vs
Brake pads Textar or Mintex
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 used OEM replacement Textar pads. At some later date I may go with something a bit more grippy, but for DD duties the Textar/Porsche pads seem to be more than up to the task.
Pros: up to the task
Cons: not very grippy
Vehicle:
Volkswagen
I’ve always used Zimmerman rotors and Mintex pads, and have yet to find a better combo. I’ve tried Brembo, Stoptech, Bosch, but nothing has pleased me like Mintex [pedal feel, stopping power, no noise, very low dust [especially when used on drilled rotors]].
Pros: pedal feel, stopping power
Cons: nothing has pleased me
I recommend Textar, great bite and no need of pre-heating. They also don't cause too much wear on the discs and on the other hand don't generate much brake dust.
Pros: great bite, low dust
I did Redbox pads on my B5.5 Passat with 312 rotors, and I loved them. I skimped out when I first did the upgrade and went with CARQUEST pads and absolutely hated them. Maybe that's why I liked the Redbox so much....
Pros: loved them
Cons: none
Vehicle:
Volkswagen Passat
Mintex is a step below the OEM Jurid/ATE/TRW pads in terms of friction coefficient. Mintex is an upgrade when it comes to dust. Right now, running Akebono Euro Ceramics... I won't come to my verdict until winter.
Pros: less dust
Cons: lower friction coefficient
replaced calipers with OE ones again, uprated discs with mintex pads. worked hundreds for bout 500miles and now its playing up again like before.
Pros: worked for 500 miles
Cons: playing up again
Vehicle:
Volkswagen
Mileage: 804 km
Mintex Red Box pads are crap - the company changed hands a few years ago and quality has sucked since with some folks experiencing large chunks of pad material just falling away.
Cons: crap, quality sucked
I had a set of Mintex Red Boxes on my '98 GTI-VR6. Other than producing less dust (or a less-visible dust), I thought they were garbage. The stock pads stopped and felt better.
Pros: less dust
Cons: garbage, felt worse
Vehicle:
Volkswagen
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