Ah, that makes more sense. Mine does the same thing. She drove my car to work one day and told me something was wrong with my brakes when she got home. Her description was they vibrated and made a noise when stopping. I asked how hard she was stopping and she said not "that" hard. I then asked what she was doing at the time and eventually got it out of her that she was changing CDs and looked up and traffic was stopped. I've never accidentally hit ABS especially on these tires lol. I just laughed and let it go, didn't want to make her afraid to tell me if something is wrong with the car. At least she knows when I'm with her in her car she increases following distance but I have a strong suspicion she goes right back to normal when I'm not with her.

 

Well sir, you can disagree all you want, but that was my experience...these pads do not grab as well as the Hawks....

 

Yes, there is obviosuly some difference between the two. Something in the setup, installation, application, etc. Some difference that gives me excellent braking and gave you bad braking.

Not sure what that difference is, but from what I've read, pretty much everyone else around here has had a good experience.

Anyhow, I know what works for me and I'm glad you found something that works for you.

 

well, i went with the Duralast CMAX Golds, these things feel great.....no squealing and they grab nicely.....I'll have to wait to see how much brake dust it kicks out after it stop raining......

 

Glad they're working. Mine seem to have cleaned up the rear rotors. The rotors had some of the old pad deposits but now they're pretty shiny and clean. No dusting at all on the rears but the factory pads didn't really dust either.

 

I also forgot, with the hawks, they have to be special order...they don't sell them retail...I also found out that there are no front brakes for sale on tire rack for type s, called them up and they didn't have anything in stock

 

Anyone wants to try these:

Either the kevlar or hyper ceramic

http://www.disc-italia.com/

I'm going to, as soon as my current pads wear out...ive been waiting for them to go and they don't want to. lol....I have their front rotors, and I've never seen rotors resist wear this way.
They're available through www.brakeworld.com

IHC, if you read this, there's available graphs to look at, from disc-italia.com
Cold pad fade. Hot pad fade. Friction coefficient constsitency.

 

Nice! I'm trying to find some rear pads with a very high mu both cold and hot to bring some of the bias back toward the rear. Got to wait till I get home to read though.

 

This thread was not popping up on my subscribed list so I apologize for the late response.

I've found the best prices on ebay through dealers selling there, although it has been a while since I've bought the OEM pads so I'm curious to see what deals the forum vendors can provide. Obviously I'd rather pay a little more from them than order on ebay.

 

Thanks subinf

 

Spent this past weekend doing a brake job on the wife's car (2003 RL).

After many, many hours of googling for brake pads reviews, I picked Racing Brake ET500 brake pads for the wife’s car. I was looking for something that offered the most braking force with the least pedal effort.

Thus far, I am extremely happy with the Racing Brake ET500 brake pads.

I also replaced the rear rotors with ATE PremiumOne Slotted Rotors



I feel that the ATE PremiumOne Slotted Rotors with Racing Brake ET500 make a powerful combination.

The reason that the rear rotors had to be replaced is because the previous pads had a incorrectly located dowel post that caused the pad to sit cock-eyed against the rotor. This caused uneven wear against the rotor and pads. I found these linked forum threads too late when I changed pads last time.

Link 1 (click here)
Link 2 (click here)

But this time around, I was prepared with grinder in-hand.

Below are pics on the previous pads that I removed this past weekend.

 

Inaccurate must have me on ignore.





https://acurazine.com/forums/showpos...2&postcount=78

 

It wouldn't be prudent to have a moderator on one's ignore list.

I did see your comment at the time --- "buying from an Acura Dealer with a listing". However, I didn't know what was meant by the word "listing". Plus, I was looking for a second opinion too. Not that yours requires a second one or anything

 

Ehhh. I figured you just missed it in the midst of the other posts.

Besides it gave me an opportunity to use the smiley. That's always fun.

 

UPDATE: Been driving on the Duralast Golds going on two weeks now...I must say I'm very impressed....great stopping power, very low dust, and no squeal......much better than those RB's....I must say though, I think my rotors are now warped and I have to purchase more...but I'm very happy with the duralast..I wonder how long they will last....

 

Looking forward to your updates since I have them in the rear (for now). I can only say good things about them but I need more rear bias (not the pad's fault).

