@Hickster, let me SHOW you how the Z26's work. IMO you did good if you get tired of reading.
I washed this car 250 miles south of here last Saturday morning, drove it back up the Interstate, and have driven it four other times (short in town) this week. I don't use the brakes much, it is just my street style of driving, but I still need to stop. This is a pic of the front or what would be the most dusty wheels. As you can see, these don't dust.
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As far as bite comments etc. I drive this on road courses. I change the rotors and use some of the most nasty for the bite brake pads. The Brembo OEM pads are about that bad IMO. These Powerstops do not stop or bite equal to a pad that has dust, ok? Lack of dust and those attributes are inversely proportional. I HATE THAT BITE, FEELING OR WHATEVER you want to call it for street driving. I play a game and attempt to drive as smoothly as possible on the street. I may accelerate quick at times, but I try to stop and turn very smooth. These are gentle biting I guess, and smooth as silk to apply, and will stop this car in adequate distances, unless you are in real trouble. I have tested their stopping distance and they lack 10-15' off the best I'll say most can do. I have seen our stopping specs at btw 105-110' from 60 mph. On a regular HC with 275/40 tires I have seen about 120' with these Z26 pads. I have not tried the test on the RE yet. It would be good to hear from people with OEM, other pads and of course the Powerstop pads on their stopping distances from 60 mph. Make sure you go out in no-where-ville to stomp the brakes!
I am curious if anyone would try it safely to share what you can do. I'll start: So with my race setup, I have seen about 105'. With the aftermarket rotor/pads. (Demon Performance rotors X4 Hawk DTC-70r60f pads) They were not screaming hot where they actually bite and stop BETTER, but I just tried a cold panic stop to see what they had in them. Used 305/35 R888R for tires on the RE. In a Hellcat I used 285/35 PS4S tires (same equipment). Got about the same with the regular HC. I did try the RE once for the hell of it when I bolted them up the first time. The tires will make a difference, because if you really stomp down, the front tires will lose bite and the anti-lock will engage. You need to find the spot just prior to that pressure for whatever your car is wearing for front tires. Forget it, the rears are working barely because of the weight transfer so those big sticky tires really don't matter much here. On the course we actually trick it and use better brake pads out back to help balance it a little.
Oh and yes, I can feel one hell of a difference. This car has a much different braking feel with the different equipment we are talking about. So it's dust or not folks. Can you tolerate a bit longer stopping distance and can you tolerate the perceived "lack of bite" once you have experienced the OEM feeling for a while?