which brake pads?

[MattR]

Originally Posted by JRitt

I wrote an article on choosing pads that may be helpful to some people. It discusses the various types of brake pad materials, what to look for, and what may suit you depending on how you plan to use your car. This particular article isn't brand specific. It is more geared towards figuring out your brake pad needs and how to meet them. You can read it here.

Excellent read. Thanks for the informative write-up :happy0180:

[Dave-ROR]

Originally Posted by SteveND

Hey, you seem to know this stuff. Do you know anything about alcon brake kits? They advertise as a high quality performance brakes and I want to check them out, but for now I'm just looking around gathering info. Would be great if you knew them and could tell me something about this company. For now I can only tell that they look really professional, but nothing more.

inline link like spam.. but related to the topic and maybe legit. Interesting.. I'll leave you here for now.

[SteveND]

Thx!

[ubersoph]

FYI - Stoptechs seemed to work okay on a mostly stock BRZ with Dunlops - I only started getting fade on my 4th session at the last track day I went to.

[ultra]

I swear by Ferodo DS 2500s bang/buck wise.

The best dual purpose pads I ever tried were Endless CC-Rgs but they're expensive and hard to find. DS2500s gave me 90% of the feel and endurance, just seems that they wear out quicker.

I loved both Hawk HPS and Blues on my Miata but that thing was so easy on brakes it's hard to extrapolate. Car never evem got a hint of brake fade.

Also tried Carbotech AX6s and XP8s on the Golf - worked OK but they'd overheat near the end of a full, fast session (possibly because the Golf was a heavy pig).

Tried some Performance Friction PF-11s ( I think) and rotors on the Evo - nothing bad to say about those really, just not quite as versatile & consistent as the Endless pads or DS 2500s in my mind.

Absolutely nothing in terms of uograded pads and rotors could hold a candle to my Endless 6 pot BBK though. I've heard guys tell me that BBKs are complete overkill compared to proper braking technique but the reality for me was quicker lap times, far less fade, far less wear and more safety overall, especially near the end of sessions where guys are running around with no brakes. The problem is the huge cost involved. only going there again if there's prize money involved, or if the 86 brakes completely suck (safety).

I do NOT recommend Ferodo DS 3000s - I completely burned through a set of fronts in two HPDEs once and it cost me a set of rotors. Also don't recommend anything with an EBC logo on it. Tried both Yellows and Reds and both were absolutely terrible in terms of longevity and brake feel / braking performance.

Also can't talk about HPDE amd brakes without mentioning fluid - Motul RBF 600 fluid all the way IMO. I find the Motul to be a bit more consistent than the AP Racing 650 fluid.

Caveat - all this is intel from my other cars. Each car is radically different in terms of brake performance and wear and that's not to mention variables such as the track type, drivng style and grip. What works on a Miata can be very different than, say, a 350Z or Evo or STI.

Even on the same car different driving styles can wear brakes differently and if you've got grippy tires you can often brake less since you can carry more speed into corners...except then your entry speeds can be much higher too since your corner exit speeds go up and therefore max V down the straights can increase.

Long story short - there's tons to consider and no 'silver bullet'.

I haven't tracked the 86 yet, so I'm interested to hear from folks with track time on their 86s. I'll likely compare that info to what guys are running at my local track in similar weight/HP car's and hope for a good starting point.

[OrbitalEllipses]

No complaints about the DS2500 pads I ran on my WRX; just be prepared for more dust than stock. They are performance pads after all.

[Bristecom]

Originally Posted by SteveND

Hey, you seem to know this stuff. Do you know anything about alcon brake kits? They advertise as a high quality performance brakes and I want to check them out, but for now I'm just looking around gathering info. Would be great if you knew them and could tell me something about this company. For now I can only tell that they look really professional, but nothing more.

I haven't heard feedback from that particular kit but I know that Alcon makes some good stuff. Citroen has won the World Rally Championship for years using Alcon brake components. Alcon also used to supply the Honda F1 team with calipers. So they are definitely one of the best. But I still favor Brembo and AP Racing calipers/discs a bit more.

[dsgerbc]

Originally Posted by jamal

If the BRZ abs is anything like other modern Subarus you won't want to disable ABS because the EBD proportioning is built into it.

While this has been posted a month ago, I just read it.
And it's not true, on some recent Subies you CAN disable ABS while preserving the EBD. It's a bit more involved than pulling the fuse, but doable. If fact I had a working concept of the on-the-fly ABS on/off switch on one of my recent cars. The trick is regulating voltage to the ABS/VDC brain so that it's low enough to produce an error code disabling ABS/VDC, but not low enough to disable everything. When normal voltage is restored - ABS/VDC works. Having said that - I do not recommend this, since I have no idea of long-term effects on longevity of ABS CU. If you want details - PM.

Anyway - I need a recommendation for a dual-duty pad that doesn't dust like mad (read -expensive is okay). Brake dust makes me mad and causes me to want to wash my cars too often. Not looking for dedicated track pads at the moment, since I'm probably gonna have time to hit the track at most twice (and more likely just once) in the next couple of months.
Thanks!

[jamal]

Interesting, although I could only see a use for that in rally. Killing the abs for a track car is not going to make you any faster and just increases the chance of flat spotting a tire. I really doubt many people are going to find abs intrusive in these things and element tuning has already been out on track with huge slicks so I wonder what he has to say about it.

[dsgerbc]

I only tried it because non-STI abs in most subies can be too sensitive on occasion. On the track you could theoretically benefit from it, once you hit the sand-trap
Stock ABS won't help you stop before the barriers/fence. I doubt, however, that there are enough people with the presence of mind to flip the switch if it wasn't disabled beforehand, so to be of any use, you'd have to start with it disabled.

[OrbitalEllipses]

Originally Posted by dsgerbc

Anyway - I need a recommendation for a dual-duty pad that doesn't dust like mad (read -expensive is okay). Brake dust makes me mad and causes me to want to wash my cars too often.

Look into Carbon Lorraine.

[jamal]

The RC5+ specifically. RC6s aren't very good to rotors when they're cold.

[dsgerbc]

Originally Posted by OrbitalEllipses

Look into Carbon Lorraine.

Thanks.
RC5+ seem to be about as dusty as ds2500 from reports I've seen (although the post on the previous page here says they are less dusty). If there was a rear pad from CL, I'd get them just to try'em.

[jamal]

Well, there's no such thing as a track worthy pad that doesn't dust. That's the trade off you get with an aggressive friction material that can withstand higher temps. The RC5+ is probably going to be the best but if you want good brakes on a track you have to deal with it.