They're probably going on the GF's Murano when I have a day off of work 3 weeks from now.

I think these are at the very top for a better than stock cheap replacement. Quality seems to be excellent. Absolutely no dust but again, they're on the rear so.....

 

Wow, do you have a picture of the other side?

Any thoughts of what you're going to run on your TL? I posted an update on the Rotora track pads. Not really good news but not too bad.

 

I *was* all excited over the RB ET500 pads. I researched/googled for hours for a pad with great initial bite. I don’t care about dust or long pad life or noise and squeal (within reason). I just want a pad with phenomenal initial bite that resist fade on a daily driver.

I thought I found my perfect pads with the ET500 pads. Used the wife’s RL as a guinea pig. While the ET500 do have phenomenal grip versus pedal pressure once up to operating temps, the ET500 pads lack substantial cold bite. I easily notice the lack of bite pulling out of the driveway and at the first two stop signs. After about the 4th or 5th stop, the pad’s are becoming into their sweat spot and gripping great.

Based on the ET500 pad’s substantial lack of cold bite, I probably will *not* use these ET500 on the lightweight TL Diet. My car is too light to keep those ET500 pads within their operating temp.

After this experience with trying to pick my perfect pad (using the wife’s RL as a test bed), I think I will just stick with oem pads for my car as subinf suggested. I don’t really need anymore gripping power on my car. I easily hit ABS using light foot pressure as it is already.

Regarding pics of the opposite side. I was surprised to see that the pads wore down almost evenly considering the little post causing the pad to sit uneven. The wife is using my camera at the moment. If I remember, I will get pics in a few days. The pads eventually worn evenly in spite of the dowel post because after all of those years and miles, the piston wore down itself and the post to finally allow the full piston face to contact the whole pad. But, the rotor did show uneven wear from all of the chaos and the rotors had to be replaced.

 

I've got a list on my home computer of tons of pads and their cold and hot mu.

From what I've tried personally, the cold rating seems to be a bit conservative, at least in Rotora's case. I believe mine are rated to work between 300F and 1,400F but cold bite is excellent at 70F. I'll have to check my figures when I get home on the rated heat range.

 

I forgot to post some of these. Some info appears to be opinions so take it with a grain of salt lol:

E: .25 - .35
F: .35 - .45
G: .45 - .55

AxxisMetal Masters: FF
Axxis ultimate: GF
Hawk HPS: FE
Hawk HP+: GG
Stock ITR front pads: GG
Stock ITR rear pads: FF
Carbotech Bobcat GG
Bendix CT-3: GG
Rotora H2: EG
(.25-.5) (0-932F)
Rotora H6: GG
(.44-.55) (392-1220F)
Rotora H8: GH
(.5-.62) (572-1472F)
EBS Yellowstuff: G
(only an "average" is given maybe it sucks in the cold)

Here's an overview of several popular pads from the Miata forums:

[b]Street Pads:
Max Fade temp approx 900F-1000F
Coefficient of friction approx-0.0.46-0.49

Hawk HPS
Axxis Ultimate
Cobalt GT-Plus
EBC Greenstuff
Carbotech Bobcat

High Performance Street/Auto-X/LIGHT Duty HPDE
Max Fade temp approx 1000F-1050F
Coefficient of Friction apprx 0.50-0.52

Porterfield R4-S
Hawk HP+
Cobalt GT-Sport
EBC Redstuff
Carbotech Panther Plus

Race/Heavy duty
Max Fade temp approx 1100F-1400F
Coefficient of Friction approx 0.52-0.58


Carbotech Panther Plus
Porterfield R4
Hawk Black
Hawk Blue
Cobalt Spec Miata
Carbotech XP8/9/10
EBC Yellowstuff (unknown)

Here's a post from bitog. Some appears to be opinion.

H is the max, G isnt bad all things considered. I dont know if most OE pads are even 'G' rated... IIRC, most are 'E' or 'F' for ambient and elevated temperatures.

DOT Pad Codes
This two letter edge code mandated by the DOT, and painted on all street legal brake pads, will give you some indication of their ability to resist fade. But only if you know how to read them. However, because of the wide range involved in each letter, it is only a rough indication.

