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my 5 doesnt get used a lot so usually gets a bit of a coating of rust on them when sitting.
whats a good pad thats a bit hard on rotors that will clean the surface off?
i am currently running bendix advance which are truely crap pads. i swear they are worse than $20 supercheap ones. they are hard with no feel.
i want something with more bite.

its normal.
A couple of brake applications gets rid of it, but it will always return.
If the surface rust is that bad that it doesn't come off easily, then you've got an issue with poor rotor metallurgy.

Answered in one reply.

As above, brake rotors are generally made of Iron.
Iron rusts easily.

When the surface isn't being scraped clean (ie, when you aren't using the brakes) they will rust up again due to the moisture in the air.

thanks.
i realise that but my current pads (bendix advance) just dont cut the mustard when it comes to cleaning the disc off. i just end up with crappy brakes. i need something thats harder on discs than normal.
Hawk or EBC greens?

Any pad should do the job.
The pads on my car cost me $40 for all 4 of them, they have no problem removing surface rust.


If your brakes aren't biting hard it is possible that:

Pads are worn
Pads are glazed
Rotors are getting thin



First step for me would be to bed the pads again.

If that doesn't help, then I'd be taking the wheels off to inspect the pads for wear, if they look to have plenty of material left, I'd feel the rotors for a lip (a really rough way to check if they're too thin. A better way is to measure them)

Again, if that seems ok, I'd then take the pads out, rough up the friction surface (little bit of sandpaper, or even just rub them on the cement driveway) and re-install. Then bed them again.



edit:
Note, I'm assuming by crappy brakes you mean they're not grabbing well on first application, rather than something like gassing out.

Hawk Blue's will clean 'em up - they cleaned off those annoying slots on my rotors in no time!!

With your turbo car I'd be looking at a performance road pad rather than a Sunday morning, slow drive to the shop pad like EBC Greens.

Step up to the Reds. They work well when cold and are a good performance pad. They do have two down sides though. First they dust a lot and second they are not a track pad, but then I don't think you go to the track. Hawk HPS is another pad that's of similar performance and doesn't dust as much.

The EBC Yellows have a bedding material that will clean off those small ridges on your disk but they are a more aggressive pad, suitable for the track and they work well on the road when cold but again they dust, more than the Reds.