Hi all, I'm after some new fast-road pads and I'd like to get peoples 1st hand experience on the different brands; How they work when cold / hot, how much dust, do they eat brake discs etc.

I've read on here that Pagid Blues are the muttz nutz but I don't go on track nearly enough tp justify spending £200-odd on consumable items.

Cheers

Blimey, nobody has brake pads in their calipers then??

ebc yellow stuff,alot of coupes have these fitted,inclulding me,

good pad for the price

I've had Yellowstuff this summer, wore them out in 4 months. Worst pads I've had, supremely overated on this forum I'm afraid.

(just one little unique feature is the lock-on when they get worn - EVERYTIME you move from your parking you get a "G-Dong!!" as the pads let go of the disc's. WTF..?)

Totally disagree with that statement I'm afraid per.

I've done 4 track days on my current set of yellow stuff, and they have never faded , stuck or squealed, and when hot give excellent stopping power.

That's interesting, Two differing oppinions. I wonder if Yellow stuff need to be made hot regularly to maximise stopping power and longevity?

Per, did you do any track days in the four months?

C'mon chaps what are the best for Fast road/ track days ?
I know i will need some soon and want them to work well coming down from high speeds.

Carbotech I've found good (XP8) and I've heard that Project Mu are supposed to be very good although not tried them myself.

Carbotech XP8 are very good I think, killer stopping power, will not fade and they last for some time too. Also had milder variants of Carbotech and they were good as well.



Ok. After mounting them in June I did Spa, Nurburgring and Mantorp (only the latter one really pushes the brakes) plus some everyday driving. They're now only 2-3mm left, even the rears.. Never had pads wear out that fast.

They did hold against fading ok but felt swampy compared to the Carbotech's, didn't give much confidence.

On the upside the brakedust is easily washed off the wheels.

Did several track days on yellowstuffs this year, but I was never 110% confident with them. Since changing coops and having pagid yellows on DBA2160 discs, I now have that confidence. Yellowstuffs are good, and don't wear fast, but I always expected better could be got from the Brembos, and the pagid yellows are that

Matt - will have to compare on Sunday

KJ - these are in my 20vt. Still on standard on the 16, was just going for a set of Mintex as I don't track the 16...

I had Mintex 1144s put on with new standard discs last time I needed the brakes sorting.

Terrible, a waste of money, should've stuck with standard pads - I've noticed no difference at all, in fact I think they're worse!

The discs have warped, they squeal when braking, squeal when cruising and fade and grind terribly when stopping from 70mph. Useless.

My advice? Do it properly with good discs and pads or stay standard and don't do it at all.

But hey, who would take my advice? I've clearly made the wrong decision already!!

for the rear pads although they won't have as much effect as uprating the fronts i would recommend textar rear pads

i noticed a difference when i fitted them and i didn't do any other changes at the time

@ Matt B How did you find the carbotech for everyday driving? Dust squeels ?

They sqeel a bit but not that bad I think and only in low speeds. They worked very good cold as well.

The dust though, eats into the rims.. Pretty aggressive, on my 18" anyway.

Dust is not a problem as i wash it after every time i use the car.

+1 very disapointed with mine. Standard pads were better.

I've got yellowstuff and I am very satisfied, far better than standard, but I have to admit the wear rate is quite high

I've had original pads - car didn't stop. Red dot fast road - not bad for road use but faded on trackday. Red dot trackday pads - no fade, but wooden when cold on road. Pagid blues - best of all, work cold and hot and last three times as long as the red dots. Worth the money IMO.

I have been on the Pagid site.And they seem to only have blues for the Fronts. Is that what you have Wink ?If so what on rears?

Joe, give CBP a call (their details are on the group buy thread started by Nigel), and get some Pagid Yellows.

If you like stopping rapidly and repeatedly, then you won't regret it

Cheers Dave,i will check it out.

I just put Pagid Greys on with a decent set of discs... so they last a bit longer

They're worth it for the extra bite from cold over standard pads, let alone when they've warmed up; stand on the brakes in the bone dry and it have to engage the ABS to stop it locking up

Monster pads, with much better feel than any others I've tried too. You can really feel them when just feathering the brake pedal, I love 'em!

Ferodo DS 2500 absulutely brilliant.

Its a secret (not anymore) weapon of choice in the ARCA Alfa race series, albeit some use the quicker wearing DS3000.
Disc freindly, excellent stopping power and Ive never experienced fade with them.

Could price them on a GB if required as I have 2 trade accounts at Tweeks

another vote for the pagid yellows/brembo slotted disc combo and textar rears. this car stops like it's hit something and don't seem to ever fade. still plenty of wear left months later, although i've only really pushed them at spa, curborough and the a38

Greys are more effective, if wear isn't an issue, and they cost a little less.

second pagid grey's...what a pad. Great at spa..not an ounce of fade and general use no problems.

I have used EBC Yellow for a while and they worked fine at my latest track day. No noise what so ever in traffic. Can't say anything about wear due to low mileage.

pagid grey and pagid blue are my absolute favorites on the 20VT caliper.

Yellowstuff and ds2500 are not really up to the job when it comes to serious braking.




if you have 911 calipers like compbrake ones for instance, get the PFC (performance friction) pads. You will need PFC 594 pads with 18mm pad height in 01 compound. An extremely good pad with moderate rotor wear and quite a long life. They won't be ruined after 3 laps on Spa Italia for instance.

Pagid produce the best track day pads bar none. They are pricey but its worth it.