Explanation of D.O.T. Edge Codes Located on all Brake Pads Official D.O.T. Edge Code Coefficient of Friction (C.F.)
@ 250 F and @ 600 F Comments
EE 0.25 to 0.35 both temps 0-25% fade at 600 F possible
FE 0.25 to 0.35 @ 250 F
0.35 to 0.45 @ 600 F 2% to 44% fade at 600 F possible
FF 0.35 to 0.45 both temps 0-22% fade at 600 F possible
GG 0.45 to 0.55 Very Rare
HH 0.55 to 0.65 Carbon/Carbon only.
O.K. up to 3000 F where it glows
Notes: These edge codes are located on the edge of the friction material of every brake pad by government regulation, along with some other codes. The first letter is a grading of the C.F. at 250 F and the second letter is a grading of the material at 600 F. Each letter grade can actually have quite a range of C.F. But a difference in the letter grade from medium to hot temperature could be an indicator of fade. The letters can be in any order. Therefore FE pads fade when hot, and EF pads would not grab when cold.. Also, you should know that Steel on Steel has a C.F. of 0.25!! So EE pads have only marginally more torque than no pads at all! Therefore FF pads are usually considered the minimum for a high-performance pad.


This is from the Corvette forum and provides a good guide for anyone thinking about a track pad:

Brake Pads:
This is a highly contested topic. Just look at the debates on CF, here are the need to know about each pad type below. Again before you invest in a BBK get good race pads and see how they fit your needs. BBK don't just start off as more $$ but pads for them tend to cost more as well, and the choice of compounds and vender choices decreases over OEM a lot by brand you choose. How far to use the race pad until they are done? Lou at LG posted this once, and here it is from his mouth:

There is a thermal isolator the last 1.5mm of any race worthy pad. Its not a pad compound, so it lacks the performance of the regular compound that you just got done using. People often bring up heat as an issue as the pad wears- Yes, that is an issue, however, not for most on here. The issue is that the thermal barrier will not stop the car like the compound that was glued to it. Throw them in the garbage with .125 left.

HAWK HPS/HP+ when doing track events on a road course is a bad Idea for all but newbie beginers. Good for autocross where they will get hot, but not HOT. If you only are going to do one HPDE a year, or you just want to "try" an HPDE, these are good enough budget minded pads that you can continue using on the street with moderate dusting and easy on your rotors. On a road course once you start to brake deep these do not like extreme heat, and I had a set of fronts glaze on my headed into turn one off the Pocono Nascar Bowl at Pocono North Track and had about zero pad. Stood on the pedal, and the car finally slowed. Almost had to run through the end cones, barely made my late apex. I learned initially on these in my Green begininer run groups, since I was already using them as a street/autocross pad. Once you are solo skill level in the entry HPDE groups and want to move into the lower level Blue and intermediate groups, I suggest you pack these up for street use.

Hawk DTC60 & DTC70 (http://www.tirerack.com/) are decent pads as well & are the most common i find out there, but consensus on these is they are a bit less rotor friendly & can create grooving compared to the Carbotech/Cobalts.. oh yeah and dust heavy... The DTC70 has too much bite for many guys I know on Hoosiers, and they will tend to lock up your ABS in the front a little too often making threshold braking manually (without ABS) a bit trying at times. Consistent feel through all temp ranges and more budget friendly than some other pads companies however. DTC60 seems to be an excellent compount for a more budget minded HPDE guy with a need for good inital bite, but not too much. THey modulate well and are not going to get into the ABS as fast as the 70s will. If you like a good initial bite, but prefer to shave time trail braking a DTC70/DTC60 Front\Rear split is not a bad idea as an entry into true race pads for the novice right off Tire Rack. They both have the exact same temperature range, so its about the bite. 70 front and 60 rear is a common set up. My bud JimZ06 runs DTC70 in the front and HP+ rear as a cost savings measure, and since the rears don't get that hot the range isn't as important as in the front.

Hawk HT-10 are a very little used pad I find. Many people who try them like the DTC-60 and DTC-70 better, and the relative price is not too far off for the high temp pads. The cold bite isn't bad making this a decent "drive to the track pad" but they squeal like your are watching Deliverance. High dust pad, wears quick when over their heat range. Might be ok for the novice to intermediate, but in advanced I would goto DTC-60/70 if you like Hawks. Never tried them personally, going on other write ups and conversations from friends.

