Brake pads

[gamgam]

Hey guys, my brake pads are getting some serious wear on them and will need to be replaced soon. Was wondering if yall have any suggestions for a good set of affordable brake pads for day to day driving and whether they're difficult to install?

[brendan1990]

hey, i havent got enough experience to know what brake pads are good vs bad, but i can tell you now if they are the right size they are a piece of cake to fit, when i was at trade school and shown how to change brake pads, it was one of those "wow thats just common sense" kind of things

[JAP-S2K]

Acre super fighter. I can't say enough good things about them. I've tried so many different brands and temperture pads. Acre's I loved on the street and the track, not noisy, not dusty, didn't chew into the rotors. Stay well clear of EBC yellow, there shit. Pads are simple to change and should take you no longer than half hour a side.

[stndrd]

QFM standard or 720 degree pads are quite good. no noise or dust and the 720's can stand up to track work. can get a set of standards at trade for around 40-50 bucks and 720's for around 100 but im not sure the retail on them (i get them thru work)

[JAP-S2K]

QFM standard or 720 degree pads are quite good.

That's an awesome price. Can't say i've ever heard of these? Quick question on the 720's, what are these like when they're cold? Are they like most high temp pads, where cold braking is poor and require some heat before they start working well?

[stndrd]

i have put them into a couple of gt-r's ands15's and have found no real difference in cold braking (tho im not sure in cold emergency braking). the guy who owns qfm (queensland friction material) apparently does alot of track testing when designing all the compunds i was told by an ex-ford australia engineer who is a trade school teacher in melbourne

[ncmx5]

wow. $50-100 track pads... wonder why they aren't used in track cars?... maybe they just don't work. Cost of materials and development cannot be justified by $100.. esp low volume brands. I'm sure on street, they would be just fine. I wouldn't put my car or life on the line at the track with $100 unknown pads... If you can't stop and fly into a wall... GG.

If you want just street and occasional spirited driving, OEM is very good. Bendix Ultimate is not too bad either for street only. I've heard EBC's catching on fire on mx-5's a lot... not sure why tho.

[JAP-S2K]

i have put them into a couple of gt-r's ands15's and have found no real difference in cold braking (tho im not sure in cold emergency braking). the guy who owns qfm (queensland friction material) apparently does alot of track testing when designing all the compunds i was told by an ex-ford australia engineer who is a trade school teacher in melbourne

I like the sounds of these. I'm definately keen to give these a go. I've got a track day in June.

wow. $50-100 track pads... wonder why they aren't used in track cars?... maybe they just don't work. Cost of materials and development cannot be justified by $100.. esp low volume brands. I'm sure on street, they would be just fine. I wouldn't put my car or life on the line at the track with $100 unknown pads... If you can't stop and fly into a wall... GG.

Cheap pads are not necessarily crap. Some cheap performance pads that are made in Oz, are as stndrd mentioned, are developed through ex-racing team engineers. They figure out what compound works best, which is most efficient for rotors and what will save the team money in the long run. Most times you need to give them a set of worn pads, and they strip and rebond the composite to your existing pad. The price isn't in the composite, it's in the blank plate. They don't look fancy, they don't come in a fancy box. Most of these compounds used are generally soft and they wear out quickly, which means they may only last you one track day. With soft composite pads they're usually rotor friendly. If it's rotor friendly it means less heat damage to your rotors too.

There are plenty of pads around that are brilliant such as Endless, however there upspec'd pads are far from being rotor friendly, as they can be quite abrasive when the pads are cold. So when you weigh up the cost of new rotors and a set of Endless pads, you could protentially be in front with cheaper pads. Places like Race Brakes Australia also make very pads that are rotor friendly and won't cost you a kidney.

I'm currently running EBC's in mine, i hate them.

[ncmx5]

yes, i agree that the hardcore stuff like endless CCR and Project Mu HC+ do kill rotors. BUT, wouldn't that mean it works? Because the compounds more abrasive and provide a better friction co-efficient?? Also you'd be more concern of rotors cracking due to heating/cooling cycles rather than just wear...i don't think you could wear out a rotor after one track day... cracking maybe. But thats because the rotor gets too hot (from the capable hardcore pads) and then cools too fast... Its really up to you tho.

[JAP-S2K]

Correct. Yes they work, but to a certain degree and at what cost. This is the exact problem with such hard pads. I don't see the purpose of using them if they destroy shit. These style of pads require better rotors, or rotors than are capable of withstanding higher temps such as ceramic or carbon. I've seen a set of Endless CCR pads destroy brand new brembo rotors in my brother's BF GT in just one track day. By destroy, i mean the slots were completely gone and rotor's were undersized, with minor cracking to the outside of the rotor's. It also caused the calipers to overheat with the caliper discolouring and turning near purple black. This ain't good for the seals inside the caliper. Nor is it good for your brake fluid. It did pull up, probably just as good if not a fraction better than the factory brembo pads. His car is frequently on the track and this has never happened before. Not only did he pay an arm and leg for the pads, but also for the rotors. When we pulled the pads out, awesome there was more than 3/4 of the pad left, pointless though as now it cost him a set of rotors again. Similar scenario happened to a mates EVO 9. From my own personal experience, I've also had similar issues, not as bad as i mentioned above, i've always found a softer pad seemed to do the job equally as good as a hard pad. And the few times i've used harder pads, it's always resulted in me getting my rotors machined or changed.

[ncmx5]

hmm.. interesting.. i've always used relatively softer pads but found they always fade after 2 laps or something...like ferodo ds2000 and at the moment im using carbotech xp8 which is fantastic! stops hard, low fading. dusts and squeels quite a bit tho.

[stndrd]

fade after two laps? sounds like it could be brake lines expanding due to brake fluid heating up if they are standard (not sure if your running braided lines) the qfm pads that i fitted to one of the gt-r's did a good 30 laps, if not more at one track day and after the day was finished and pulled off the rims to inspect, showed no signs of severe damage to the rotors, as jap-s2k mentioned above and the owner did not complain about any brake fade (he does a consistent mid 1.20's around sandown in a stock r33 and sandown is the most punishing track in the country on brakes so i have been told)