The Carbotech Panther Plus is Carbotech’s street/track pad. It is probably more track than street. With a MOT (maximum operating temperature) of 1250 and an operating range of 150-1250, it is one of the most versatile pads available. Carbotech changed the name from Panther Plus to AX6 recently; as far as I know, there were no changes in the pad itself.

I have been using the Panther Plus on both my VR-4 and my Protege (the Protege has been seeing some summer track use this year). They are my only pads and see regular and aggressive street driving as well as track miles. In my VR4, which is still fairly heaving despite my hacking, the Pather Plus have performed admirably, with no signs of fade. At Watkins Glen, where most of my decelerations were from the 115-60 range and peaked at 145-70, the Panther Plus did not fade at all.

These pads have been equally good in the Protege. The Protege has only been to NHIS, a much slower track, but the Protege also has much smaller brakes and, by extension, a much weaker ability to dissipate heat than the VR4’s Stoptechs. Even when braking so aggressively that it borders on recklessness (at times), the Panther Plus have held up well. I got a bit of fluid fade, but absolutely no pad fade.

The only complaint I have seen regarding the Panther Plus is that the modulation is worse than competitors’ equivalents. However, in my experience the modulation is very good. Any sacrifices in modulation are offset by the pad’s wide operating temperature range.

You may find, though, that the Panther Plus leaves uneven pad deposits after prolonged street driving (if the idea of pad deposits are foreign to you, see my recommended reading list from Stoptech’s webpage). It is because the Panther Plus is still a high-temp pad. At lower temperatures, abrasive friction wears down the pad layer a bit. You can avoid this by making a point of braking aggressively a few times each time you drive the car.

If you’re not a 3/S, Miata, or Protege driver and are worried that Carbotech doesn’t make pads for your car, visit their available product page. Click on your manufacturer to see a complete listing. At the very worst, you’ll have to wait a few weeks while Carbotech makes the pads.

Finally, you may get a better price by asking your favorite tuner to put the order in for you (if it’s an uncommon pad).