brake pad matching
 

ok, just got a question, but it most likely is more of a discussion item.

this whole issue about brake pad matching, it seems that there are a lot of opinions on this.

there are basically two options in this matter:
1) use the same brake pad on all 4 corners
2) use a different brake pad on the front and rear

now the first option has always made the most sense to me, but after reading a few things the second one seems like it may be advantageous in certain situations.

there are many factors of course, the main ones being the application (street, track, etc.) and the brake pads that are being considered.

now my thinking on why option 2 would be advantageous is, for example, running a lower operating temp/faster wearing pad in the rear. this would allow the front and rear to get up to temp at the same rate, and wear at a closer rate. this could apply to both street and track.

anyways, just looking for some opinions.
i am thinking of running some EBC Red in the front and Green in the rear, but i need more info...

It really doesn't matter all that much for street. Or track, really. Best to use what stops your car well. It's probably ideal in some sense to be able to run the same pad compound front and rear, but in reality there are higher level goals that take precedence.

A remotely possible disadvantage for running a track pad in front and a street pad in rear is that the fronts will have low friction when cold, which might lead to locking up the rear brakes before the fronts on a hard stop. Unless you go bananas with a cold car, however, I wouldn't lose much sleep worrying about this possibility.

Similar friction profiles during warm-up is an argument for running the same pad compound front and rear. Of course, even with the same pads, one end of the car will likely heat up faster than the other, reducing the validity of this argument.

Wearing at the same rate front and rear isn't a very useful goal.

-Max

I daily drive and track my car and have never had any need to run anything other than identical pads front and rear.

ok, thanks for the comments guys, that's more or less what i had orginally thought about it.
i guess i really was wondering if people were running different combinations to get a better "feel" from the brake balance.

in terms of functionality, even if you wanted to run longer lasting pads in front, it wouldn't really matter because then you just wouldn't replace the rear as often.

i think maybe the only other argument FOR running different pads front and rear is that you can spend less money on rear pads possibly...

- Aaron