Hawk DTC-30 are an interesting track pad. It has the widest range from cold to hot. Fully capable to heats higher than the Blue \ HT-10 but allows for just as cold as a regular street pad, making this also a great drive to the track pad. Might be a great auto cross pad for this reason as well. Never used them personally, and there is ZERO on them on the CF for write ups. If you try them please do a write up for me.

Hawk Blue 9012 are very commonly used pads for all sorts of motor sports, and probably one of the most used SCCA pads out there. They have high torque & initial bite, and are VERY corrosive. The BMW guys use these pads... often. Use compressed air ASAP after you cool down and wash it off everything ASAP. The dust will eat paint and coatings off rims over night if wet and sitting at the track for a 3 day weekend. Also the Blue's run out of heat range at about 1000 degrees, which when tortured on a 3000lb+ setup is not too crazy to achieve.

Nice chart on Hawk Pad Temperature Ranges, this will explain a lot of why certain pads FAIL from heat, and when to expect it. (http://www.andrew-racing.com/compound%20comparison%20chart.pdf) and also push the case for front ducts again.

Good deal on all Hawk pads from a CF Vendor here: (http://forums.corvetteforum.com/auto...d-special.html)

Carbotech XP8 are to soft for a Corvette C5. When i was too fast for the Hawk HPS\HP+, I was told to try Carbotech XP8 at “my skill level”. So I listen. Loved them at first. Great intial and consistent bite (not too much, so thresholding was easy to achieve) and very very easy to modualte. Bad news, the XP8 I find just burn off WAY too fast in the front, it seems that the XP8 don’t work well in cars over 2400lbs is why! Found that out after I burned though a few bucks way too fast. Wish I had something like this to read and learn that! Wasted money again! Once I started talking about the XP8 failures I got better advice. Do not always trust the guy selling you the stuff to know what works for YOUR car, it might be good in the BMW \ Miata but a C5 is different. One thing I do like about ALL the Carbotech pads is that they glue\heat impregnate them to the metal backing plate. This means that once the pad gets low enough that they aren't good enough for road courses, you can use the last 1/8"+ for auto cross events only. This way you can get them almost down to the last 1/16" or so before throwing them away and truly get your money out of them. I save all my "almost done" pads in a box specifically for the SCCA autocross summer series. Don't chuck pads just because there is too little for HPDE, if you don't autocross give them to a friend who does.

Carbotech XP10 front/XP10 rear seem to be run more often on the forum here (the prices do not vary much at all vendor to vendor, I think it’s set by the company as fixed pricing). Even the XP10\XP8 set up isn't bad since a slightly less aggressive compound in the rear will allow you to trail brake better, and since the 10s take all the stopping power the 8s in the rear should not burn too fast in this set up but I have not tried it personally. However with this said, I would suggest the XP10/XP8 set up only as a beginner level HPDE driver and I'm sure for autocross this would be an excellent set up far surpassing the Hawk HP series. Once you hit Intermediate this set up will not work out.

CarboTech XP12/XP10 front & rear will be the next set up I try when I return to this company. I hear that the XP12\XP12 set up isn't that easy to trail brake into. And the 12s have a much higher initial bite than the XP10s do, so be aware of your braking style and what type of "feel" you like before choosing a pad at random and wasting money and being unhappy. Some people say that the XP10 is already too much pad, I say until I try it I don't know :-) The XP12 do burn off faster than XP10 however, so you have to figure out which is more important... 0.5sec a lap or buying pads more often?

Why does the pad materials stick so well to backing plate, NRS technology: (http://www.nrsbrakes.com/)
Find Carbotech Pad info: (http://www.ctbrakes.com/) and on the CF member: CarbotechDanny or carbotech adam

Cobalt Friction CSR pads are a newer compound, used to be called the GTS pad. This pad is a Autocross /Aggressive street / beginner green group HPDE pad only. DO not use this pad for actually braking deep racing for eh same reasons above on the Hawk HP series pads. With only a top temp of 1000F they will glaze quick.

