Track day Brake pads for Mercedes

[pentoman]

I'm having a service tomorrow on my cossie Merc, and the car needs new brakes all round. I thought it would be a good time to upgrade the pads and discs as I plan to do the odd track day in it, but it will be primarily a road car.

Any ideas? I initially wanted Ferodo DS2500 pads but can't find them to fit the car. I might have to go with EBC which I know a lot of people on here use - what would you recommend? I thought people used Greenstuff on track days, but their description says they are not suitable for track days.

Unfortunately Redstuff and others aren't available for my car so I can't use them - will Greenstuff be OK? The car weighs 1300kg. Alternatively who else is likely to make pads for german cars and where's the best place to get them (asap if poss!). Red Dot do "fast road" and "competition" pads, are they OK and will "competition" (RD-XE2270) be poor on the road?

Also are "Black Diamond" discs likely to be any good?!

Edited by pentoman on Tuesday 3rd October 09:50

[rustybin]

Try a full ferodo dealer like AS Performance they may be able to help.

I wouldn't give up and use Greenstuff. A 1300kg car with any performance will kill them on track. Personally I would consider yourself lucky you cannot get the Redstuff after what a trackday did to mine.

If you cannot get the Ferodo, I would try for Pagid. Blue if you use it for the road as well maybe something a little more track focused otherwise.

I haven't tried the Black Diamond discs but they are quite popular with some of the scoob fraternity, certainly haven't heard any horror stories.

Who made you callipers incidentally? That may be an avenue worth exploring if you are having trouble identify pads as you may find they were fitted to something more common and catered for.

All just my 2p obviously. Good Luck.

[mko9]

I have used Porterfield R4 compound with no complaints for my Mitsubishi Eclipse. I just picked up a set of them for my Skyline GT-R as well. I have done two trackdays on what I think are Ferodo 2500, and they do OK but are not stellar. Porterfield also haver a new R11 compound, but I can't really speak to it's capabilities. If you are running a stock Mercedes caliper, or name brand kit (Baer, Brembo, StopTech, etc) they should have what you need. They are US based, but I have seen a couple websites carrying them in the UK

[pentoman]

Well I have only really been able to find EBC Greenstuff for my car, and that's only the front.
Demon Tweeks don't list Ferodo DS2500 for Mercedes - perhaps I should try someone else?

Isn't it strange that demon tweeks only do front EBC greenstuff pads for my car? Doesn't that mean that, amongst other things, the different pads front/rear will mean a different brake balance and could raise a problem? Or is it normal to uprate the front pads only?

I also am wondering what to do about discs. Do I need to uprate them? They need replacing anyway so I might as well, right? Haven't found anyone that does them yet . Will standard (Brembo I believe) discs cope with uprated Greenstuff pads?

[rustybin]

Upgrading the fronts only is a lot safer than upgrading the rears only. Understeer is as a result of a locked front is not too much of a problem. Hard to say with regard to the discs, all a bit model specific, personally I would trust merc more than most after market providers.

[iguana]

pentoman said:

Well I have only really been able to find EBC Greenstuff for my car, and that's only the front.
Demon Tweeks don't list Ferodo DS2500 for Mercedes - perhaps I should try someone else?

Isn't it strange that demon tweeks only do front EBC greenstuff pads for my car? Doesn't that mean that, amongst other things, the different pads front/rear will mean a different brake balance and could raise a problem? Or is it normal to uprate the front pads only?

I also am wondering what to do about discs. Do I need to uprate them? They need replacing anyway so I might as well, right? Haven't found anyone that does them yet . Will standard (Brembo I believe) discs cope with uprated Greenstuff pads?

Uprating fronts only is normally fine.

Greenstuff would only go on any trackcar of mine if I had a gun held to my head, seriously don't waste your money.

Stock discs are normally fine, maybe get a set of Brembo grooved if you can get them for your car. (clean out grooves after tracking tho) don't for a second contemplate aftermarket drilled discs.

Don't mess about with cheap crap- get Pagid pads- blues perhaps the best road/track compramise or more track focus above rated (Orange, Yellows etc pretty much the best there are. www.motorsportworld.co.uk/

[paulburrell]

Go for the Pagids, blue or orange. Try www.performancebraking.com of Monmouth for availability and price.

[theboyfold]

Don't go with Red or Green Stuff, I've been told Red are better for the track then Green, but I've managed to melt a day in one day at Donington in the 306. If you want EBC brakes, they suggest Yellow Stuff for the track. If you speak to brakes4u.co.uk they might be able to get a set of Yellow Stuff made up to fit your car.

[m12_nathan]

Pagid RS29 or RS19 (yellows) are brilliant, if you can put up with the occasional bit of squealling on the road.

[pentoman]

Thanks for the Greenstuff warnings!

Pagid RS19F front pads are available - at £156 inc VAT!!

No Brembo stuff for mine available at Motorsportworld.co.uk though.

What about Tarox discs (eg G88)? www.motorsportworld.co.uk/manranges.asp?code=65

Will those be any better than OEM discs? My parents run a garage, so OEM stuff will be much cheaper and easier for me, as I will get trade prices....

[m12_nathan]

With Pagid RS19 on the front you'll want to upgrade to rear too I'd think to maintain some kind of balance. They really are good though, widely used in the CSL and GT3 community.

[pentoman]

m12_nathan said:

With Pagid RS19 on the front you'll want to upgrade to rear too I'd think to maintain some kind of balance. They really are good though, widely used in the CSL and GT3 community.

There's the rub (...) though, they don't do any rear pads (or at least I can't find them for sale, if that's the same). Likewise EBC. Perhaps I should check my car is fitted with rear brakes .