Spin9k and others have me so stoked about Cobalt pads - see for example:

https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...ghlight=cobalt

BUT. Cobalt is out of stock of XR2 or XR3 front pads. won't make again until mid-December. They could make some sooner if get a few orders...

Anyone else thinking to buy soon?? Understand I'm not talking about a special price or anything. Just hoping I can get them before a Laguna track day Dec4th.

Note these are pricey but sound damn good - $189 fronts I was quoted, plus $139 rears (XR5).

Thanks

 

I recently bought a set of XR1s for the front and XR5s for the rear for my first time in my new RX8 at Sebring. I had asked for XR2s for the front but since they were out they said the XR1s would work well so I paid the extra $10 and went with their recommendation.

They worked well at the track. Since it was my first time in the Mazda I have a limited frame of referecne but I have a couple of years of experience with the XR2/XR5 combo in my Acura RSX Type S at Sebring. The XR1 are probably a tad more aggressive and I could set off my ABS with the R-compound tires if I wanted to but I was able to modulate the brakes well and they didn't seem imbalanced front to rear. Go with the XR1s until the XR2s are available again. They are a good pad. Because I was busy at work I drove them around town for a week after the event and had no problems.

 

I run the XR2/XR5 combo...I have to say they are the best pads to date I have ever had on my car.

 

Great, thanks for the info Jim.
If they dont get some XR2/3 orders in the next couple weeks, I'll go with the XR1's.... and just drive harder

 

Be careful with the XR1's they take a little time to get up to temp and once they get there you better keep 'em there. We use XR1's and XR5's on our race cars with 2-piece Racing Brake drilled/slotted rotors but they get used and abused during the course of a Grand-Am race, not so much during an HPDE...there are definitely some differences in braking distances between the 2 because of the speed factor.

 

I ran the XR2/XR5 combo at MidOhio last month and loved them. You won't be disappointed at how they grip. I even kept them on for a week after because I didn't have time to change them and they worked fine in 50-60 degree weather in Ohio. Tho they are so incredibly loud I sounded like a bus whenever I tried to stop in a city.

I took my car out to Nelson Ledges yesterday for a fun day with my DD Hawk Ceramics and the difference is night and day. Made me really appreciate the advantage the Cobalts give.

 

The XR2's temp range is 50-1600F. I'm gonna try and keep mine on throughout the winter here in NC and see how they fair. Mine don't squeal that much though...

 

how do these pds compare to the carbotech xp8'sin the front and their bobcats on the back?
OD

 

I used to run Carbotech XP10 front and XP8 rear on my Acura RSX-S and they worked very well. I switched to Cobalt XR2 front and XR5 rear and found them very similar to the Carbotech XP10/XP8 combo. The Cobalts seemed to last about 30-50% longer before they wore out though. The Cobalt XR2 are about the same as the Carbotech XP10s and the XR5 are similar to the XP8s based on my experience. So the answer to your question is the Cobalt XR2/XR5 combo should be a little higher temp range and coefficient of friction than the Carbotech XP8/Bobcat combo but essentially equal to a Carbotech XP10/XP8 combo. You can't go wrong with either the Carbotech or the Cobalts, they are both good pads. As I said above I used the Cobalt XR1/XR5 combo when I got the RX8.

There's no safety issue doing that but I wouldn't recommend you leave dedicated track pads on for the street. I've done it for a few days because I was lazy or too busy to take them off and I didn't have a problem. However, there are good reasons to go back to street pads because regarding the track pads (Cobalt XR2):
1. They are expensive.
2. They won't last as long as street pad which makes them even more expensive.
3. They will be more aggressive on your rotors which makes them even more and more expensive.
4. They will make a lot of dust and the dust is corrosive to your wheels.
5. They will likely be noisy.

 

I'll just add to this but caution my experiences are on my car that is not a DD commuting just a car for track days and fun rides, and put up in the winter getting about 6K miles per yr. I used the GT Sport for 1 1/2 yrs 7/24 before switching to the XR2/XR5 combo for track and now replace only the XR2 with GT Sport in front for 7/24 use, leaving the XR5 in back.

This is not for everyone but it has worked for me. justjim's point are all valid generally!

1. So are my wheels, tires, gas, hell the car wasn't cheap The pads are so worth any small extra cost and they last long enough so far I don't really think about it.
2. GT Sport were about 50% after 18 mo., about the same as OEMs
3. I've check the rotors carefully at each pad change over and especially before switching to XR5/XR2 combo after 18 months of GT Sports and was amazed at the clean smooth surface, using a metal ruler there was only a slight rise at the inside edge of the rotors that I filed off easily. (note: no winter use) Result still w/my '04 - original rear rotors, 3rd season on RB 2-piece front rotors
4. The dust level/color was slightly different, but not really much worse than OEM, but I wash the wheels, hell the whole car religiously and it hasn't hurt any of my wheels (OEM or RPF1s) long term.
5. They will be noisy! The GT Sport no more than my OEM pads when they made noise, the XR5 make nice noise just as you go to a stop. I sound like a race car lol! But I'm ok with that. Some are not. That's basically the reason I switch back to the GT Sport in front as the noise is only sometimes and far far less obtrusive, if at all.

 

Thanks for the input but,

1. Not that expensive to me, I don't pay retail for this combo.
2. Not a big deal for me.
3. I can always buy new rotors, stock rotors run just under 400 bucks for me.
4. I wash my car religiously.
5. Just as noisy as the HAWK pads I had before.

 

Update -
Placed my XR2/XR5 order with Kim today as now Andie wrote me that XR2's will in fact be available later this week... we'll see!
Thanks everyone for the insights.

 

Got my XR2/XR5 combo. Lots grip, squeal too, not tracked yet.

Question - on the rears I left out the inner shims on the pistons, because there was no post on the pads to hold the shim in place. Are these shims needed for the auto adjustment to work properly? Do they have a big impact on noise?

TIA

 

The rears don't make noise for me. It's strange there's no pin on the rear pads to fit into the piston groves like the oem pads, but I don't see why that has any bearing on not using or using the shims? I used them anyway.

 

They stay there? Without the pin, I was worried the shim could move along the pad and come out at a bad time

 

Get some high temperature synthetic brake grease with molybdenum disulfide and put it on the backs and top and bottom of the pad backing plate. I drove mine for a week after the track event and they were completely quiet.