pianoprodigy

I did do a little searching on the issue, and it seems that many (and Manny LOL) recommend EBC Green brake pads.

I currently have stock pads with Brembo cross-drilled rotors, and I am not happy with the stopping power. When I bought the car, it had some kind of aftermarket pads that squeaked, and I can't stand squeaking pads on a nice car. I went with stock pads so they wouldn't squeak. I went with the Brembo cross-drilled rotors because the stock one's centers were really rusty.

All that said, I have had several incidents where the stopping power was lacking. It seems like I have a good initial bite, but it seems like the brakes lose their stopping power rather quickly (fade?).

Is the EBC Green the pad for me? Keep in mind that I have 3-piece mesh wheels, and I don't relish the thought of cleaning off a lot of dust weekly.

Thanks for the input everyone!

Alan

aka_rocket

got a set of hawks hps and boy...lots of brake dust. have s5 vert wheels and cleaning was a pita. braking is good but too much dust for me. im also thinking of going ebc greenstuff for my next brake job.

Section8

iTrader: (6)

Ive got HP+ pads and they dust like mad, but then again I use them for autox. Performance Friction makes great pads that have low dust, but I can't manage to find them for the stock brakes. I have no experience with EBC at all.

israel

iTrader: (3)

what about porterfield? i recall seeing some race-oriented person on here running them. they have a streetable compound (R4S), that's supposed to be less dusting and such than the comparable hawk pads. i have not used these myself yet, but check them out and maybe someone who knows better than i will share.

www.porterfield-brakes.com

oh, and the site also has performance friction pads too for the FD, but i'm not sure which compound you were looking for, as it doesn't look like they're all made in our application.

rx7tt95

I used Porterfield R4S pads with my AP Racing kit. They work VERY well but do dust. Low noise, much better than Hawk HP's. I switched to N-Tech's street pads (I think they're called the golds?) No noise, dust almost non-existent and very good modulation. The only downside is they don't have the initial bite of the Porterfields but are just as strong. www.ntechengineering.com

Mahjik

iTrader: (1)

For stock FD brakes, I highly recommend the Bönez Stage 1 Pads. Very good grip without tons of dusting:

http://www.rx7.com/store/rx7/fdbrakes.html

pianoprodigy

I'm not sure how one would measure it, but how much better are these aftermarket pads, such as the Bonez Stage 1 Pads, than the stock pads? Do your best to describe.

Thanks.

Flynbryn

These are the worst I have ever used for excessive brake dust. I just ran a track day last month with these in the rear. Let me just say that my White 57c Gram lights were totally black. And some of the metal from the pads was embedded in the paint of the wheel. When I removed removed the pads they were trash. There were big chunks of material gone. This is on perfectly turned powerslots.As for my Hawk HPS s up front they were only alittle glazed which a little scotchbrite and some elbow grease cured. BUY THE Hawks or Porterfields. Stay Away from the EBS "stuff"Just my 2 cents

Carl Byck

Well, Ive run every pad mentioned here, plus many more. For the street, the EBCs cannot be beat for ZERO fade, and NO dust. This is on my 3650lb Supra, and on my FC. That said, they do not last on the track(road course). AX they are fine. I'd go reds for better life, with a little greater effort when cold. The greens lasted fine til I tracked them, 1.5hours, and they were gone. BUT, NO fade, good bite, linear, easy to modulate. I currently run Carbotech XP9s on both my cars, these do make a little noise(very little), but dust more than the EBCs. As far as Hawks, unless you own stock in a rotor manufacturer they SUCK. I have outbraked hawk equiped cars that weigh 1000lbs less, and have just as much brake time, and again on the track. I'd calll Carbotech, and try their latest street pad, I think it is called bobcat. The XP9s are awesome on my supra, but off the track they are hard to get warm enough with the lighter FC. Anyway, if you track the car, call Carbotech, for the street with ZERO fade, EBC, or Carbotech. Carl

Carl Byck

Note; on the track, the above poster is right, an entire pad inabout an hour will certainly leave a little dust LOL. But No dust for aggressive street use.

ptrhahn

iTrader: (9)

Axxis makes a low dust pad.. can't remember what it's called. It's a step down from the "ultimates" that came w/ my StopTechs (which dust, but aren't HORRIBLE).