Cobalt Friction XR2 (cheapest @ http://performanceafx.com/) is a great setup but costs much more than the Carbotechs, Talk to Robert he was very knowledgeable & a good guy on the Forums. In my first use of the XR2/XR2 setup (new at track & bedded them there) @ Pocono North Clockwise in Sept 2009 with R-comps (8 sessions = 4 hours / top speed front straight about 138mph) I used up about 35% (outside) & 30% (inside) pads of the fronts and about 15% of the rears (wore equally). The XR2 in the front tended to taper pretty pronouced too compared to the carbotechs IMHO. These are a intermediate to advance level pad and can be used for street tires, R-comps and slicks, however serious racers will prefer the XR1 pad. I brake hard and late. I found the XR2 initial bit a bit alarming at first for my taste and driving style.. they will lock you up and ABS you in a hurry if you do not modulate very very well. I think the Carbotechs had a much cleaner initial bite PERSONALLY and modulated easier. It took a good full day to get a true threshold brake mastered on these pads, and once you do I have to say they are predictable and stop you fast. The XR2 were very rotor friendly, no scores or cracking at all (until the mysterious rivets pop out see below). The XR2's I will also recommend that you buy 2 sets of fronts to 1 set of rears. The Rears really do wear nicely and evenly. After a few events my fronts are almost shot, but the rears still have 50% of the meat on them, and typically the second 50% of a pad wears slower. Originally I thought this is a good value IMHO to get 2:1 on pads. Here's the problem with the XR2 that you don't know until you run them to the end. Rivets! Carbotechs and Performance Friction glue and embed the pad directly to the backing plate, but not Cobalt Friction! They RIVET the pad compound to the backer. Since the pads were down to about 3/16 in the front I pulled them from Road Courses and saved them for an AutoX. Here's what happen, somewhere between 3/16 and 1/8" the rivets will press out of the pad material and start to score up your rotors! Not good! Since you don't know this until your rotors start getting f'd up. And I like using my almost dead pads for AutoX since I really do not need all that much material... and my life isn't resting on it quite as much. 70-85% Road = last 20% to the auto cross. So far this means I get every last 1/32" out of these expensive pads. Cobalt Friction's rivets ROB me of almost 1/8" - 3/16" of the pad. IMHO thats BS. It makes you through away essentially 25% of the pad material, so they now become a poor value. Not to mention rotor damage suddenly without warning when the rivets pop. So final note: XR2 good for the guy on a time trial that will go from Fresh Pad to throw out after one event. Good for those with unlimited funds. XR2 bad value for the budget minded Road Racing HPDE guy using the left over pads for other purposes. Sucks because once I got used to them, I loved them. Oh, and before I forget when the dust from these get very wet on the track wash it off fast. VERY corrosive and hard to get off my aluminum rims and the dust ate through some of the powder coating I put on the center hats of my CCW classics. Needless to say Im pissed. Its almost as corrosive as a Hawk Blue when it gets wet and sits.

Cobalt Friction XR1 pads are very similar to the XR2 in so much as the rivet design, no real need to bed them just put in and go, rotor friendly until the rivets, dust similar, corrosion similar, etc. Difference is the XR1 is a much more "serious" pad compound for the hardcore serious racer. These are Hoosier level pads only, not for street pads or R-comp guys like the XR2 is. This is an advance tack day pad only, and until you are shaving tenths, don't bother on this one.

