I ran my car at Watkins Glen a few weeks ago at an open track event. This was the 2nd track event for my car since I swapped to the LS1 front brakes. Heres what I found out:
-Even the mighty LS1 brakes can be pushed into fade if you brake hard enough. I had to drive straight thru the inner loop when I experimented with delaying the braking point on the back straight.
-I was rather disappointed in brake pad life. I was running Carbotech 1109 pads. The wore right down to the rivets after 300 miles on the track. Since the pads cost twice as much as the same pad for the stock front calipers and did not last any longer, this is bad news for the budget. I will be switching to the pad compound I ran on the stock brakes (Hawk blue) to get a better comparison on performance and life. Of course they cost even more than the Carbotech pads, still bad for the budget.
-The brake rotors are also destroyed after only 400 miles on the race track (serious stress cracks). I expected the bigger rotors would run cooler and last longer than the stock pieces. Well, they didn't. I will experiment with different rotor makers to see if I can find some better ones.
-My brake fluid turned black which was completely unexpected. I still can't explain why this happened. Now I have to change the brake fluid...I hate changing brake fluid.
-On the good news side, except for the drive thru at the inner loop, the brakes performed well. I had incredible amounts of stopping power at the other braking zones on the track.

 

LS1 brakes are better then the stock 3rd gen's, but they are by no means a race track brake.

Sounds like heat is your main enemy. Are you running any air ducts?

 

Sounds like you seriously over-cooked the brakes. You may want to step up to heavier duty brakes like Spohn's Wilwood kit.

 

The big difference between street rotors and real race rotors is the material they are made of. Proper race rotors such as WilWood, Coleman, Brembo etc are made of a much higher quality alloy to resist heat cracking and rotor wear. Of course they also cost more.

Stay away from off shore brands. A lot of the fancy zinc washed, slotted "boy racer" rotors are junk. They may look fancy...but the actual castings are usually made in China or Taiwan. IMHO I'd go with Bendix, Raybestos or OEM AC Delco. Note: AC Delco has some performace rotors in their HP catalog which I've heard some good things about.

Add some air ducts!! The more the better.

Pads? Performance Friction pads are very good. Their 01 compound is excellant, better than Hawk Blues...but pricier.

 

I have to agree with what a few others said, they are simply not hard core racing parts.

DOes anyone make a ceramic rotor/pad combo for an LS1 or Vette? That be what you need. Of course the parts may cost more than the car is worth...

Good to know approximate limitations of the LS1/Z06 brake upgrade...

 

I have two 3" ducts going to each front rotor.

I was running questionable rotors. I bought them on Ebay for $50 each (slotted). I thought they may be poor quality for that price but my style is typically to try low cost parts just to see if they will hold up. Sometimes they do and I can save some money. When they don't, I switch to better quality more expensive pieces.

 

92zzz28,
I was running Carbotech pads. I believe they are a ceramic/metallic pad. I'm not completely sure though.

I have seen these problems with the stock brakes too (can't get the car slowed down, rotors over heat and crack very quickly). I found improvements by switching to a higher friction brake pad. I have heard good things about the PF 01 pads from others but the price is scary.

 

I'd put a lot of blame on those rotors. I use Raybestos rotors and they are a very good rotor. The BEST replacement rotor I have seen up close was a rotor from Baer. That thing was impressive.


Ed

 

Which Baer rotors, the two piece or one piece ones? Those two piece ones are soooooo expensive...

I have a set of Wagner rotors for my soon to be installed Z06 brakes. They look very nice, but we'll see how they hold up.

 

No factory GM brakes will hold up to race conditions - rotors warp or stress crack too easily - that's the facts. Calipers hold up fine, but the rotors are the problemo. Most race cars use 2 piece rotors made of different alloys that can be tortured and still not crack. The aluminum hats that are used help the rotor keep from being stressed by taking a dimension (x-y) out of the equation. You can upgrade to Eradispeeds to take care of the rotor problem. It also seems like the LS1 brake pads are too small for the car, you should not wear them down to the rivets that easily. I'm not sure of an easy solution for that one, but maybe a different pad would keep it from happening next time.

 

One piece cast. I bought one to fit up the C4 HD brakes and then sent it back unused. Very heavy duty and lots of metal on it, it's just that it was a LOT of money:

$145 for ONE rotor.

Ed

 

Brembo makes an LS1 OEM replacment rotor for fairly cheap, check out tirerack for it...

 

I bought some Wagner rotors from Rock Auto. The price was right ($18.99 each, about $25 each with shipping). I was really suprised to get a name brand for that price. Another plus is that they are made in the USA. I'm not sure how they will hold up but for $25 each, I couldn't pass them up.

Rock Auto has several LS1 rotors from various manufacturers for various prices. I will also try some of the more expensive ones to see if they last longer.