Brake pads OEM FORD or OEM BMW
Seems like there would be room in the market for a slightly detuned S55 base model without the fancy seats, brakes and wheels for about $5-8k less like the M3/M4: M3/M4 Competition.
I really love driving it though, particularly the brakes and the handling.
Have yet to find a better street pad than BMW's OE compound. Ceramics dust less but feel terrible.
Great cars. They like to eat brakes in regular intervals. With 70k make sure there is no front end shimmy that is the result in worn control arm bushings/warped brake rotors.
Brakes are excellent
The OEM brake pads were painfully inadequate for anything more than street driving. Interestingly enough, the rest of the brake components were designed very good and they have a lot of capacity. A simple pad upgrade and brake fluid flush proved sufficient for more serious track days.
In terms of driving impressions, well...it feels heavy and clumsy around town. The steering is very heavy...forget twirling the wheel with a finger. The shifter is mounted low and away. It takes effort to shift, and it's very solid and mechanical (rod shifter). The clutch is progressive but the friction point is not very obvious. Ride is quite good, and push through the clumsy feeling and she can dance. Brakes are hysterically soft, typical for a SHO.
The way the brakes begin to grumble during heavy braking is less impressive, but they work well enough.
I can't believe the brakes used here, this is after all the 'Sport' model out of the Taurus lineup so therefor it should have received a better braking setup.
the steering lacks the consistent weighting and tactile communication that a Porsche offers. For a car this rapid, it's not as talkative as it should be. We've also got reservations about the brakes. Our test car was fitted with competition-grade brake pads to cope with track use, but they still faded badly after a handful of hard laps.
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