Wilwood Polymatrix Pad Comparison: A vs. H

[BANKO]

Hey Guys, I'm trying to finalize pad selection for my W6A (race) front brakes. Looking at the H but also noticed the A. Based on the chart is looks like H has the best linear rise in Cf over the temperature range. A has a pretty steep rise with at low temps with minimal drop off at the high temps.

How many of you guys have used the H pads on the street? The Wilwood rep told me they would destroy the rotors on the street at low temps.

41040

[Matt@BOS]

Don't they have an "E" pad as well? Unless I'm wrong, that is what Wilwood had me switch over to a few months ago. The B.P. 20 will drop off pretty quickly under hard use on a road course with heavy and frequent braking zones if you're in a heavy car. Auto cross is not so much of a worry unless you're running constantly for some reason. I would not put a really aggressive pad that needs a little bit of heat on a car that sees a lot of street miles. The "E" pads need a little bit of heat and do wear rotors but they aren't noticeably bad on the street.

[BANKO]

Hey Matt, yes they do have an E compound, but that is considered the high end of the street performance category.

Street Performance Pads:
41055

Track Pads:
41056

After reviewing these charts side by side I can understand why you wouldn't like the BP-20s on the track. They show a really shallow slope with the peak Cf (~.52) at nearly 900 degrees F! The E is slightly better, but still needs to be at 500 degrees F for max Cf (~.475).

I'm surprised that the track pads (A & H) have an initial Cf (~.55) rising above Cf (0.6) at 500 degrees. What is interesting is the initial cold torque is far superior to the street performance pads. I guess the major consideration is rotor wear :_paranoid

[Vince@Meanstreets]

yep, rotors are a wear item. :D

[Ron Sutton]

Josh,

I have a lot of experience with all of these pads, but i'm not clear on your application. I probably missed this, but please clarify your planned usage for the car.

Is it all track? 90% street / 10% track?
Are you AutoXing ... or running 1/2 hour sessions on large road courses?

Thanks.

.

[BANKO]

Yep, they are consumables, very high priced consumables ;-)

Ron, thanks for your questions. I'm building my Chevelle to primarily run ASCS, GG Auto-x, and the occasional track day at some of the great tracks in Nor-Cal. It is difficult to estimate percentages, but I would assume 60% track / 40% street. I realize there is not a single pad compound that works in all situations and would tend to bias my selection towards performance on the track rather than street.

[Ron Sutton]

Yep, they are consumables, very high priced consumables ;-)

Ron, thanks for your questions. I'm building my Chevelle to primarily run ASCS, GG Auto-x, and the occasional track day at some of the great tracks in Nor-Cal. It is difficult to estimate percentages, but I would assume 60% track / 40% street. I realize there is not a single pad compound that works in all situations and would tend to bias my selection towards performance on the track rather than street.


I strongly urge you to have a performance street and a more aggressive track pad & simply swap pads when you're going to a track day.

The H pads are a great track pad, but not an optimum street pad. They're expensive, wear fast & eat rotors. But Man ... they do whoa down a car. :)