method for making carbon - carbon composite friction product , by : fabricating carbon fiber preform ; heat - treating the carbon fiber preform ; infiltrating the carbon fiber preform with a high carbon - yielding pitch using vpi or resin transfer molding processing ; carbonizing the preform with an intermediate heat - treatment at 800 - 2000 ° c . ; repeating the pitch infiltration and carbonization steps to achieve a final density of & gt ; 1 . 75 g / cc ; machining the surfaces of the preform ; and applying an oxidation protection system . this approach overcomes problems inherent in lower density carbon - carbon composites by employing high carbon - yielding pitches to densify the carbon - carbon composites to a high density . the high carbon yielding pitches may include isotropic pitches , 100 % anisotropic pitches , or mixtures of the two . they may be derived from petroleum , coal tar , or synthetic feedstocks .