Brake pads

[Easty-5]

Ok, I need to order some new Brakes pads all round. I previously had Carbone Lorraine RC6+ pads up front and EBC Bluestuff on the rear. The RC6+ were amazing on track but absolutely destroyed my discs and the noise and rattle when on the road was horrendous. So I'm looking for a good combination of pads for front and rear that will stand up to occasional track work but the majority of the time the car is used for fast road driving. I don't want pads that squeal and that will destroy my discs in less than 3000miles.

Any suggestions?

[goon]

Forget EBC redpads then. Extremely Bad Choice.

[exdos]

Personally, I can't knock Yellowstuff pads. I've been using them for 7 years now and they've never let me down or been a problem. The added benefit is that they don't make huge amounts of filthy dust either. I'm sure there are more aggressive pads (like the one's you've been using), but do you actually need them?

[tertius]

I'd suggest either standard OEM or Pagid RS4-2 Blue, extremely versatile, quiet pads, fully up to the occasional track day. I used to run them all round on my 911 for road and lots of track days. Currently run them in the rear of my Z4M (with RS29 in the front).

I've no experience with any EBC pads, but they do seem to get extremely mixed reviews.

[mmm-five]

Never had a problem with the EBC Yellowstuff on either the e34 M5 or the Z4MC, nor did I have any problems with the BlueStuff NDX I've used on the Z4MC.

Not dusty, not noisy, not aggressive on the discs. Seem to work as well as OE when cold, and take much more punishment than OE.

Mine were lasting about 40k miles a set, which nicely coincided with the front disc life, so I always had new on new. Mostly easy motorway driving, but there is the odd track day, weekend hoon, and ring lap thrown in there

[plowy]

I have just fitted yellowstuff to my Z...I know this product well having done four sets on my track prepared Puma which has bigger calipers fitted,,,I'm sure they will perform just as well on my Z....

[Easty-5]

Thanks for the suggestions. I will not be going anywhere near OEM pads for track work. I made the mistake of using them on my first trackday in the Z. Absolutely horrendous. Knockhill is my local track, which is pretty hard on brakes so they need to be better than your bog standard fast road pad. I have brand new discs, new calipers & Castrol SRF Fluid. So it's now the pads which are needed to complete the puzzle. The EBC Bluestuff were pretty good but I found quite a few cracks and the material was starting to crumble after my first trackday, so I don't think they are up to the job. I had Ferrodo DS2500 in my old Clio Sport and they were okay but were quick to fade after 5-6 hard laps. I imagine they will be worse in a heavy car like the Z. Anybody had any experience with Carbotech XP6/8 pads?

[Ed Doe]

Based on my experience;

Mintex 1144s aren't a bad pad for fast road and light track duties. I've had them on a few of my old hot hatches and felt they were brilliant even when really leant on at Castle Combe... and then when I sold the car a few months later, the guy I sold it to did 9 20minute sessions flat out in them with very little fade!!

If you're feeling racier, Mintex 1155s are good too, but they do take some time to get up to operating temperature in the morning. The performance when up to temp is very good though.

Ferrodo DS2500s are about in the middle of Mintex 1144s and 1155s; they have a slightly higher operating window than the 1144s, and don't take nearly as much time to get to operating temperature as the 1155s. A good friend of mine ran these on his supercharged Peugeot 306 GTi6 (453bhp); they stood up very well, even on a trackday at Anglesey...

Just another few options to confuse you further anyway!

[tertius]

Thanks for the suggestions. I will not be going anywhere near OEM pads for track work. I made the mistake of using them on my first trackday in the Z. Absolutely horrendous. Knockhill is my local track, which is pretty hard on brakes so they need to be better than your bog standard fast road pad. I have brand new discs, new calipers & Castrol SRF Fluid. So it's now the pads which are needed to complete the puzzle. The EBC Bluestuff were pretty good but I found quite a few cracks and the material was starting to crumble after my first trackday, so I don't think they are up to the job. I had Ferrodo DS2500 in my old Clio Sport and they were okay but were quick to fade after 5-6 hard laps. I imagine they will be worse in a heavy car like the Z. Anybody had any experience with Carbotech XP6/8 pads?

No experience with Carbotech I am afraid.

I have used: Pagid RS4-2; Pagid RS29; Pagid RS14; Pagid OEM spec; Porsche OEM (Textar); DS2500; Carbon Lorraine RC5+; Carbone Lorraine RC6; Performance Friction PF97 in a variety of cars - and every time I come back to the Pagid RS series pads, they are just so good and so reliable.

However, you saying you had fade issues with DS 2500 in a Clio Sport does make me wonder - are you braking too much or more likely for too long? Braking needs to be short and hard. I used DS2500 in my Clio Sport and had no fade issues at all on track.

[Easty-5]

How did you find the Pagid RS series on disc wear and noise?

You are correct, I do over use the brakes a bit on track. It is the main area I need to focus on improving.

[jamiez]

Ebc yellow. Echo the above comments by mmm-five and exodus

[tertius]

How did you find the Pagid RS series on disc wear and noise?

You are correct, I do over use the brakes a bit on track. It is the main area I need to focus on improving.

The only disc issue I ever have is with cross-drilled discs which I would avoid as far as possible, certainly on the front: the holes fill up and the discs start to crack outwards from the holes. However, I don't think this is a problem with the pads, rather it is a disc problem.

Regarding noise - it varies, hardly any noise with RS4-2s, a little more with 14s or 29s, but if the pads are bedded in properly (sometimes quite difficult to do I find) then not an issue.

[RedUn]

Easty - I tried Mintex m1144 and 1155 and DS2500's on my S2000 before I went Carbotech XP12 on the front and XP10 on the back.

The Carbotechs were perfect on the road (they need bedding in properly on new discs), no squeal, worked from cold in winter, dusting was relatively mild and non-corrosive and boy did they stop, I could do lap after lap of the ring with zero fade

The DS2500's my discs cracked in half after a day at Cadwell, I personally thought they were shite.

The only Pagids I've used were OEM on a Porsche and they were average as expected, no doubt the RS range is comparable to the Carbotechs but maybe overpriced?

[tertius]

The only Pagids I've used were OEM on a Porsche and they were average as expected, no doubt the RS range is comparable to the Carbotechs but maybe overpriced?

Pagid RS pads are in a completely different league from their "OEM" spec pads and can't really be compared. I agree the price is a bit eye-watering, but the performance and quality is such ...

[gwatson]

Hi Jamie,

As discussed by email last month, I tried a lot of different pads on my M3 track car, Ferodo DS2500, yellow stuff, peformance friction Z rated. My advice would be splash the cash and spend a "little" extra and go for Pagid RS29's. Immense! The pedal never went soft and they lasted forever in comparison, so the cheaper pads IMO are a false economy. I suffered from pad transfer with all the others, but the RS29's just coped so much better around Knockhill, which as you know is hard on the brakes. For the likes of the 'Ring, the others are perfectly suitable as it's not particularly hard on the brakes, with long straights fro them to cool down.

That said, I'm now running Performance Friction Z rates in my Zed, but it's not going near a track... yet!

G