Performance Friction - PFC01 First tested these in May 2010 at Pocono North Track. PFC 01 pads front and rear. On the forum contact "michael@mbsbrakes" he is a CF Vendor and has the best prices there are for these hands down by far, I looked, and you can PM hit for a price quote. I like the fact that the pad compound material is physically embedded THRU the center of the metal backing plate, only pad so far I have seen that does this. 3 holes in the plate and the material is glued and heat embedded right into it, very cool. This means no rivets like the XR2 Cobalt Friction and you can literally run the PFC01 almost to the metal safely at non HPDE events like AutoCross, unlike the XR2 which you lose the last 1/8" - 3/16" to rivets and just throw away expensive pad compound. Also very good street maners. They do not squeal like the Carbotechs & Cobalt Frictions do on the street. The XR2 do not grab well when cold on the street, these do relatively well considering. And the Dust is less than both of the other brands also on the street. Verdict: Mixed reviews on the track. i was testing these the same day as JimZ06 was testing the PFC99 and we had the same issues talking it over at lunch. First, they get your rotors HOT. Way hot. I literally melted the remaining piston rubber protectors to the point they turned to white ash. Both front rotors have the appearance of a 33 RPM record now, fine circles in the Eccentric rotors I am running and they are new. Jim and I never saw this rotor pattern before. They have what I would call an inconsistent bite. In a FAST straight, I have to all but stand on the pedal to get them to slow the car down and its easy to stay outa the ABS. I do however feel a bit spoiled now after coming from the XR2 directly to these, where the pad... not extreme foot pressure, did the work. In the middle speed straights you tend to then again want to apply that same overly firm pedal pressure you needed to slow the car in the straight. This is a mistake. When in the 40-60+ MPH range they do bite with moderate pressure all of a sudden, and then you get into the ABS without warning sometimes. I found that I needed to use varying amounts of pedal pressure for each turn, which was a pain to get your brain to learn. Seeing as other compounds in the past I had a similar pedal feel in all turns and bit was consistent regardless of speed or heat. These pads also seemed to take longer than an average set to bed in. IN most cases I will (if able) street bed prior to trailer loading and then first 2-3 laps take it easier letting them heat slow. Then run em hard for about 15 minutes. Then let them cool. In the case of these pads the pads felt like the did well on the first few laps but got worse with heatup and needed more and more pressure to stop me in the straight which meant I had to brake earlier than in the past with other pads on the same stretch. After 2 sessions and getting a bit annoyed, they started to grip again with less pressure than the first 2 sessions... still hand to stand on them way more than the XP8/10 or XR2 though. After a full day on these pads I got used to them, and they weren't too bad. But then the extreme heat on them cracked a rotor with only 4 track days on it while cooling in the pits. My wife forgot to roll the car after it came in. Changed both fronts to be safe. Also melted the **** outa the fresh poly covers on the tie rods from VBP that were just fine after 3 days at Summit on XR2. I have 3 sets of these pads and I will use them up, but I really like the feel of heavy initial bite. If you are looking for a pad thats all foot pressure, and stays outa the ABS 100% in the hard braking straights this is your pad. If you like to brake super late and let the pad to the work, then this aint your pad. Don't use these pads without cooling ducts. I can't imagine the heat issues without ducts, everything I reported is with my quantum kit. After more use and some thought, don't street bed these. They really need to be run hot. I think some of the issues with the pad edges cracking was they are too soft cold. What does this mean? Not a great drive to the track pad already in. I think these will do best and last longer if you put them in AT the track for the first time. A few quick brake checks on them for a quick bed, and then heat em up good on a short session with a cool down after.

Performance Friction - PFC99 The older tried and true PF compound, and sometimes easy to find cheap in a group buy on the CF. JimZ06 had a similar set of complaints on braking inconsistency and foot pedal pressure that I did on the PFC01. Almost the exact same story. However they tended to run with less heat and no grooving. Not much less heat however, he also split a Cryostop (eccentric with -cry on end of model number) front rotor in pit cool down. These did not cause the record like grooving to the rotors that the PFC01 did either. Jim said he liked them, again after taking a full day to adjust to them, but did comment for the money have would much rather be on the DTC70 Hawks for the greater initial bite and better consistency in both fast and slow settings..

Performance Friction - PFC97 Discontinued product, but still out there if you look. The favorite pad of the Panos cars for a long time since they have no ABS and these pads are a predictable stopper with no initial bit to speak of which makes it racer easy to avoid lock up and flat spotting. You NEED to ride the brake \ drag the brake your first lap. These have almost ZERO bite until they hit operating temp. They also last forever.

Carbone Lorraine - CL RC6 I have ZERO personal experience on these, so here is a place to buy them (http://www.essexparts.com/brake-pads/cl-brakes) and here is a CF write up on them comparing them with both PFC01 and XP10/8 setups (http://forums.corvetteforum.com/auto...c6-review.html) My understanding is they run a tad more expensive than both it is compared against, but once again no personal knowledge. Here is a longer thread on them on CF (http://forums.corvetteforum.com/auto...rake-pads.html).

