What track pads for CCM rotors

My experience:

Tracked my 458 at Sebring (had racing pads, high temp fluid, bled brakes, car track prepped at FoTB) and ran the car with TC and ESC off. I would over heat the brakes (both boil the fluid and get a soft pedal into turn 7 and 10) and also got brake rotor overheat alarm. After 3 (separate) track days the CCM were shot (only 8% wear but as mentioned the surface changed and became overly rough and would wear down pads very quickly). Note car was track prepped at the dealer before each track day.

Long story short I needed to buy new CCMs. The culprit is the brake duct cooling (airflow) to the rotors is insufficient for extreme braking at a track that puts big demands on the brakes. Note: even at a easy-on-the-car-track like Palm Beach Int'l (PBIR) I would get the brake overheating alarm to come on and would have to do cool down laps before continuing hard. (disclaimer this is after tracking at Sebring a couple times and likely by that time the rotors were likely already damaged/overly rough from heat damage).

If you track at other tracks that aren't as demanding on the brakes, arent quite as extreme in your braking, or perhaps if it is not in FL during the heat, it may not happen to you. I was in the heat of FL, at a track that has some heavy braking zones. I will qualify it with I was braking as hard as you can at the limit.

 

Thanks Kyle for sharing your experience. For some reason, I thought the standard 458 did not have dedicated brake cooling ducts (but these can be retrofitted from a challenge car?). It seems like heat is a killer for the CCM disks (and DCT).

 

Correct. Lack of any brake cooling system is the culprit. This doesn't not happen to Challenge cars as they have air cooling ducts. Not sure if they can be retro fitted onto a street car but that would likely solve the problem. Note on my dedicated race cars they have both air cooling ducts and dive planes that redirect air to the brakes to cool them-- common practice for race cars but not for street cars.

 

Race car all the things! Are you going to get your CCM's refinished? I have about 6mm left on the rears, and so I'm starting to look at pad options and debating between Pagid RSC1's or the stock brembo pads, and it doesn't seem like there's enough long term data or experience to show pros & cons of switching, ie. will RSC1's chew up rotors faster? I inquired about Ferodo pads but was told they do not recommend any of their compounds to be used with carbon ceramic rotors.

I also found this cooling brake kit setup for the rear brakes:
https://www.scuderiacarparts.com/genuine-accessories/part/ferrari-brake-kit-for-track-use-476.html

I did a search for 458 Challenge brake pads and came across this which seems quite a bit cheaper. Do 458 Challenge cars normally run steel or ceramic rotors?

$475 for the front, $269 for the rear, Raybestos ST-43
https://www.fabspeed.com/ferrari-458-brake-pads/

They also offer Girodisc pads, and specifically state street/strip pads are for steel rotors, but they don't mention rotor compatibility for their 'magic' pad. I've sent them an inquiry to confirm.

On a related note, what speeds are you reaching on the straights before hard braking? If you need cooler weather, come out to California! We're currently sitting at high 60s and low 70s right now!

Thanks again for sharing your experience!

Ant