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In the fall of 2011 we completed an R&D process that radically improved our brake performance on track. We chose a special pad material that had been developed for NASCAR cup cars running on road courses. We had this material bonded to a new backing plate which works with both the twin pin and single pin Delco Corvette C2/C3 caliper.
When this pad material is used with our offset-bored J56 iron calipers, the braking performance is unprecedented. We pre-bed these pads, so when you get them they require only a couple of laps of light scuffing during a single gentle heat cycle to be ready to go.
Friction generated by brake pads generate heat. The more the braking action, the greater the need to dissipate the resulting heat. The Platinum pads when used at 10/10th are like nothing that has been run in these cars before. They really work! If you have used conventional brake pads and you are just barely able to keep up with the heat generated, you will need to kick your brake cooling up a notch if you are going to switch to these pads at 10/10ths. Titanium pistons are mandatory. Castrol SRF brake fluid is highly recommended.
For brake cooling, we reverse the front calipers, which creates a large area for our air manifold to feed air to the center of the rotor. The air is expelled through the rotor vanes. The manifold is fitted to a 5 inch hose which is carefully positioned at the front of the car. On a vintage Corvette, the most convenient place for these ducts is at the sides of the grill opening, but for air flow, that is the worst place for them. Incoming air is only straight on at the centerline of the grill opening. At speed, air is deflected by a bow wake so that at the edges of the front of the car the air is moving more sideways than straight on. A duct placed at the widest point of the front of the car will flow about a third the air as a duct mounted on the car's centerline. On a C3 Corvette it is obviously not possible to mount it in the center, but the closer to the center the better. You might want to consider mounting the brake cooling hose to a naca duct to increase flow.
Unless you are prepared to handle the increased heat generated by the Platinum pads, please don't order them. We continue to sell and recommend our Gold pads. We have won a lot of races using these pads. You can't go wrong going with the Gold standard!
Alan Sevadjian
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