DamonB

I'm trying some Axxis Metal Masters on my FD right now. Got front and rear sets off ebay for $80 total. They are absolutely quiet, dust very, very little and best of all the small amount of dust present cleans off very easily. For the street I absolutely love them.

On the other hand I autox very often and these pads certainly lack the initial bite of the Hawk HP+ I normally use. I have to use much greater pressure on the pedal and it took me a while to adjust to that. Autoxing on street tires the car is fine, but autoxing on race tires is too much for the Metal Masters IMO. I could smell brakes after every run on race tires but I never felt them fade.

My next plan is to try Carbotech or Porterfield but they are both about twice as expensive as HP+. If all I did was drive spiritedly on the street I would be very happy with the Axxis Metal Masters, especially for the price. I plan to go ahead and spend on the Carbotech or Porterfield though and see what happens.

saxyman990

I'm in agreement with DamonB. I am currently using Axxis pads for the street, and I like them a lot. For the track, I switch to HP+ (the Metal Masters just don't have the bite or life that the Hawks do). I'm thinking of trying Carbotechs for my next track pad though.

-Rob

NC_FC3S

This is a great thread ! I was just thinking today that I'll never put another set of Hawk HP+ pads on my car. I had actually ordered the HPS (i believe that's the name) originally but the distributor sold me on the fact that they were better anyway and that I should use them. I don't have any aspirations to auto-x my 90 vert but I do drive pretty hard on the street. I didn't notice much if any improvement in feel with these pads...maybe there was but now i'm anti-Hawk... anyway, the brake dust is the worst I've ever seen. I've got a set of new uninstalled Hawk HP+ pads for the rear if anyone local (Raleigh, NC) is interested.

Keith
90 Red Vert

gnx7

iTrader: (10)

I ran HP+ pads on the street and road race course. My car was only about 2600lbs with T2 brakes on my n/a S4 and they do certainly dust a lot... but they brake well and I didn't get any fade. I'm sure the stock engine with no mods didn't push them to their limits... but initial bite on them is great and they are easy to modulate (no ABS).

I'm going to try some EBC Greens for the street on my 13" AP setup. For the track I'm looking into Performance Friction or Carbotechs. Race pads dust and especially when pushed on a road race course.... pure and simple. Something has to wear... better the pads than the rotors (mine are $300 each and to replace those often will kill my wallet).

-Mark

alberto_mg

I was a long time Axxis Metal Master pads guy. They used to be called Repco Metal Masters back in the day Used them since 1987 or so on a variety of cars (VW, RX7s, Miatas, BMW e36, my mom's camry etc) that saw aggressive street driving and track driving. They are great on the street and on track. Their on track performance would of course depend on how experienced of a driver you are. I normally run in the intermediate group so I don't kill them like some of the real fast guys.

The only thing I never liked about them was that you had to apply that disk brake quiet stuff to the rear of them or else they'd sqeal often and loudly.

I tried EBC Greens on my FD and I really like them. More so than the Axxis Metal Masters. The EBCs have good initial bite and produce minimal dust. And you don't have to spray that disk brake quiet stuff on them.

The Performance Friction and Carbotechs and HPs are great pads, but I've always perceived them more as track pads - better for the group A guys and instructors.

My .02 pesos...

DamonB

If it's been a while that has probably changed. The Metal Masters I received have a somewhat soft and textured layer of material on the backing plates to prevent them from squealing. My Metal Masters don't make any noise at all, they are completely quiet. All I did was pull them out of the box and install them

Carl Byck

For ABSOLUTE POSITIVE SURE, you will love Carbotechs if you like HP+. I do fade HP+ on the track quite easily, but NEVER Carbotech. Also hopefully their new street pad is a little less pricey for the dual use guys, also almost imperceptible rotor wear with carbotech. I have a buddy with a Supra, set up similar to mine, He runs Hawk Blues, he has replaced his rotors three times, in the amount of track time that I went through to sets of Carbotechs, and have only a couple thousandths wear on my rotors(In do not know how many pads he went through). To reiterate, EBC are excellent for the street,extremely little dust, will not fade on the track, and will last at least 45 minutes on the track Carl

BTW, if you ask for a discount, Carbotech will generally give 10% off(NASA member, SCCA, SupraForums member etc.)

