Budget Pads?

[Tricky-Ricky]

I have been having a look through various posts on the subject, and i am interested to know opinions on them and why.

Now i took my new 350GT out at the weekend for a short but spirited drive, and quickly found a few limits, apart from finding it a bit on the slow side

 

Anyway one of the main things that struck me was the braking, now under normal driving its feels fine but not great, pretty good initial bite etc, but up the anti and its a bit of a worry, not exactly what you would call fade, more just a long time to pull down to the speed required.

 

So on a budget what are the best options and why?

I will give you some background on what i have used before on other cars, a good few years ago i bought some of the then new Ferodo DS2500 for my S14 with Skyline R33 callipers and disc's, and quite frankly i found them abysmal! virtually no cold bite and they didn't inspire confidence when hot either, now whether it was because they where new and not perfected i don't know, but needless to say it put me off Ferodos.

 

I also tried some EBC red stuff on my earlier S13, and these where even worse, like blocks of wood, they came off after 200mls.

 

Now after my read, it seems that i am limited to either EBC red stuff, yellow stuff or stretch the budget a bit and go for DS2500, now have these pads come on in leaps and bounds in the recent years, or am i in for a costly scare again?

[rtbiscuit]

red stuff is barely comparable to standard if a smidge above, yellow is better,

 

but if you don't rate the ds2500's then budget wise your in a bit of a sh1tter. thats one of the pads that lots like to use.

 

next step might be to try performance friction pads. more money but good reviews, popular with the track car people.

 

or look at DBA or Dixcel. but for full pad and disc setup your looking the best part of £1000

 

not sure what project mu pads are like for price, but they are good quality as well

[ZMANALEX]

Dick,

 

Providing that you have the Brembo callipers and the rotors are in reasonable condition then the DS2500s will be more than adequate.

 

They do have to be bedded in though, so perhaps that may have been your issue last time round.

 

I have them good to go same/next day at £185.00 for the four corners

 

Cheers,

 

Alex.

[Tricky-Ricky]

How would you class the yellow stuff pads? a good improvement over the std pads i think i have (Brembo)?

 

I am pretty sure that i had one of the Project Mu verities in my Supra when i got it, and found them to be pretty good at pulling down from over 130 quite quickly, but the last time i looked they are pretty pricey, i want to leave a bit so i can change the brake lines to braided as well.

[Tricky-Ricky]

Dick,

 

Providing that you have the Brembo callipers and the rotors are in reasonable condition then the DS2500s will be more than adequate.

 

They do have to be bedded in though, so perhaps that may have been your issue last time round.

 

I have them good to go same/next day at £185.00 for the four corners

 

Cheers,

 

Alex.

 

 

Thanks Alex, i will certainly bare that in mind, i don't think its was a bedding issue before, they where on there for 5,000mls and i did follow the recommended procedure, i am hoping that it was maybe a bad batch or just under developed at the time.

[rtbiscuit]

yellow stuff are an improvement over standard, but not as good as the ds2500 from what i've heard.

 

and from how you explain your driving style it sounds like you need something more track orientated. check envy website for PF pad prices, but not cheap if i remember rightly.

 

it sounds like your going to have to spend some proper cash as what would be fine and an improvement for normal people i think will not be to your standard or requirement.

 

i think we have another greekman on our hands

[Tricky-Ricky]

LOL! I think it comes from riding bikes and driving nut job cars, but despite what it sounds like i am quite a sensible driver, i just like to push it when and if the right conditions occur

 

I used to be a bit of a perfectionist, but i have managed to quell that in my old age, to a degree anyway, i do like my gadgets though, it was OK in the days when i used to build custom bikes, and then mod VWs Fords etc as i could fabricate most things myself, so things like big brake conversions where quite easy, as you could scourer the scrap yards for anything you need,

but now we have nanny everything its no fun anymore

[Trev-the-Rev]

I used Mintex M1144 in mine and found the feedback and cold performance from them great for a reasonably inexpensive pad. See my F/S post for a nearly new set of rears I'm selling

[Chris`I]

Supprised at your findings with the DS2500. Broken in properly, they are markably better than the OEM pads and have both good cold bite and fade resistance.

 

What break in proceedure did you use? I found DS2500s have to be very warm on break in to get them to transfer pad material properly. Just diving them for 5k miles wont break them in properly or bed them to the discs.

[Tricky-Ricky]

Supprised at your findings with the DS2500. Broken in properly, they are markably better than the OEM pads and have both good cold bite and fade resistance.

 

What break in proceedure did you use? I found DS2500s have to be very warm on break in to get them to transfer pad material properly. Just diving them for 5k miles wont break them in properly or bed them to the discs.

 

 

As i said, and i thought i had explained enough for people to understand, but obviously not,

 

They where bedded in properly! i think at the time it was something like progressively harder stopping and heating, but without overheating them.

 

The 5,000mls was the period of time before i got fed up with them and changed to something else.

Also this was when the DS2500 first came out, and if i recall rightly i think i changed them to a top spec Pagid pad, and they knocked spots off anything i had tried.

[rtbiscuit]

i think you can get pagid pads for the 350z.

 

if there is a brand you like, might be worth sticking with.

 

not sure on price though

[Chris`I]

Supprised at your findings with the DS2500. Broken in properly, they are markably better than the OEM pads and have both good cold bite and fade resistance.

 

What break in proceedure did you use? I found DS2500s have to be very warm on break in to get them to transfer pad material properly. Just diving them for 5k miles wont break them in properly or bed them to the discs.

 

 

As i said, and i thought i had explained enough for people to understand, but obviously not,

 

They where bedded in properly! i think at the time it was something like progressively harder stopping and heating, but without overheating them.

But that still doesnt explain what you actually did. Let me explain where I am coming from. When I first bed my DS2500 in they were not as good as I thought they would be, and that was using a similar style, progressively getting harder on the brakes and warming them up. This wasnt enough. You have to put some real heat in them, when you do they fade badly and start to stink, thats when they are done. After doing that, the pads were much better. On my first attempt, I did not get proper pad transfer, hence they didnt work as well as they should.

 

Just trying to understand why you didnt get the performance out of them. Sounds to me like you want something more aggressive, but that wont be in the form of a budget pad - thats for sure

[rtbiscuit]

chris thats what i said,

 

i don't think he can get what he wants within the budget price range.

 

i don't want to recommend something for him to spend £200 odd quid to only come back on and find they are nothing close to what he needs.

[Chris`I]

chris thats what i said,

 

i don't think he can get what he wants within the budget price range.

 

i don't want to recommend something for him to spend £200 odd quid to only come back on and find they are nothing close to what he needs.

Yup, just trying to work out if it was user error in the first instance or if he really needs to look at getting something much better. The problem wil more aggressive pads is the cold bite will likely be even worse!

[MWTech]

can get you dixcel pads, see here for price

 

viewtopic.php?f=140&t=32933

 

and HEL braided lines, see here

 

viewtopic.php?f=140&t=33375

[Dave_McC]

I've been using Yellow Stuff pads with EBC grooved disks and find they stand up to spirited driving very well - good cold bite but also no fade, and they feel much more powerful than the OEM setup. I can't compare to DS2500 as I've never tried them.

 

I have used Green Stuff pads on a previous car (Nissan GTiR) and they were crap - they crumbled within a thousand miles and ended in the bin. Also used Pagids on a Caterham and found their cold bite was crap - sold them on in the end as I couldn't get on with them - though they might be better in the heavier 350z.

 

Dave