Carbone Lorraine - CL RC8 Here is again the site to look up the details on the pads. (http://www.essexparts.com/brake-pads/cl-brakes) Gary's new AP Racing kit (from HardbarUSA.com)which is T1 Legal also uses these pads. It turns out that the pads for the new Kit are actually cheaper than the C5 OEM pads which is quite amazing. Im hoping to get a set of these and test them out in the near future. If you see a post on these let me know.

Raybestos ST-38 "B" slightly lower mu than ST-42. Wear still not as good as ST41. Good performance over broad temperature range with minimal rotor wear.Successful in a broad range of racing series. Use in dirt where you want less bite than ST-41/ST-43. No personal experience with these again.

Raybestos - ST41 I'm looking for reviews on all these Raybestos pads, they are typically used as a front pad. "A" the best high energy input racing material available from Raybestos. Extremely successful in all the top three NASCAR series Raced by the 2002 NASCAR Champion Tony Stewart. Maintains high mu level at extremely high temperatures without sacrificing good wear - both pad and rotor. Needs some heat to work well. No personal experience. ST41 I hear is the most common of this series used for HPDE with ST42 in the rear.

Raybestos - ST42 Often used as rear pads with the ST41 as front pads. "J" lower mu than ST-41 and ST-43. Extremely stable average and in stop output over a wide temperature range. Has been very successful when used on the rear brakes in conjunction with the ST41 on the front. Best high-temperature wear of all their materials. No personal experience with these again.

Raybestos - ST43 Friction level and wear rate between ST-41 and ST-42. Stability is not quite as good as 42 but better than 41. Excellent open wheel formula. No personal experience on these. No personal experience with these again.

Raybestos - ST44 High friction material, slightly less aggressive than ST-41. No personal experience with these again.

Raybestos - ST45 Lower friction level than the ST-47. Could be used as a great rear to compliment the ST-47 compound. No personal experience with these again.

Raybestos - ST47 Has the highest friction and torque available to date. It has been engineered for long-lasting extreme heat situations and maximum rotor life. If you are looking for the most advanced-performing road race brake pad, that will simply out perform all the rest, this is it. No personal experience with these again.

There are a lot of debates on rotor friendliness, heat, grooving… and it seems VERY subjective to braking style and rotor material. Bedding makes a difference on pad and rotor life as well. Some people say new rotors = use old pads. New pads = use old rotors. I'm not sure if I buy this, but its the wives tale out there.

All of these race pads need a proper set in or don’t work as well. They will all (except the Hawk HP) squeal cold & don’t grip cold. So if that bothers you esthetically, swap pads at the track to streets before heading home. All race pads will make dust, lots of dust. Some of it can be corrosive so wash up the rims etc when you get home. Invest in a caliper / brake piston spreader, its a Pepboys item for like $10 bucks. It will save you damaged calipers and swearing. Use that nice green heat resistant caliper lube on the two pins in the floating caliper liberally; it is often sold in single use tear open packets to ensure trouble free calipers that won’t seize up on extreme racing heat. Make sure you clean off really good the old nasty grease usually with brake dust all in it first before recoating.

 

Here's an awesome review and ratings along with lots of data on tons of brake pads. I found my new rear pads.... Ferodo DS3000. .62 friction coefficient at any temperature. That should bring bias back toward the rear. Can't wait to try these. Looks like a Spanish site but the good stuff is in English.

http://www.nipponpower.com.mx/foro/s...-m%E1s-balatas

 

Que buena info IHC gracias

 

oh man so many pads to choose from...lol...im in need soon of some fronts...and im prob just gonna get the oem brembos.....anyone know a place to get them the cheapest????

 

Fellas, I've read through quite a bit of brake threads and have a question. I have 25k miles and the brakes just started squeaking. I haven't had them checked out but it's probably time to replace them. I'd like to keep the stock rotors for one more cycle of pads and am concerned about overall braking bite and performance. I absolutely dislike the dusting from the stock pads but do like the performance. What's the best pads I can get to match with the stock rotors?

I'm asking this question because it appears the matching of rotors to pads is quite important in overall performance and could not find a post on what is a good alternative pad with STOCK brembo rotors. Most threads discuss aftermarket rotors with various pads.

I'm leaning towards the ET500 or EBC Red or Yellows. I'll probably switch to another rotor/pad combo during the next brake pad cycle.

