So many brake pads, so little time!

"Paul, Man of Mustangs" (stangmanpaul)
10/23/2013 at 00:59 • Filed to: None

My dilemma for the next day: What brake pads do I get?

(image not representative of pads I need)

I want a matching set for front and rear, since I'll be running discs all around, finally. Bruce Griggs recommends Hawk HP Plus for high-performance street/occasional track use. HPS pads stop plenty fast, but not repeatedly. Ceramic pads are great for street use, just not as good as HP Plus would be. Organics, well, they're cheap, but they suck for anything other than daily driving. So, HP Plus it is. Good street manners, great fade resistance, great stopping power, and I can currently afford them.

Off to Summit! Let's see: form code for front pads, D11, ships on 11/6. Alright, that's fine. The fronts are good for now anyways. How about the rears? D627, or D627A? What's the difference? Oh well. Let me see here, HP Plus ships...11/6. Fack. I need those in the next two days. I suppose I could get some ceramics. Those are in stock. But...but...I could have HP Plus pads. Hmm...You know, I could tolerate merely adequate brakes for a couple weeks, so how about I just go over to NAPA and pick up some pedestrian, organic pads so I'll actually stop? Then order the HP Plus pads and have them shipped back home, where I'll swap them out! Only be like $15 more that way, and I'll get to at least drive with something more adequate than drums for a week or so! GENIUS!

Edit: My front pad choice is highly limited because I'm using the original style Kelsey Hayes front caliper for a 1965 Mustang with discs, so there are very few choices (at least on Summit: !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! ). With that in mind, the Baer pads and Hawk HP Plus seem to be the better options, with everything else being either terrible on the track or terrible on the street.

DISCUSSION (16)

Textured Soy Protein > Paul, Man of Mustangs
10/23/2013 at 01:46

Over the years I've tried Axxis Ultimate, Hawk HP+ and EBC RedStuff pads. They're all sort of the step-up street/track compound from their respective brands. They all had similar braking performance but the EBCs were far and away the quietest and least dusty. So that's my vote.

Fleischwagen > Paul, Man of Mustangs
10/23/2013 at 02:06

I have a 2007 GTI that I autocross on occasion. While the HP Plus' are amazing as far as stopping power, they squeal on daily driving like a NJtranist bus. They're also about as dusty as the planet Mars... I run HPS in the rear, they're silent and dust free. I run it like that because of my car having a lot of rear brake bias, it feels way more "even" now.

Luken10 > Paul, Man of Mustangs
10/23/2013 at 04:22

I decided on StopTech street performance pads. From my research they were better all around to the hawk pads. I don't have a whole lot to compare them to, but they don't squeak and have a good healthy bite to them. Have yet to take them to the track, but they get an A from me for DD duties.

BKRM3 > Paul, Man of Mustangs
10/23/2013 at 07:18

I've heard some bad things about HP+ on track. No personal experience though. My friend just tracked his 335 (heavy car) with stoptech street performance pads and they held up great. Remember that fluid is also critical if you're going to track. Use high temp fluid and make sure you've had a full flush no longer than 6 months before your track event. I've been using motul 600 with good results.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > BKRM3
10/23/2013 at 08:45

I've also been running StopTech Street Performance and have been very impressed. Obviously, they won't last nearly as long a true track pad if you're doing lots of track days, but they're inexpensive, perform well, and won't tear up your stock rotors.

I'm using ATE Super Blue (got some before they pulled it from the market). Guess I get to go "amber" next time.

RotaryLover > Paul, Man of Mustangs
10/23/2013 at 10:37

Get PBR/Axiss Ultimate pads on all corners if you can. DO NOT put Hawk HPS on the rear brakes and better stuff up front. You'll be disappointed at how much nose diving your car will get. It wont feel like it's equal and they are noisy at times. I heard good stuff by putting Carbotech XP8 up front and XP10 in the rear but they are expensive and must be ordered. If not StopTech is a pretty good brand.

