on.

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It's not easy this is it?

 

I drove Sheldon's car at Blyton at the weekend and I could brake 5 metres later for the chicane on the back straight. His has bigger front discs (they are AP on ally bells so top quality) and Pagid RS42s (I think) all round.

Maybe just new discs and new RC5+ will improve things. My rear discs are old and rubbish.

 

 

Ps on CL's website they talk about using different pads on different axles. They make it sound normal.

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I've fitted the Cl6's as mentioned, amazing difference really does now stop great.

As for being alittle to rearendy well I've had no issues so far, and in the wet seems fine too.

 

I do have 295 front disks however.

And will be running them like this from now on.

I agree.... I little rearendy but stops when you need them too...... 1st hand experience hahahaha

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I drove Sheldon's car at Blyton at the weekend and I could brake 5 metres later for the chicane on the back straight. His has bigger front discs (they are AP on ally bells so top quality) and Pagid RS42s (I think) all round.

Maybe just new discs and new RC5+ will improve things. My rear discs are old and rubbish.

 

 

Ps on CL's website they talk about using different pads on different axles. They make it sound normal.

 

Dean - You have mentioned that your pads are passed their best? In my own experience i have found that the performance does reduce drastically within the life of the pad. How much will depend on many factors like wear, heat cycles etc. 

I have been in similar situations myself on both the S1 and S2. 

The S1 had Pagids 42's which was great until about 2/3rd's worn. They then felt like wood with very little braking at all. I then went to CL 5's which in comparison felt so much better. But i would have been comparing to when the braking had deteriorated. (i think a new set of Pagid's 42 would have been just as good)

 

The S2 had CL 5's which was great. Then until on one trackday didn't work as they should. I swapped over to CL 6's. A huge difference, but i would have been comparing to worn out CL 5's. However i am finding it hard to feel the limit on the CL 6's especially now the weather is getting a little colder and grip levels are reducing.

Once this set i have are worn out (not long to go again) i will be potentially going back to CL5's or even Pagids 42's (hopefully with reduced on road squeal) 

 

You also need to remember that these type of pads are designed for "non road" use, ie track/race. Therefore swapping compounds around on the axles is a common practice in a relatively safe consistent environment on a race track.

 

Jody - If i remember correctly you generally do not run with much rake? If this is still the case it will obviously help keep some extra weight over the rear end.

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 Jody - If i remember correctly you generally do not run with much rake? If this is still the case it will obviously help keep some extra weight over the rear end.

 

No I've always had a little over 10mm of rake Alan.

 

As most will know I've never felt my brakes to be great so having played around with them a lot, different fluids, fresh fluid, regular changes and bleeding a lot to optimise them I decided to try aluminium bells up front.

This worked a little better but still felt low on power, so I purchased some 295 front discs and moved the Ali bells to the rear (Cl5's all round at this point) Now at Blyton I could at most manage 8-10 laps before the brakes felt poor and I pitted.

Now I could manage much more and run for 20mins!

 

Knowing that pad compounds are and can be used on different axles my rears were due a change so I decided to try the Cl6's on the rear, and well they feel even better and braking on fast runs I don't brake as hard due to the better stopping power.

 

Cl6's on the rear may not suit all however and knowing they are not cheap it was a leap of faith knowing that I may need to buy some more Cl5's if the Cl6's were too much on the rear.

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Steve I haven't checked the master cylinder but I will ask Gav to have a look when it goes in for service.

Jody have you ever felt the rears lock up with the RC6s on the rear? (I'm thinking of Kieran's cryptic comment above!). That's what I'm afraid of really. At the end of the day I'm not competing and not timing laps so it seems daft to run it on the edge.

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