Brake pads again...sorry

[rpgk]

Hello all, wondered if I could pick the brains of those more experienced - apologies for another thread on brake pads.

I currently race (poorly!) an mgb v8 with 2 pot calipers on the front (solid discs) and drums at the back. I have one season behind me, very much looking forward to the next.

The first couple of races I used mintex1155 which I found to be truly awful. They literally wouldn't stop the car. On the recommendation of some friends I then moved to carbotech xp12, which were a huge improvement, however a set of pads barely last a race weekend (4 races, 3 qualifying), and at ~£200 a set, they are not cheap!

I have had other recommendations, these being Performance Friction 01 and Hawk HT10. Has anyone had any experience with these pads such that they can draw a comparison along the lines of performance, feel, durability? Do I just need to accept the cost of the XP12's or is it a case of suck it and see with the other 2 and draw my own conclusions? Most of the reports I have read seem to relate to guys using pads on a mix of street/track and not sure they are totally representative of my use.

If it helps - I have no issues with the rear brakes, using competition shoes with slightly smaller cylinders than standard to prevent rear lock up under heavy braking and they seem to work well. Oh and the car weighs around 1000kg all in, which I think makes the temperature range of the pads quite important. I have been able to find consistent data for temp ranges for the carbotech pads, but not the Hawk or PF pads.

I am contemplating moving to 4 pot calipers (AP/Hi-Spec or something similar) but that pushes me up a class - whilst I am not pursuing silverware just yet, the rest of the car (engine/suspension) would just not be competitive in the next class, so am a little reluctant.

Thanks in advance for any input - hope I have posted in the right section!

[Adam43]

I have a different set-up so can't help too much. However I like EBC and they seem to last well. Chose yellow or higher depending on what you want. However this is with a four pot calliper and a 4 cylinder.

Your experience with the rears is normal. I know a lot of people like to make them worse than standard! Although I just keep them standard, but check regularly.

Any pics of your car?

[Al Weyman]

I put some EBC Orange in my Camaro and they worked OK, at first I thought they werent then they bedded in and were good.

[Tim Falce]

I've been using Performance Friction 01s for about 4 or 5 seasons now and they're about the only pad that I could get on with. They work from near enough cold and never seem to suffer with glazing which was the major problem I had with Mintex and Ferodo pads. One other thing is they seem to last forever to the point that the pads will outlast my discs although these are HiSpec discs which I don't think are the best available. I use Ferodo DS 2500 or 3000s on the rear and go through two sets of these to one set of PFs, car is a one ton Jaguar.

[R59]

I use Pagid RS-29 on the Belmont's front stoppers. Very good, stops very well, consistently, and they have lasted very well so far (I haven't replaced them yet!) and I did 3 meetings, a total of 7 races, plus qually, last season.

More info here : http://www.brakes-pads-discs.co.uk/p...amic-based.php

[Al Weyman]

I darnt tell you how long the Wilewood pads on my old car have lasted or you would think I'm a pussy driver lol!

[philip seaman]

I'm with Tim on this, we have been using performance friction 01's for several years, faultless performance, they are very kind on the discs, work well from cold, we have only used them on vents, so with your solid discs temps are going to be higher, but probably ok

[grichie87]

I used DS 3000 but they ate the rotors and caused brake judder, I moved to Performance Friction 01 and they are the best last well and no overheating and rotors are fine. Work fine from cold fit and forget

[rpgk]

Many thanks for all the responses on this and apologies for the late posting to say so!!

I had my first race weekend of the year a few weeks back and used the Carbotech pads (on a new set of discs) but experienced horrific brake judder after 2 -3 laps. Apparently this was caused by pad deposits on the discs. I have decided to give the Performance Friction pads a whirl based on the recommendations from here - could anyone recommend a supplier - I have looked at the PF website and it seems to list a few but they seem to be predominantly porsche companies.

Again thanks in advance

[Tim Falce]

I get mine from Hi Spec Engineering http://www.hispecbrake.co.uk/

[rpgk]

Thank you for the quick response, I will give them a call

[philip seaman]

Probably a good idea to give the discs a good abrasive clean, to remove all traces of the old pad material, the pads are often designed to deposit material on to the disc to improve their performance, but different makes are unlikely to be compatitable with each other.

[rpgk]

Thanks for the input guys - just to let any of you who use PF01 pads know - there seems to be a bit of supply issue, only stock available is that on shelves, so if you need any in next couple of weeks it might be wise to start hunting.

[Tim Falce]

Did you manage to get any?

[rpgk]

Yes thank you - Tried Hi - Spec but they were out, ended up getting some from B G developments who had a set on the shelf. Looking forward to trying them out...