TIA

 

There really is no such thing as matching pads to rotors unless you get into exotic materials.

The only important thing is to bed them in properly and lay down a transfer layer on the rotor. The pad basically rubs on deposited pad material on the rotor.

Look for a ceramic pad that features low dusting. Look for at least a "GG" friction rating and you will be satisfied. I've heard the Yellows don't work well when cold, something to take into consideration.

Don't worry about replacing the rotors, it's hardly ever necessary if they're not warped. There are wear indicators on the outside of the rotors. Depending on the type of pad, you could get 10+ pad changes to every one rotor change. The pad is made to wear, not the rotor.

 

what indicator is this? can you elaborate? i think i may need new rotors soon

 

OEM for bite, cmax golds for low dust. Personally on the stock rotor I would just run stock pads.

 

TIA,

when you switch rotors and not the pads, just make sure you take like a 100/200 grit sand paper and just rub the rotor down to take off what the old pad had deposited....this will help you bed the new pad in better and hence giving you more of a "BITE"

 

I have never tried the "rainbow color" pads (aka EBC). However, I can say that my search is over for looking for the best pad. I have the ET500 pads on my car and the wife's car. I LOVE LOVE the ET500 pads. They dust a lot and make growling noise sometimes, but I don't care alout that. I love the way the pads grab with authority and smoothly.

The ET500 are a lot more powerful than the oem pads in my experience on my car and the wife's RL. It turned my wife's RL from an average stopper to an Agressive STOPPING machine. I could not believe the difference that it made on the RL. The wife fusses at me for driving too fast now in her RL because the brakes inspire some much confiedence.

 

I am tired of the dusting from the stock Brembo pads. Would the C-max work with stock rotors ok? I put some on the old lady's car and there is little to no dusting and still "bites".

 

Really? They claimed low dust and near no noise. Is that not the case?

Mine will be here anyday!

 

Do they dust as much, more or slightly less than the OEM setup?

I don't mind slight noises but definitely do not want it to squeal like a 'stuck pig' as someone mentioned lol.

I'm wondering if the ET300 might eliminate the noise and still offer better performance than OEM - could this be the compromise?

Appreciate the help...I don't know how much pad I've got left but they say you can go for at least another 1k miles after the pad wear squeal indicator begins.

 

I have no pig squealing (fingernail on chalkboard noise) from my car or the wife's RL (both have ET500). The noise that both cars have is more of a muted fart sound as the car comes to a complete stop (Ex: from 2 MPH down to 0 MPH). The sound is nothing that other drivers in trafiic would be able to hear.


Regarding ET300 - I have read other forums saying that the ET300 were no better than oem pads with regards to stopping performance. I spent hours and hours doing Google searches looking for my ideal pad (ET500 based on my personal criteria).


Regarding dust -

On my car, I went from oem pads to ET500. Massively more dusting with the ET500 pads than the oem pads.

On wife's RL, it went from Hawk HPS to ET500. The ET500 pads have less dusting than the Hawk HPS pads.

Yes, you read that correctly. Contradicting info. One car had more dusting and other car had less dusting with ET500 pads.

 

Innacurate,

I appreciate your information. I think I'll go with the ET500.

My brakes have stopped squealing so I'm gonna have to check the pad wear to make sure they really need to be changed. I've gotta flush my fluid as well so I'll start that this weekend in anticipation of the new pads.

 

Hi guys,
I've been working in the brake business since 2003. I've addressed many of the concerns and questions in this thread in some of the educational content I've created. My article on how to choose brake pads has helped many people sift through the wide range of pad options available on the market. I don't recommend any specific brands in this article. My focus is more on assessing your needs, and sorting through the various types of pads that are out there: http://www.essexparts.com/learning-c...ose-brake-pads


Also, my video on bedding in pads and discs has helped many people get the best performance out of their pads and discs. It shows how to keep your brake pads and discs working together at peak performance, how to reduce brake squeal/noise, etc: http://www.essexparts.com/learning-c...ds/post/Bed-in

I created these pieces in an effort to reduce the number of repetitious brake questions we always see asked over and over on the forums. Hopefully you will find them useful.

 

i definitely need to find a better setup. last little race i was in, I went to slow down and there was almost not response. It was almost like sliding on ice, and i was freakin out!