G-Loc Pads: Selecting Compounds

As a longtime supporter of the Puskar brothers and dealer for G-Loc Brakes, we sell a huge variety of compounds and shapes. One of the most common questions is "what compound should I use?" and answering that question is difficult at best. The quickest, and easiest solution is to ask other people with the same car, same tires and same setup what they run: in B-Spec or Spec Miata that may or may not be easy, but there are certainly a plethora of options. In a non-spec class or an off the wall build, it may be more difficult to pinpoint. So, the point of this post is to help select the right compounds for you!

Before we get too deep into this, lets break down our compound options (and what they'll look like when you open the box) for G-Loc Brakes:

G-Loc Brakes' GS-1 compound would be what you'd select for your tow vehicle, or a track/autocross car that you don't want to swap rotors on but street drive without the dust and noise from a racing pad. Not really suitable for any performance application.

One step up is the R6, this would be a good choice for something you don't want a ton of bite, autocross, street tire car like endurance racing for WRL, ChampCar, AER, LeMons etc. and should last a decent while on track. Typically this would be the rear axle compound you'd use on a Miata or similar, something with a decent balance from the factory. 

The R8 is the next compound up, the most popular selection for Miatas (NA/NB/NC) doing endurance racing. A little more bite than the R6 but good longevity for running 8 hours without a pad change. Typically you can finish an 8 hour race with this compound, a 10 or 12 you'll need to keep an eye on pads. This is obviously VERY dependent on car, track, and driver. Also a common application for the R8 is a wet pad setup for our Pacific Northwest guys that get a lot of rain races, or anywhere where you'll have enough notice that you'll be driving around in the wet: soften/pull the swaybars, put R8's on and the rain tires. Even on our B-Specs with ABS if I have enough notice that a session will be wet I'll throw some R8's on the car.

The next step up is the R10, at this point we're getting into small and light racecar territory, typically the rear axle on a NA/NB Miata (Spec or otherwise) with race tires (Hoosier, Toyo, etc). Also common to run the R10 or R12 on the front of a Sundae Cup car, Honda Fits, Ford Fiesta, Mazda2: basiclaly B-Specs but running on 200tw tires. 

R12 is usually beyond endurance racing applications as the wear is too high to last for 8 hours, but again is car and setup dependent. I know of a few teams with sub-2000 pound cars running the R12 in Champ, but easy on the brakes. Very, very common to run this on the front of our B-Specs (Mazda2, Ford Fiesta) and Sundae Cup Honda Fit guys. Also a solid choice for a Spec Miata front axle on Toyos with less grip than the Hoosier, and I've heard of some guys that like it on the rear paired with a 16 on the front. 

Now at R14 we get to a bit of a weird point. In 6 years of selling brake pads I believe I've only sold 2-3 sets of the R14 G-Loc Brakes compound. There is apparently a post or a page somwhere that says this is the endurance compound: this is not true, according to Danny Puskar, the compound wizard at G-Loc Brakes. I had one customer that liked the feel of them on the front of their Spec Miata, but they quit racing SM not long after which is why I haven't sold many. Purchasing the R14 from us or any dealer, expect to take a while as it will very definitely be a custom build!

Nearing the end, we get to the R16 G-Loc Brakes Compound: the workhorse of the brand. High initial bite, the R16 requires you work to get heat in the pad on the out lap or pace lap to function properly. On a B-Spec you can feel the ABS module working on the R16 early where the R12 doesn't give much feedback. Once up to temp though the R16 works phenomenally on our cars, especially at a place like Road America or Blackhawk. I've started running it on my car everywhere, because the pad life is much better than the 12, and I have grown to prefer the feel and balance of the car better with the R16 up front. Also would be my choice for the front end of the Honda Fit on race tires, I sell quite a few to the Sundae Cup guys as well on their 200tw tires. Also the common go-to on the Spec Miata at a brake-heavy track. This and the R18 are what we run on big GT4 cars as well (Aston Martin, Ginetta). 

The top dog in the world of G-Loc Brakes compounds: the R18. I have not run them on a B-Spec nor had a set built... yet. Common application for GT4 cars, works great in sprint racing, on the heavy Aston Martin GT4 it's max life is the length of a Trans Am race (100 miles, usually about an hour:15 or so). Obviously the highest bite of all the pad offerings from G-Loc, also the highest heat range so you would have to work the pads hard on an out lap or pace lap for them to work. I may or may not sell some to several of my Spec Miata customers... but don't tell em where you heard it from! 

Obviously like many things in the racecar world the true answer is to try and test lots of different compounds, and this would be especially true with a unique car or setup. If you're running a more common platform ask your fellow racers or shoot us a message and we will do our best to steer you in the right direction. We are one of the biggest G-Loc Brakes dealers, and we carry OUR OWN inventory for B-Spec (Mini, Mazda2, Honda Fit, Ford Fiesta), Spec Miata, NC MX5, Subaru BRZ & Toyota GR86, and a few other models of car, typically in R8, R10, R12, R16 & R18. But we're happy to get any other shapes and compounds ordered for you!