Opinions On Carbons Lorraine Brake Pads

[16v205 9]

Hi,

 

I've just done a track day at Anglesey using some rc5's with new bendix calipers and disks and I'm not too sure what to think of them yet. We covered about 150miles on the day which should be enough distance to bed the new disks in, pads apparently work out the box without having to put any heat cycles through them.

 

The rc5 pedal feel was great, at no point did the pedal go soft/spongy, I had full confidence they would stop me every time eventually.

The downside is they didn't really have much stopping power, no real bite. Braking from 100mph took ages, I felt like we were coasting into the bends rather than braking for them.

 

Comparing these to gti6 calipers with ds2500 pads from a few weeks before the rc5 are much weaker. The ds2500 would lock the wheels at 100mph if not carefull, I couldn't lock the wheels at 30mph with the rc5.

 

Anyone have any experience with these?

 

Cheers

Rich

[Anthony 1,002]

Are you sure that your Bendix (1.6) calipers aren't knackered Rich?

 

The vast majority are these days in my experience, and they're pretty woeful in terms of stopping power when they're in that state unfortunately, even with good pads.

 

That's why me and quite a few others tend to run Girling (1.9) calipers, which don't suffer anything like the same age related deterioration.

[welshpug 1,646]

No such issues in a 306 v6, though they were clio sport brembo calipers and a 310mm disc, initial press was lacking but after that was fine, just getting stronger and stronger.

 

a good hard stop would have you straining the belts for sure! cool sparks in the dark too

[16v205 9]

Are you sure that your Bendix (1.6) calipers aren't knackered Rich?

 

The vast majority are these days in my experience, and they're pretty woeful in terms of stopping power when they're in that state unfortunately, even with good pads.

I'm sure there ok, the passenger side caliper I stripped and rebuilt with new seals, the drivers side I exchanged for a brand new one as i wasnt happy if was good enough and fitted it the day before we went.

[16v205 9]

a good hard stop would have you straining the belts for sure! cool sparks in the dark too

I'd have thought so as we'll, the gti6 brakes were like this, it would make you feel sick as a passenger when braking. That's what I want With the rc5 i had enough weight on the pedal to push my back into the seat and could feel something flexing under the pedal, either firewall or the pedal fixtures bu still no chance of braking quicker.

[Anthony 1,002]

I'm sure there ok, the passenger side caliper I stripped and rebuilt with new seals, the drivers side I exchanged for a brand new one as i wasnt happy if was good enough and fitted it the day before we went.

Seals aren't the problem - it's that the slider/casting wears and cause the caliper to not run true to the disk and results in seriously impacted stopping power. It probably won't be obvious yet after just one day, but it's normally bad enough that you can usually see the pads aren't wearing square when you remove them.

 

I've seen supposedly "reconditioned" calipers with the same issue out of the box too, as unfortunately, they're often not checked/repaired properly and the recon seems to consist of new seals and a cleanup.

 

The usual tale-tale that something isn't right is that you'll get a knock noise from the front brakes when you reverse and first press the pedal.

[16v205 9]

Ant, I hadn't found any wear in the sliders when I stripped them. There isnt any side to side movement i could notice when fitted to the car. They certainly don't knock and bang like the ones I used to have years ago which were a little on the weak side. The car also brakes perfectly straight with varying levels of braking force, I'd expect it to be pulling if a caliper was worn enough to effect braking performance so badly?

[SPGTi 2]

Well the rc6 carbon Lorraine pads I use have no problem stopping. That is with the std 1.9 girdling calliper

 

Steve

[16v205 9]

Cheers Steve,

 

Just a quick question, can you lock the wheels if you wanted to at speed? I've also got a new set of rc6 (long story why I have both) I can try.

[DanteICE 72]

I'm running RC5+ atm and they're on 1.9 calipers. Sometimes don't realise how good they are, till my face has recovered.

[Batfink 201]

I've been selling them for years and you would be the first to complain about the braking power they give. The pads don't transfer material to the disc so don't need bedding in with discs or any other method associated with other pad materials. Something else is an issue I would say.

[16v205 9]

Cheers for the input guys, it looks like its just me that's having a issue with this braking setup then. I'm actually happy to hear that the pads are working well for others as I've got 2 sets of these to run through. I must admit I searched for people's opinions over the last few days and apart from eating through cheap disks and possible paint damage i couldnt find any bad experiences. I didn't want to go throwing money at calipers if others people were having similar results.

 

Ill swap the passenger caliper for a new one first, see if that makes any difference. Like Anthony said it might have wear I've not found and plus its the cheapest bit to swap. The front brakes would be completely new then.

 

Hopefully get another trackday in over march to test it out

 

Cheers

Rich

[SPGTi 2]

Cheers Steve,

Just a quick question, can you lock the wheels if you wanted to at speed? I've also got a new set of rc6 (long story why I have both) I can try.

Yes, you can lock the wheels if you want. I find them very easy to modulate. I have been running these up front with pagid blues at the back for quite a few years now ( well long enough to see the price nearly double).

 

Steve