Paul, Man of Mustangs > RotaryLover
10/23/2013 at 10:43

How much do PBR or Axiss Ultimate pads cost? Are they suitable for extensive street use? I wasn't planning on using HPS pads because they lack fade resistance. I also do not plan on getting just the rears, because mismatched brake systems is just stupid.

My main consideration in getting HP+ pads is that Griggs Racing uses them extensively on street cars with no complaints, even with occasional track use.

Paul, Man of Mustangs > Paul, Man of Mustangs
10/23/2013 at 10:53

Other considerations are cost and parts availability. The Hawk pads seem like they're on backorder, and I can only get them through Summit. However, they look like a good value compared to other pads. Also, Summit only shows 3 brands for my front: Baer (a single set of sport ceramics: Baer DecelaPads ); Hawk with a bunch of race compounds, HPS, and HP Plus; and Bendix with basic ceramics. If I want a matched set right now, the Baers might be the best option.

RotaryLover > Paul, Man of Mustangs
10/23/2013 at 11:04

The issue that I've heard with HP+ are the dump truck noise and that it needs to be heated a bit before it works. So your first stops in the cold morning might be a bit scary. I can't attest since I never tried them. PBR/Axiss are cheap. Here they are 65-75$ compared to HPS that goes to 100-120$. But it's there, I'm sure where you live it might be even cheaper. The only thing with PBR/Axiss is that they produce a lot of brake dust. Other than that, with the spirited driving I do, the front pads last for about a year. The rear ones about 2 on my Mazda 3. They are not suitable for a track-day since they will fade. But on the streets, they are GREAT but they don't modulate much at first...they brake like the factory oh shit windsheild ahead brakes.

Paul, Man of Mustangs > RotaryLover
10/23/2013 at 11:24

I edited my original post. There's a poor selection of pads available for the front of my car. I've got a range of Hawk pads, some Baer ceramics, and some cheap Bendix ceramics. That's about it from Summit. I'm looking at Axxis's resellers, and no one is selling a D11 pad with their compound.

Eventually, I plan on getting better calipers than what I have right now with a better pad selection. But I just don't have the funds right now for high-performance Wilwoods or whatever.

RotaryLover > Paul, Man of Mustangs
10/23/2013 at 11:35

I did a little search on mustang forums. They tend to favor HPS pads for the street over Baer and if they do track days they would switch to HP+ pads. Bendix is obviously out of the question ha!

Paul, Man of Mustangs > RotaryLover
10/23/2013 at 11:40

It's easy enough for me to swap the front pads out, since it doesn't require removing the caliper. Just the cover, and the pads fall out. The rears are those shitty one-piston sliding caliper setups, so I'd rather just get one set of pads that is fine for all situations instead of great on either. I suppose HP+ it is. Still, I need some pads NOW, and the HP+ are out of stock and won't ship for 2 weeks, so I'll just put up with some ceramics in the rear until then.

RotaryLover > Paul, Man of Mustangs
10/23/2013 at 11:45

If you ain't gonna do track days, I'd say put the cheapest for the moment. Better than done ones.

Paul, Man of Mustangs > RotaryLover
10/23/2013 at 11:54

Won't be doing track days, at least I don't think I will. I will be doing autocrossing and plenty of spirited driving, however. Right now, though, I just need something that can hold up to general spirited driving without too much braking, so I might even be able to get away with whatever NAPA happens to have on their shelves. But the fronts will need new pads soon, since I haven't changed them in the 5-8 years I've had disc brakes on it.

RotaryLover > Paul, Man of Mustangs
10/23/2013 at 12:00

HP+ all around then. But in Autocross, most people want more braking in the rear for less understeer or a more equal braking, so they tend to put HP+ in the rear and HPS up front or a setup similar to that. If you can wait for 2 weeks, get the basic stuff. Until HP+ are there.

Paul, Man of Mustangs > RotaryLover
10/23/2013 at 12:04

I think just upgrading to discs rear and setting the prop valve accordingly will help tremendously with brake balance in such a lightweight car. And I'm sure I can survive the next 2 weeks for the good stuff. I've survived this long, after all.