New brake pads, for street and monthly Supersprint/Trackdays

[Li7hium]

Hey guys,

My mechanic is replacing my brake pads and machining my rotors at the moment.

Apparently, the old Bendix Ultimates are at the end of their life, having served me faithfully and true. Manny, the mechanic, tells me that the old Bendix are showing significant heat stress caused by the track days.

I thought I remembered people on this forum not being terribly impressed with the EBC brake pads. This is what is being offered to me as a replacement for the Ultimates.

Advice please on whether to stick with the Ultimates or go to the Red Stuff EBCs.

Thanks!

Matt

[kula]

Ive heard way too many bad stories about EBCs to bother even trying them,

Hawk HP+ are my next pads, upgrading from ultimates.

[CT]

Your better off fitting an anchor to your car than fitting EBCs.

Hawk HP+ or Ferodo DS2500s if your budget can stretch.

[green_comet]

I had Hawk HP+ Pads in for about a week, then got rid of them... Way too dusty for the street, and take quite a while to warm up. I found myself having to put the brakes on for no reason, just to keep them warm.

Mind you when they were warm they pulled up great, but the amount of dust just put me off. I would drive 10km to work and back home, and by that time my wheels would be covered in dust.. Im using Ultimates now..

[JBT]

What's wrong with OEM pads? Worked well for me on the street and track.

[NB8C]

any comment on those Project mu brake pads? I have sets of Type NR for the front and rear sitting in my gurage, but I hvnt put them on yet as i am not sure if they are too aggresive for the stock rotor? any comment?

[CT]

I had Hawk HP+ Pads in for about a week, then got rid of them... Way too dusty for the street, and take quite a while to warm up. I found myself having to put the brakes on for no reason, just to keep them warm.

Mind you when they were warm they pulled up great, but the amount of dust just put me off. I would drive 10km to work and back home, and by that time my wheels would be covered in dust.. Im using Ultimates now..

They are a semi track pad meaning OK on the street but really designed for low temp track work like supersprinting. You will always get dust from higher performance pads - especially if they are not in their correct operating range. I would much rather had a little dust than average brakes. Ultimates are just that for the track - average.

[rhysk]

I would rate the HP+ pads as a pure track pad.

I went through 2 sets of slotted DBA rotors in less than 5 000 kms, composed of some street, a few track days and two tarmac rallys. They brake dust, mixed with water (rain), is corrosive as f**k, and ruined a set of wheels.

I now have Endless CC-X pads which have been on there for more than that, yet only show marginal rotor wear. I haven't been able to reach their limit the track, repeatedly stopping from 180 -> 60. On the street they behave better than the HP+, and the brake dust comes right off.

I had a set of ultimates and took them off almost immediately.

[Brad]

I ran HP+ for about a year. Excellent pad for the track and road, dusty and noisy yes, but good for the purpose. I've since gone to Ultimate's for road use but will swap them back to the HP+ if/when I do a serious track day, there seems to be few on these days.

I had no drama's with wear rates on OEM rotors either.

I had EBC Greens on my Pug S16, the first batch made in the UK were brilliant with little dust, then when they changed the compound and were made in Taiwan they were rather ordinary.

[CT]

I would rate the HP+ pads as a pure track pad.

I went through 2 sets of slotted DBA rotors in less than 5 000 kms, composed of some street, a few track days and two tarmac rallys. They brake dust, mixed with water (rain), is corrosive as f**k, and ruined a set of wheels.

I now have Endless CC-X pads which have been on there for more than that, yet only show marginal rotor wear. I haven't been able to reach their limit the track, repeatedly stopping from 180 -> 60. On the street they behave better than the HP+, and the brake dust comes right off.

I had a set of ultimates and took them off almost immediately.

What's a set of Endless worth? I still prefer DS2500s myself for dual duty but most people around here don't believe in paying decent money for decent pads. If you think the HP+ is a race pad, you should stick a set of hawk blues in your car for a track day you will be mightily impressed. Also, if they kill rotors as you say, it's proof that the pad was not in it's proper operating temp range - very common issue with higher performance pads. Where the rotors DBA 4000 series or just the regular ones. With blues, my NA race car would only hit 470degC rotor temps on the front rotors which was certainly in the range for the pad. Proof was that rotors lasted a whole season or around 18 races, 6 qualifying sessions and about 20 practice sessions. One of those cheap laser temp guages works well for checking rotor temps and matching pads to them at the track.

[ASE05]

Sorry to hi-jack

I've had some Endless pads in(bedded in correctly etc) and I personaly feel there was NO gain over the OEM gear. They just died a lot faster. The OEM pad/rotor combo never seemed to fade for me on the track and weren't lacking in stopping power or longevity.

The SE needs front pads...NOW and the front OEM rotors may be able to handle 1 more round of machining before they are dead. The rears seem AOK, probably @ half life.

I'm thinking I'll(in order of application):

1. start out again with front OEM pads onto what's left of the front OEM rotors

2. (when front OEM rotors are dead) replace front rotors with DBA 4000s and also get a set of Hawk Blue pads all round(F&R)

3. Use (F&R)OEM pads for street/club runs/skid pan days & whack (F&R)Hawk Blues in for track days

Does this sound like a good plan? Your suggestions welcome

[CT]

Hawk Blues are only for race cars on race tracks. The advice above will apply to you as well. Try DS2500s front and some stockies or anything else on the back. I have some Ferodo XLs I think and they are fine - for the back on the road. For the track, swap in serious pads like blues if you want but DS2500s will be fine at QLD raceway for example.

[Slugoid]

Well I've got Hawk HP+ on the front (Galfer FDT1055 at the back) of my NA6 and I really like them. I've had the chance to really test them out at Winton, and they felt much better than my previous pads (FDT1055). It's definitely good enough to handle 4-5 hot laps on track.

They are very noisy, so I wouldn't recommend them for both front and back unless you love the squeals, and they are quite dusty, like most performance pads. Rotor wear hasn't been an issue so far, but I've only done around 5000km or so, including one skid pan and one track day.

If it wasn't for the fact that DS2500 isn't available for the NA6 (unless you get some cut up for you, which cost a fair bit extra) then I would have gone for those definitely. But I'm really happy with my HP+ and for the price I got it for, I don't think it can get any better

[Mr Starlet]

Anyone tried Lucas pads?

[Boags]

Anyone tried Lucas pads?

Yes.

Dusty as hell and great for 5 laps, then mush for about a month afterwards...

Great on the raod.

Boags