brake pads

[the jollyrodger]

just wondering what brake pads people use/prefare?, i was looking at redstuff/yellow stuff pads, anybody use these and is there a difference apart from the colour?, thanks.

[slimtater]

I have used Green and Red on other cars and both were ok. Thought Yellow was for heavier cars and took a while to warm up, but EBC seem to have altered the range a bit?
According to the last invoice, my T350 has DS3000s - whatever they are, they are fantastic!

[Targarama]

DS2500 are great.
Avoid EBC Greenstuff or whatever other flavour like the plague (no braking from cold, not good for an 'underservoed' car)
Carbon Lorraine pads seem to get the vote from the racy T car owners
I'm currently on Mintex 1144 which seem OK for road use, not as powerful as some I've tried though. I'll be swapping them before any track work though.

[Zippee]

I've got the Ferodo DS2500 and they're great, good stopping power from cold and no sign of fade on fast road.

[L33]

I have redstuff on my Sag but to be honest, I wouldn't recommend them for everyday driving.

Forget the claims of reduced brake dust - they've been on the car for about 3000 miles (they are well bedded in) and I get LOTS of brake dust.

Stopping power is great when the pads are warmed up but it does take a fair bit of driving to warm them up in the first place.

If I were to choose again, I'd go for the Ferodo DS2500's.

Edited by L33 on Sunday 7th November 16:49

[G20RG B]

DS2500s here also..

[Oilchange]

the car is irrelevent imo, the pads I have used are

Greenstuff(ok for general pootling, NOTHING more),

DS2500(quite good fast road pad, low noise/dust, minimal fade),

DS3000(ok when cold but when you heat them up MAGIC happens, they are fookin' awesome!,no fade at all, limiting factor is traction even with D01J on the front...period! squeel a lot though and dusty)

Performance Friction (don't know formula), (Very good pad, I would say almost as good as DS3000 but I have less track oriented tyres so can't be sure, no fade, not too much dust, a little squeel now and then)


I have some Pagid blues to fit, hear they are awesome, got them for £90 which is Cheap!

[Targarama]

Oilchange said:

the car is irrelevent imo, the pads I have used are

Disagree. Some cars have much more servo assistance and as a result the feel at different types of braking and different temperatures varies a lot. My Panda 100HP is overservoed and would put you through a windscreen with chocolate brake pads. The TVR is very lightly servoed and much more sensitive to pad choice. TVR drivers also need to realise they may not need a 'track' biased pad if they only do fast road driving.

[Oilchange]

reason I say that is I have used a variety of pads, basic road to extreme track all on the same car. So I have a (very) little knowledge of the differences they display based on a standard weight/servoed/disc size etc.

If you standardise everything except the pad then it all starts to make sense imho ...

If you use a 500kg Caterham or a 2000kg Panamera, as long as you stick to the same car but vary the pad material then you learn what works under different conditions, and what doesnt. Simples.

[Targarama]

Targarama said:

DS2500 are great.
Avoid EBC Greenstuff or whatever other flavour like the plague (no braking from cold, not good for an 'underservoed' car)
Carbon Lorraine pads seem to get the vote from the racy T car owners
I'm currently on Mintex 1144 which seem OK for road use, not as powerful as some I've tried though. I'll be swapping them before any track work though.

Update to my own reply. I now have Carbon Lorraine pads on the front of my T350. Blimey O'Riley they work well! Currently squealing when you come to a halt when warm, but the retardation is better than anything I have tried before. Verdict: Expensive, squeal a bit, but worth it!

[willtvr]

Targarama said:

Update to my own reply. I now have Carbon Lorraine pads on the front of my T350. Blimey O'Riley they work well! Currently squealing when you come to a halt when warm, but the retardation is better than anything I have tried before. Verdict: Expensive, squeal a bit, but worth it!

Do they produce a lot of dust?

[Targarama]

willtvr said:

Do they produce a lot of dust?

There is a bit at the moment, but they are new so I'll give them the benefit of doubt for now. To be honest it doesn't bother me if they do create more dust, I wash my car.

[jpp]

As and when I'll probably try SBS - they were great on my Elise under track use for v little fade, although a little squealy. I probably need to sort out the suspension liveliness first though.

[jpp]

As and when I'll probably try SBS - they were great on my Elise under track use for v little fade, although a little squealy. I probably need to sort out the suspension liveliness first though.

[willtvr]

Targarama said:

willtvr said:

Do they produce a lot of dust?

There is a bit at the moment, but they are new so I'll give them the benefit of doubt for now. To be honest it doesn't bother me if they do create more dust, I wash my car.

Yeah, so do I but the dust is very aggressive on most of these pads and I'm not always up for a chassis clean after every trackday.

[Targarama]

Update 2 on these pads after driving a few proper smiles

- They do an awesome job at stopping the car.
- They squeal like a stuck pig when remotely warm, I mean A LOT. I think they're installed OK, just a characteristic
- They put out a lot of brake dust

While I love the braking power, I can't have them making this much noise. I'll changing to Ferodo DS2500s at my service in June unless the guys at Str8Six find something odd about the current pads' install (which they did anyway). I'll keep the Carbon Lorraine pads for trackdays as they are pretty damn awesome at slowing the car!