I just love messing with my 09 factory JCW, so I thought it would be a great idea to swap my brake pads with 19,000 miles on them for a set of front and rear Carbotech Bobcats. I brought them to my trusted mechanic to do the install. He read through the instructions in the box which state that you can turn or resurface your existing rotors (which are OEM BTW) for use with the Carbotech pads.

He did not bed them in for me so I tell him I will read through the directions and bed them in myself.

So I drive home and they really suck as they are not bedded in and have trouble stopping the car and it sounds like a siren going off as I come to a complete stop at a light. Are people looking at me to see what kind of crazy sounds are coming from my car??

Later tonight I re-read the directions about bedding the new pads and the rotors and go out for a ride. I really beat the crap out of the car accelerating to 60mph and then slowing to 20mph. As well as the part about bedding the rotors. The directions say to make some quick stops to almost a stand still and keep doing this but get gradually harder on the brakes.

I do all this and the car does stop better than before but not as well as with the OEM pads. And there is still that siren sound as I come to a complete stop.

What did I do wrong?

 

Did you put anti-squeal in the back of the pads. I find the spray can works better for me. I use CRC but there are tons of different brands.

Carbotech pads generally give you better modulation/brake feel and does not have the instant grab of OEM brakes. Just put more force on the brake pedal for more stopping power.

 

My mechanic did the work. He is a trusted and competent guy. The brakes are not squeaking or squealing. It literally sounds like a siren as I come to a complete stop.

 

I often get really loud high pitched "squealing" sounds from my front CT XP12s so I naturally assumed they were the same sounds you are describing. Perhaps some audio would help. Sometimes words can mean different things to different people.

 

I have those pads and occasionally get a squeak or siren type sound when coming to a stop, but nothing major or loud. However, when I changed to those pads, I installed new rotors and applied anti-squeal to the caliper contact areas on the pads. Assuming the newer JCW rotors are like the standard rotors, you can't turn them. They are single use only and should have been replaced. At least with your mileage being so low, hopefully they didn't turn too much material off.

As for the stopping power, remember these pads don't have the initial bite of the stock pads. It's weird at first, but you get used to it. Just do some hard braking and press the pedal harder. With just a little more force, they still stop the car in a hurry!

 

I took my car back to my mechanic. He says that he sent the rotors out again to be resurfaced. Perhaps he did not do this in the first place thinking that the Carbotech pads would just work with the rotors like regular pads do ie no bedding them in.

I got my car back and all is well. I have not driven the car enough to determine if I like these new Carbotech Bobcat brake pads or not. Aside from less dust and a longer life, why would you use them if they do not have a great bit like the OEM pads?

If anyone comes across this post in the future and have this problem. It could very well be that the rotors we not resurfaced and that sound that I described is coming from the new brakes contacting the old or scored rotors.

 

Because the OEM pads having that initial bite, it makes them feel good to the average driver, but for those of use that want more control and modulation, they are terrible. Most of my stops are not hard, but rather gentle which makes it difficult with OEM pads. By having the Bobcats, I'm able to have great control over the braking force that's applied through various pedal pressures. However, once I give it enough pressure (or panic stop), the stopping force is just as good as OEM. It's just that you need to apply a little more pressure then you are used to which can be really scary at first. Once you get used to it though, it's no big deal.

After several thousand miles of driving on them so far, I'm very happy. They've held up just fine on some club runs and even a track day (granted it wasn't a hard core track event, so they got it easy). So far I can't even see any reduction in thickness of the pad, so it's looking like they will have a good long life to them. Along with the reduction in dust, they are so far living up to the hype!

 

Thanks! That is a great description and makes a lot of sense especially if you drive a MINI with a manual transmission like I do as you are not always using the brakes to slow the car down.

 

Well said, DeLoranGuy.

I must admit that I was put off by it at first, but now, I can't imagine it any other way. You really get a good sense of how much brake you are using.

The only car I've driven with great brakes upfront was a Caterham - unboosted, direct hydraulic brakes. To stop quickly from speed you had to push very very hard. But you could stop about as fast as your leg was strong. Simply amazing.

Brake pads will be my first mod on any car from now on. I've had Hawk Performance Ceramic pads for 4 years and they are only 3/4 through their life.

 

Its been about a week since they were installed. Like others have said the initial bite is not as great as the OEM pads but its not that much more. If some one switched out the OEM pads for the Carbotech Bobcat pads, I really do not know if you would even notice the difference.

I am looking forward to them lasting a long time and giving off less dust. Its a pain in the butt to clean the many spoked Challenge wheels on the JCW