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Brake pads STOPTECH or Mintex
EBC brake pads have always let me down. I refuse to use them now. The best street/light track pad out now is the Stoptech 309 Sport. Non-abrasive on the street, they dust a bit, but it’s not crazy, and they have a reasonably high max operating temp (MOT). The best thing is they won’t smear brake pad material and give you the judders if you exceed the MOT. They’re also pretty cheap.
Pros: non-abrasive, high MOT, cheap
Cons: dusts a bit
TBH I'd just buy the rotors and get stoptech pads. I have use many pairs of them and they work well without breaking the bank.
Pros: work well, affordable
I really like the stoptech sport brake pads. They are very aggressive and brake very well with excellent initial bite. They don't fade much after repeated heavy braking which is nice. This does come at a cost. Since these are semi-metallic compounds they will eat your rotors. You will be replacing rotors with pads every time.
Pros: aggressive braking, excellent bite
Cons: eats rotors quickly
After 70K miles of fun driving, I finally replaced my front brake rotors and pads...3mm left on the pads LOL. I got Zimmermann Rotors($180) and Mintex pads($45) and couldn't be happier. In fact, this set-up feels a lot better than the OEM bite and feel plus the massive reduction in brake dust.
Pros: better than OEM, less dust
Vehicle:
Volkswagen Golf
Mileage: 70000 km
I recently got a pair of pretty rusty 325 calipers for £50 (mine are the smaller ones from a 316) and sandblasted them back to clean metal. Then painted with high temp paint and rebuild kit £30 (pistons, seals, guide pins, bleed valves etc). I was pretty happy with the result which cost me around £100 for the pair. I then went with mintex discs and pads and a full set of braided brake lines my mate had. Full refurb prolly cost me £300 and are significantly better than they were but I don't think they will be as good as a 4 pot setup.
Pros: significantly better brakes
Cons: not as good as 4 pot
Vehicle:
BMW
I have custom drilled rotors and Stoptech/Centric Posi-Quiet pads combined with Stoptech SS lines on my LS430. I'm very happy with the combo but I would not recommend those rotors if you're looking for longevity. I would stick with regular blanks or slotted only if you really want that stopping power and longevity.
Pros: happy with combo, good stopping power
Cons: rotors lack longevity
Vehicle:
Lexus
mine tended to do that after i put in the mintex pads. i figure its just the metal content of the pad.
Pros: metal content of pad
I have the DBA 4000s and really like them--but I have the Mintex pads and in the cold, they squeel horribly. But, low dust and decent performance.
Pros: decent performance, low dust
Cons: squeel horribly in cold
Driving home today, and I had to brake HARD to avoid a collision, the fade was awful - the pedal went straight to the floor - no ABS activation, NOTHING... Got home and the fronts are SMOKING, and the rears are completely toast - I mean GONE - there is almost NO friction material left, and a PILE of it on my wheels... These had seen NO track usage, and NO abuse in the last thousand miles... thanks a lot MINTEX - you've made an angry customer for life...
Cons: awful fade, pedal to floor
Mileage: 1000 km
Mintex red/Mintex red - mediocre for the street - squeaky on parking brake - slightly less bite than OEM - pads can leave deposits causing warping - very inexpensive - brake dust is easier to wipe off than from other pads
Pros: inexpensive, easier to wipe
Cons: mediocre, squeaky, less bite
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