ALPSTA

iTrader: (3)

If there is one for rx7 i'd recommend Ferodo DS2500, also i heard Endless makes a dustfree brake pad.

maxcooper

Ferodo doesn't make pads for the Mazda calipers AFAIK, but you can get DS2500 pads for big brake kits (AP, Wilwood, etc.). I have been using them on the street for a while. They are quiet and feel good (hard pedal, easy to modulate). I don't know how much they dust, really, since my wheels are black (intentionally -- not from brake dust). They do dust, but I am not quite sure how they compare to other pads in the dust department. I haven't tried them on the track.

Whether Hawk HP+ will work for you on the track or not depends on the track, driver, and your car. They feel great on the street and seem like they would be an excellent AutoX pad. But they dust a lot and some people have had them squeal, too (but mine never or rarely squealed). And they faded quickly at Holtville (120MPH, 180 degree, 110MPH, slow 90 -- track is hard on brakes) when I tried to run them there. On the plus side, they do seem to retain more friction than most street pads even when they fade, but standing on the brakes wears you out and you still can't get full braking after they fade.

I used to recommend Hawk HPS as good street pads, but I faded them on the street once and it occurs to me that they still dust more than a street pad should. I would give some EBC Greens a try as street pads if I was still running stock brakes -- they appear to be higher friction than most street pads and reports indicate low dust. But I wouldn't run them on the track. The Metal Masters sound interesting (my daily driver will be getting those after I burn through the organic Axxis Deluxe pads that are on there now). I think Axxis also makes an "Ultimate" pad that may be worth a look (I think StopTech includes these with some of their brake kits for various cars).

Changing your pads is pretty quick and easy and brake fade is scary and dangerous. It can ruin your day (brake fade is a buzzkill), or REALLY RUIN your day (crash), or worse (die). I found Hawk Blue pads to work pretty well for the track, though it sounds like there are some other track pads that might be worth a try out there now. Hawk Blacks are nice, too -- I ran those once and the brakes felt great. Blues work at higher temps than Blacks, but I liked the feel of the Blacks better. And come to think of it, I never faded the Blacks -- perhaps I should have used those more. I usually just bought the Blues because that seemed to be what other people were using successfully at the track. I tried Hawk HT-8s once, too, but they didn't work out so well (Holtville again, I didn't bed them properly, destroyed pads and rotors and felt like crap -- other drivers with same pads just had the pads crumble a bit but were also dissatisfied).

-Max

Howard Coleman

iTrader: (6)

a brakepad thread?

i have to get in on it... another EBC commercial.

i have run EBC greens street red track since '99. i run the M2 AP big brake package on the front w no abs.

the greens make your rotors SMILE as in

my car is white. NO dust. no noise. linear with beautiful feel. they bite beyond my 295X18 Toyo proxes. there may be other good pads out there but they will not be on my car as EBCs are everything i need.

howard coleman

GoodfellaFD3S

iTrader: (213)

Howard,

I agree that the greens are good for street use, but in my one experience with the reds on the road course, they worked very well with no fade, but seemed to vaporize after ~4 twenty minute sessions.....

pianoprodigy

Howard or Rich,

Where's the best place to buy the EBC Greens to get the best price?

Alan

WaLieN

I agree. I find it funny that they claim that they barely dust and compared to OE, they have much less dust. Well, that isn't true at all on our application. My HPS pads dust like CRAZY! After about a week, I'll have people asking telling me how "cool" my gunmetal rims look like; my rims are silver.

GoodfellaFD3S

iTrader: (213)

I have always gotten mine through Gotham.