Brake pads that will take abuse, what do you use

Brake pads that will take abuse, what do you use

Author
Discussion

thebraketester

Original Poster:

14,221 posts

138 months

Sunday 10th January 2016
quotequote all
Ive got Pagid RS4-2 at the moment on my MK5 GTI (2piece 362mm AP BBK) , and I think at some point I have cooked the pads.

What pads do you guys use? I want something that will take any given amount of abuse.


Thanks

Rich

E-bmw

9,198 posts

152 months

Sunday 10th January 2016
quotequote all
Pagid 4-2 are about as good as they get for road use.

Why do you think you have cooked them?

Are they for road use?

thebraketester

Original Poster:

14,221 posts

138 months

Sunday 10th January 2016
quotequote all
Because they melted and have thrown a deposit on the disc.

They are not "road reg" pads

SonicShadow

2,452 posts

154 months

Sunday 10th January 2016
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Do Carbotech make anything for your application? The AX6's are supposed to be a good choice if you want something that's usable on the road, but offers good performance on track. Apparently they are very dusty though.

anonymous-user

54 months

Sunday 10th January 2016
quotequote all
Have you got any brake cooling ducts? The Pagids are supposed to cope at up to 600-650C and while there are pads which will go higher you might want to look at the cooling side of things rather than the pad compound. Just a thought.

stevesingo

4,854 posts

222 months

Sunday 10th January 2016
quotequote all
Carbon Lorraine or CL Brakes as they are known now. I'm using RC5+ on road and track, they work from cold and I've had no overheating issues on the track. On something heavier, RC6 might be better on the track with the trade off of more noise and less cold bite.

But, with 362mm AP BBK I'm really surprised you have any braking issues. Have you taken any instruction, as most braking issues I've seen have been with drivers of limited track experience.

Paul_M3

2,367 posts

185 months

Sunday 10th January 2016
quotequote all
Pagid RS29. They're endurance pads. I've used them on fairly heavy cars (M3, Porsche Cayman) and they take everything you can throw at them.

E-bmw

9,198 posts

152 months

Sunday 10th January 2016
quotequote all
That was going to be my next call after finding out if they are for road use.

I have used RS29s on track for many years in an e36 328 & have never come close to frying them.

I would recommend starting with new discs too to start with a clean p(s)late as they say.

Wh00sher

1,589 posts

218 months

Sunday 10th January 2016
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With rotors that size, I`d look at cooling and braking / driving technique if you are overheating them. They are huge !

Performance Friction PF08`s were superb on my Golf, CL RC6 or even RC8 were also fantastic, but they run a bit ohttor and offer more initial retardation than the PF08`s, but don`t last as long either.

thebraketester

Original Poster:

14,221 posts

138 months

Sunday 10th January 2016
quotequote all
charltjr said:
Have you got any brake cooling ducts? The Pagids are supposed to cope at up to 600-650C and while there are pads which will go higher you might want to look at the cooling side of things rather than the pad compound. Just a thought.
No specific cooling but I would be shocked if I have got them to over heat on the road.

thebraketester

Original Poster:

14,221 posts

138 months

Sunday 10th January 2016
quotequote all
Wh00sher said:
With rotors that size, I`d look at cooling and braking / driving technique if you are overheating them. They are huge !

Performance Friction PF08`s were superb on my Golf, CL RC6 or even RC8 were also fantastic, but they run a bit ohttor and offer more initial retardation than the PF08`s, but don`t last as long either.
Yes they are large. The whole reason for getting this kit was to make sure they the brakes would be able to take any given amount of abuse.

I think my options are Pagid RS29. Carbon Lorraine RC8 or Project Mu H16.

New discs are gonna set me back 400quid, and as they have only got 10K on them I think Ill try and stick with them and just clean them with some garnet paper or similar.

Wh00sher

1,589 posts

218 months

Monday 11th January 2016
quotequote all
thebraketester said:
I think at some point I have cooked the pads.h
thebraketester said:
I would be shocked if I have got them to over heat on the road.
laugh

No matter what sized rotor you run, without any decent ducting you`ll struggle to keep them cool enough. Before you go putting better pads on I`d look at cooling. As I said, CL brakes run hotter than most so you`ll just make it worse.

Andy S15

399 posts

127 months

Monday 11th January 2016
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If you are looking for throw on and forget you can't beat the CL RC5+. They have no issues at all with heat and because of the pad composition you don't get any deposits whatsoever so don't really have to care for them too much. My set lasted for 3.5 trackdays and 10k miles with some decent meat left still, whereas EBC Yellows were down to the backing plate after 1.5. Tradeoffs are a little pricier than others, and they can be noisy - make sure you use shims or the sticky anti squeak pads on the back of them to avoid. Highly recommended - my use is on a S2000 and I am very heavy on the brakes.

e21Mark

16,205 posts

173 months

Monday 11th January 2016
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Hawk pads are some of the best for the money in my experience. I use them in my E30 M3 and they work well from cold, don't fade and brake dust is minimal. They don't squeal either.

curlyks2

1,030 posts

146 months

Monday 11th January 2016
quotequote all
stevesingo said:
Carbon Lorraine or CL Brakes as they are known now. I'm using RC5+ on road and track, they work from cold and I've had no overheating issues on the track. On something heavier, RC6 might be better on the track with the trade off of more noise and less cold bite.
This. Using RC5+ for road and RC6 for track days here. When the time comes to replace, probably going to try RC6E as a "fit and forget" pad.

Bodged

116 posts

110 months

Monday 11th January 2016
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Pagid RS-29 work very well for road and track, I'd be tempted by the CL RC5+ but a lot of them seem to fail with the compound detaching from the backing plate.

andye30m3

3,452 posts

254 months

Monday 11th January 2016
quotequote all
I use Performance friction on my E30 Race car.

I originally had RS29's but don't think I was getting them hot enough, which didn't do them any good.

Spoke to a friend who suggest unless your really hard on them or using them on a heavy car they're not ideal. Great of the DTM car he looks after where you'll get the discs glowing but no good if you can't get them hot.

Also tried Mintex 1166 but they didn't seam as good as the performance frictions.

thebraketester

Original Poster:

14,221 posts

138 months

Monday 11th January 2016
quotequote all
Has anyone tried Project MU H-16... or Endless MX72 ?

lucadiella

20 posts

106 months

Monday 11th January 2016
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CL RC6 are a stunning pad, easily the best that I've used, but expensive. Other than that a trusty Ferodo DS2500 has also been excellent in my experience.

If your car still has any disc backing plates these can be removed to give more cooling, at the expense of more brake dust getting on your wheels!

88racing

1,748 posts

156 months

Monday 11th January 2016
quotequote all
As already mentioned, address your heat issue before trying to find "better" pads - or you're wasting your money.