Brake Pads

[AZ88Turbo]

Can anyone suggest the best make of break pad to use on the front of my 88 Turbo please?

I am told to buy Kevlar material, is this correct? I have been getting "fade" when breaking down from high speeds. I know I should probably buy the cross-drilled rotors and better calipers but that is not in my budget right now (around $2000 or more I am told)?

Thanks in advance for any help.

Mark

[lotusguy]

AZ88Turbo said:

Can anyone suggest the best make of break pad to use on the front of my 88 Turbo please? I am told to buy Kevlar material, is this correct? I have been getting "fade" when breaking down from high speeds. I know I should probably buy the cross-drilled rotors and better calipers but that is not in my budget right now (around $2000 or more I am told)? Thanks in advance for any help. Mark

Mark,

We have identical brakes and I have the EBC brand Kevlar pads which I got from Steve Roberts at SJSportscars in the UK - www.sjsportscars.co.uk . I have tracked the car with them and they are superior to the previous semi-metallics I was running. They will still fade, but the threshold is raised considerably.

The key to kevlar pads is bedding them in properly and gassing them when new. Kevlar pads release a lot of gas (solvent?) when they are new and aren't very effective until this has been accomplished. I would recommend that you have the rotors turned and trued when installing these pads. This is very inexpensive (about $8-$10/rotor) and allows the pads to bed-in properly.

Also, consider switching the rubber brake hoses for teflon/SS braided lines. The old rubber ones expand tremendously under pressure robbing significant energy which should go to the caliper. You'll be amazed at the increase in braking efficiency with these SS lines. I also got these from SJS and they were maybe $80 for the set of 4. Hope this helps. Happy Motoring! Jim'85TE

>> Edited by lotusguy on Tuesday 2nd September 07:27

[kylie]

Jim what type of EBC pads do you use, they are colour coded for different performances arent they?

[AZ88Turbo]

Thanks Jim, that is great advise. I'll order the pads and lines this week.

Thanks,

Mark

[cnh1990]

If you want cross drilled rotors I just got a set as a gift for my birthday. They are from a Toyota on my car. I use Minetex race pads from RD.
Calvin 90 SE

[AZ88Turbo]

Calvin,

Did you have to change the calipers? How much for the cross drilled rotors?


>> Edited by AZ88Turbo on Tuesday 2nd September 14:21

[ErnestM]

I use porterfield R4s pads in the V8:

www.porterfield-brakes.com/

They got rid of my fade problem and have the added benefit of extremely small amounts of brake dust. As Jim says, however, bedding in is the key...

ErnestM

[lotusguy]

cnh1990 said:

If you want cross drilled rotors I just got a set as a gift for my birthday. They are from a Toyota on my car. I use Minetex race pads from RD. Calvin 90 SE

Calvin,

The brakes on the '88 are Bendix and the Toyota disks will not fit. Many happy returns on your B'day btw. See you next Saturday for Wheels & Wings celebration? Happy Motoring! Jim'85TE

[AZ88Turbo]

Jim,

Do you have any idea if there are any commercial cross-drilled rotors that will fit? I know the Esprit Fact File says that the pads for an 88 Celica fit my car.

[lotusguy]

AZ88Turbo said:

Jim, Do you have any idea if there are any commercial cross-drilled rotors that will fit? I know the Esprit Fact File says that the pads for an 88 Celica fit my car.

Mark,

I have seen cross-drilled and slotted disks available for these cars, just can't remember where. Maybe it was SJS, shoot Steve Roberts an email to find out - [e-mail] .

But while these will have some effect, the problem w/ Esprit brakes is mostly the lack of airflow available to the brakes, and rotors won't fix that. Cross-drilled rotors are mainly to vent the plasma which builds up between the pad and the disk and does little to increase the cooling airflow.

Let's remember that your car stops by converting the stored mechanical energy to heat energy which the brakes then release from the system to the atmosphere. Once this energy is gone, or more appropriately falls to a level less than the friction acting on the car, the car stops. Brake pads do a good job of converting this mechanical energy , but the lack of airflow prevents the disks from releasing the now heat energy from the system. Despite what's said repeatedly about the tranny being the weak spot, the brakes are the biggest fault of the car.

Anyone who races their car regularly modifies it to provide greater airflow past the brakes. I have had mine on the track and the brakes are good for about 5-6 laps, but then they go away BIGTIME! There was one turn which I thought would upgrade me into a later model Esprit for sure, luckily, I was able to throttle my way around the turn and immediately took a cool down lap, both for the car and ME . When the brakes were still mush after 2½ miles of cooldown, I decided to bring the car in rather than be a danger to myself and others, very disappointing. Neither cross-drilled or slotted rotors would have helped more than a miniscule amount, not enough, I don't believe, to have kept me on the track anyway. I doubt you'll see any cost/benefit to using an exotic rotor, but that's just my $0.02 on the subject. Happy Motoring! Jim'85TE

[ErnestM]

I have to agree with Jim. Additionally, cross drilling may actual increase the liklihood of the rotors warping.

Try upgraded pads first. It may do the trick...

ErnestM

[AZ88Turbo]

Good advise Jim, and as always I will take it. Just trying to decide on which Kevlar pads to purchase. They are pretty expensive but I guess when you're talking about stopping the car there is no such thing as "too much". It would cost a lot more if they failed and I hit something.

[lotusguy]

kylie said:

Jim what type of EBC pads do you use, they are colour coded for different performances arent they?

Kylie,

I don't honestly remember, but believe they were green(?). I do know that they were labled LD or LC 456 (456 for certain), if that helps. Happy Motoring! Jim'85TE

[AZ88Turbo]

Found the web site: www.ebcbrakesuk.com/Automotive.html

They are only $69 for my car from www.tirerack.com for the green. Done deal, I'm ordering them!

Thanks for all your help folks.

Mark 88Turbo

[cnh1990]

The rotors are only about $80 from KVR. plus about $15 for cadium plating if you want them shiny. Cheap. Almost as cheap as turning the the originals if you have to take time to run them down to the machine shop and pick them up. Plus they will help scrub the pads.
Calvin

[azachlod]

Stock rotors & pads from Lotus for my '95 S4s cost me $1700 ... just for the parts. I didn't do any research like I should have, I just needed them done. It looks like I could have had some really nice aftermarket parts for a hell of a lot cheaper. I don't really care for the stopping power I get with what I have. It actually doesn't feel much different than they were prior to replacement, and they were in pretty bad shape then. I think I need to look into the braided lines next as well as different pads.

[C.Giles.T]

so what does the sport 300 or 350 use to stop itself? and is it an option for an S4s?

[kmaier]

Dunno about the Sport 300, but the Sport 350 uses AP-Racing 2-piece rotors front/rear at 320mm and use large 4-piston AP-Racing calipers up front and the existing Brembo (from the S4s) at the rear as it has the mechanical emergency brake feature (mount is different). Note that the swept area for the front rotors is larger than the rears so they ARE different rotors despite the same overall diameter.

Good news is that this same braking system was used as standard starting with the 2000MY and onward. The AP-Racing brake setup is excellent, great feel, excellent bite, good modulation and zero fade. You should be able to retrofit to an S4s I believe but the cost is not light.

Regards, KM
2000 V8

[cnh1990]

Check for clearance of the wheels from the calipers if you upgrade rotors and calipers. Not sure you will have a problem with the S4s but on SE's we have to go to a larger wheels size.
Calvin

[kylie]

Hi there sorry to drag up an old post but want to put some green EBC brake pads in the fronts before the weekend. I have the Toyota Celica ventilated disks. What is the correct part no for the green pads thanks.
Kylie
89 Esp Turbo