FT86 Competition Brake System Pad Options

We've had a number of customer questions regarding brake pads for our FT86 Competition Brake Systems. One of the great things about the Sprint and Endurance systems are the huge range of pad choice. The AP Racing CP8350 calipers in these systems use what is commonly referred to as the Wilwood Bridge-bolt Superlite shape (in 20mm thickness). This shape is available in just about every pad compound under the sun from all of the major manufacturers. Hawk's part# is HB521.800, so you should be able to cross reference that with your favorite pad manufacturer.

Below are the compounds we offer, but there are many, many others out there.

Sprint System:

For the Sprint system, you'll need to stick with a pad that has a radial depth of 43mm or less. These are the ones we sell:

• AP Racing S100
• AP Racing C300
• CL Brakes RC5+ (will be added to website soon)
• CL Brakes RC6
• CL Brakes RC6E (will be added to website soon)
• CL Brakes RC8
• Ferodo DS2500 (D41 radial depth)
• Ferodo DS3000 (D41 radial depth)
• Ferodo DS1.11 (D41 radial depth)
• Ferodo DSUNO (D41 radial depth)
• Hawk DTC-05
• Hawk DTC-70
• Hawk DTC-60
• Hawk DTC-30
• Hawk HT-10
• Hawk HP+
• Hawk MT-4

Endurance System:

With the Endurance system you can run all of the pads above, but you also have the opportunity to run a D50 radial depth pad, as the swept area on the CP3908 disc in the Endurance System is larger/taller than it is on the CP3862 used in the Sprint System. The taller radial depth will give you greater pad volume, which is in line with the Endurance concept. That means potentially longer pad life, as the larger pad volume offers a greater heat sink. We have a number of excellent options in the D50 radial depth:

• AP Racing S100 (D50)
• AP Racing C300 (D50)
• Ferodo DS2500 (D50, tall radial depth for more pad volume)
• Ferodo DS3000 (D50, tall radial depth for more pad volume)
• Ferodo DS1.11 (D50, tall radial depth for more pad volume)
• Ferodo DSUNO (D50, tall radial depth for more pad volume)

Parts Comparison: Sprint, Endurance, and USDM OEM

Below are some photos that show the differences between the Sprint, Endurance, and FR-S / BRZ OEM pad shapes.

• On the left is the pad used with our Sprint system. The particular Ferodo pad shown has a radial depth (height of the friction puck) of 41mm, although a depth of up to 43mm is useable with the system.
• The pad in the center is a 50mm radial depth Ferodo pad, which can be used with our Endurance system. This is possible because the discs used in the Endurance system have a greater radial depth (taller disc face).
• The pad on the right is the USDM OEM front BRZ pad.

You can see in the pictures that the pad faces of the Endurance and OEM pads have almost identical surface area, while the Sprint pads are slightly narrower. Many people mistakenly put too much emphasis on pad surface area. While surface area is an important factor in overall system design, the bigger news is pad volume.

Volume is the length x width x thickness of the pad, and determines how large of a heat sink the pad is. The friction puck (the material attached to the backing plate) on the Sprint and Endurance pads is roughly 15mm thick, while the puck on the OEM pads is roughly 10mm thick. That extra 5mm of thickness provides a huge pad volume increase, which is one of the factors that provides additional thermal capacity in the brake system. Think of the pad as a barrier between the brake disc and the caliper pistons. All else held equal, a thicker pad provides more material for heat to spread into and dissipate. The thicker pad will do a better job of insulating the pistons from disc heat (less chance of fade-related issues), and will also wear longer (less frequent pad replacements and lower running costs).

CP8350 pad on top, OEM FT86 pad on bottom

CP8350 friction puck is roughly 15mm thick

OEM friction puck is approximately 10mm thick

Summary

• Our customers will have an enormous range of pad options with both the Sprint and Endurance systems. Just about every major pad manufacturer has something that will work with the AP Racing CP8350 calipers used in both systems.
• The Endurance System can run all of the same pads as the Sprint system, but due to the larger disc also allows for a pad with a slightly greater volume.
• The pads in both systems are 20mm thick, which is roughly 50% thicker than the OEM FT86 pads.
• The price on the pads used in our Competition Systems is very low since it is so common. That means low consumable costs as you wear through pads on the track.