Is there a concensus on brake pads?
 

I know that the community has pretty much reached a consensus on certain tires (mpss), springs (rce, swift, eibach), etc...

When it comes to upgrading the pads is there a preferred performance street pad?

Thanks

There are quite a few choices and it depends on use - you mention "performance street" but are you also planning any long and spirited runs with heavy braking, or AX, or track, even infrequently? If not, stock should be just fine.
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showp...61&postcount=1

Otherwise, talk to CSG (@CSG David or @CSG Mike) and check out http://counterspacegarage.com/produc...6&part_type=32. They know their stuff and help this community a lot.

I have the AP Sprint BBK and use Carbotech 1521 (street), AX6 (ax) and XP12 (track), but would have chosen 1521 as "performance street" pad even without BBK because of my past good experiences with Carbotech. 1521 are great on the street but would not use them on track or expect too much in AX.

This is the internet. There is no consensus on anything.

lol

The only consensus you will find is that you need brake pads and even then there maybe be a few people who will contest that.

I wasn't a fan of how the brakes felt in a recent holy sh!t moment I had. Im looking for better bite and feel. I know I'm gonna get a master cylinder brace and I'm probably going to end up changing the fluid in the future as well.

Yeah. I know there's never going to be 100% agreement on the Internet lol. But what you will find are cool people (mostly) who have tried various setups and have good feedback and recommendations.

Thus far, carbotech has been recommended. I'll look into them. Any other suggestions?

Thanks again

1. search, look for the brake pad thread
2. cheap/street= stop tech
3. half step up hp+/blue but corrosive dust
4. winmax/ ferodo 2500
5. bang for the buck hybrid track/street= project mu hc+800
6. track=bbk

Here's my two cents.

Last summer was my first season of tracking. I did a pad/fluid upgrade at the start of the season (Winmax w4 / Project-Mu fluid) and never had any issues at all.

Last lapping day I wasn't sure if I was going to go, so I had the stock pads on. After two fast laps (for me) I was going into the hard braking corner carrying a lot of speed. Hit the brakes, nothing. Put the pedal to the floor and the brakes finally bit just before I was going to go off.

Made the turn and all I could smell was burning brake pad. After the session when I took the pads off they were completely glazed over from being melted.

So, depending on your skill, I can definitely recommend Winmax W4s. If you are faster or the track is more demanding, you might consider the W5 or W6.

Any of the modern compounds are good.

What exactly are you doing with the car that you're looking to upgrade the brake pads? What kind of power are you making, and what tires do you run?

Keep in mind that brake dust and brake performance go hand in hand, and you WILL get more brake dust if you upgrade pads. Race pads will make noise unless properly bedded, which is more difficult than you think unless you have a significant amount of experience, or have someone who can teach you to do it safely.

Stock power. Stock tires. Gonna put some mpss on the stock rims in the next month or so. Unless I pull the trigger on some Enkei pf01 17x7.5s. Then I'll go wider tires. 60-40 against that for now though,but the possibility remains.

I don't mind the brake dust. The oem pads on my old car (540i) used to dust like crazy. While less dust would be nice, I can accept the trade off for a bit better bite. I'll pass on the increase in noise however.

What do you recommend ? Thanks.

I have the DS2500s and rate them highly. Certainly much better than the standard and TRD pads I've had in previously.


My setup is:
Brake MC Brace
Stainless Lines
Speed Bleeders
Dot 5.1 Fluid
DS2500s
Standard rotors (until they wear out, then DBAs).

Are you having any issues with the stock pads?

Minus them feeing a bit lax on the bite and woah in a holy **** moment, no real problems in normal day to day driving and stopping. But when I need to stop in a hurry, it's not the most confidence inspiring. Don't get me wrong. It's good/ok but I wouldn't mind a bit better.

Some of that could be tires too... though of course from here, who's to know. :) In winter weather conditions (and snow tires) the stock brakes certainly don't seem the weak link.

It's funny to me though, people complain about lack of options on this car. My previous car got to choose Hawk or Hawk for a few years. I think EBC may eventually have had an option or two... and that was a car officially built to be club-raced.

What'd you have? (I'm guessing Miata)