whats the bestpads for the FD?websites would be great!

 

What do you drive like? Any racing? There is not one particular pad for every type of event/driver. Give us some more info and we can help you better.

 

Well, other than what ttpowered said, Ive heard M2 sells some great material.

 

If you want upgraded brakes.

If you are mostly on the street - HPS
Autox some but street the rest - HPS
Autox a lot or lots of hard driving - HP+
Road racing or lots of hard stops - HP blue/black

 

i'll be doin alittle of everything .are the ebc greenstuff pads any good?where can i get the hawks pads?

 

I use HP+, I was using Hawk Blacks but I couldnt stand the dust.. They were awesome though.. I was going to try EBC, but I had heard that they were really made for lighter vehicles, and that they could be used up in a single track day.

I buy my Hawk pads from Pegasus racing in New Berlin Wisconsin.

-X

 

I'am mostly on the street. I do drive spirited every now and then but most of the time regular driving. I want a pad that dusts the least. I have heard about all of those brake pads and all seem to be of quality. So which is the best for me?

 

I have the HP+ pads right now, they stop me really well but dust alot more than I like for a street pad. Next time I am going to try the HPS, I dont track my car enough to make the dust worth the performance increase.

I am pretty sure the pads I had before were the EBC Green. If that is indeed what they were there was some dusting but not too bad. I tracked the car one time with them and and didnt notice any brake fade. I would recemmend them if I could remember for certain that they were the EBC Green.

 

Use ... search ... function.

Brian's right too. Depends on what you want for the car ....

 

get off your lazy **** and use the search function...as if you're the only one that's ever wondered about brake pads for the fd--sheez!

 

I have used the EBC Green Stuff on my '89 T2. For around town, twisty back roads, and autoX they are great. But I took them to the track and they didn't last too long then. Maybe a couple hundred miles but that's it. The front pads were gone all the way to the backing plates.

Since then I've gone with Red Stuff in the front and Green Stuff in the rear to balance my brakes out. So far so good. But I haven't made it to any lapping days yet.

 

The only pads that I have ever heard to be both street and track worthy:
- PFC 93s and perhaps some of their other compounds, but they have limited or ceased production of some compounds for the RX-7 calipers
- The Sumitomo pads from the RZ model (though perhaps they would still get too hot and lose effectiveness with the stock non-RZ rotors)
- Some Endless pads seem to work, as one of my friends used to use them for street, track, and AutoX successfully, but I am not sure of the compound that he used
- Pagid RS4-2-1, but they aren't available for the stock calipers

I have tried these street pads on the track, unsuccessfully:
- Hawk HPS -- fade way to easy for track use
- Hawk HP+ -- better and never go away completely, but you'll be standing on the pedal and increasing stopping distances significantly when they fade after a lap or two

I gave up on using the same pads for street and track with the stock brakes. Swapping some track pads (Hawk Blue 9012 or Black work fine) seems to be a much better alternative. They are lousy on the street (dust a lot, eat rotors) but they are way better on the track. Swapping pads isn't very difficult, especially if you are swapping wheels and want to bleed the brakes first anyway.

Here are some places I have gotten pads from, or that I know are good sources for particular brands:
http://www.tirerack.com/ (EBC, Hawk)
http://www.brakeco.com/ (Axxis, EBC, Hawk, PFC?)
http://www.porterfield-brakes.com/ (Porterfield, Hawk, PFC)
http://www.pegasusautoracing.com/ (Hawk, PFC)
http://www.essexparts.com/ (Hawk, Ferodo, PFC, Mintex, others)
http://www.rxecret7.com/ (Project Mu)
I think forum member "ARD T2" (Rishie) can get EBC, Endless and perhaps a few more brands at great prices.

-Max

 

How about Porterfield R4S pads. I can also get a kick *** deal on AXXIS Ultimasters. More street pad but cheaper too.

I'm getting a porterfield shipment this week. We are a distributor for them. Oh I can do most of the aforementioned, but the ones we distribute are obviously a better deal to you guys.

 

I've used Porterfield R4-S for street and track. Great pad for both, but ultimately not in the same league as R4 and R4-Es. I have R4-Es on my car now. Too lazy to swap back from the last track event, but I know I'll be back in another week, and then another two weeks after that. R4-E cold stopping power is fine, but they are noisy during slow stops.

 

hey bro's with the advice on the search method.stay of the thread, if u dont want to read this or help then dont waste your time .cause the next time i have a question i WILL do the same thing !i dont need yo crap !maybe i want recent opinions ,if i was asking something about my boost levels being low or somethinglike that i would search. but the ebc green stuff pads are kinda new so i wanted recent opinions .thanks for all the help to all others !

 

Searching is always good first, you can learn about things that have been discussed before. Learning is good.

Okay, pads.

EBC green, street: good
track: marginal, toast in 2 days.

Hawk blues, street:poor, dust, noise, high rotor wear
track: excellent, lots of dust

Mazda stock, street: very good, low dust, quiet, long wear, linear
track:okay for awhile, but overheat and chunk, toast in a couple days

PF93,97 street: okay, low dust good performance
track: great, low dust, easy on rotors, stand up hard use, down side is they are Expensive.

That's about all I can contribute.

Mark

 

with that kind of attitude, you're not going to get much help from people here. yo mama don't work here, so do your own research. yes the ebc greens are junk as track pads. they are strictly for the street, and occasional use down the twisties. ebc reds are not much better on the track.

 

well then dont help !but i dont need any crap from you either !i couldnt find much when i did SEARCH about the ebc's ,so thanks anyway !and i'll keep my attitude as long as there are jerks here with attitudes !

 

I got some R4-E pads since your running them on the street but I'm a little worried about them. They say all over the place like in thier book, on the ph, and on the reciept that they are not for street use. I've been reluctant to install them because of that. Are they eating up your rotors real bad or anything like that??? Have you checked? What about dust, is it super bad or just normal dusting. I noticed the made my entire hand black just from picking them up lol

Also, when you say that they are noisy during slow stops.....how noisy we talking and is it just when they are super cold? I mean they arent going to drown out my stereo when cold are they....or make people think my breaks are going bad......I hope not lol

I'm just trying to get a better understanding of what I'm fixing to put on my car to make sure I can live with it.

BTW - Manny, I tried to PM you to ask you about this and it said you couldnt get any PM's.

STEPHEN

 

The R4E compound is softer than the R4 compound. My rotors don't seem to be eaten by the R4E compounds. Noisy as in squeal, during slow stops. When the R4Es get warm they're silent.

Dust is as expected but nothing like Hawk Blues dust. The R4E dust is benign, and easily sprayed away with a power washer. Hawk Blue dust turns into a nasty powdercoat if left on for a long time, and water contacts the dust coating.

Niether the Hawk Blue or Black compounds are usable on the street. Those Hawk compounds really do eat your rotors when cold (indicated by the sound of grinding metal when slowing with Blue or Black Hawk pads on the street). The Porterfield R4Es are similar to the Carbotech Panther Plus compounds when cold. They don't grind your rotors when cold, and they stop the car fine.

FWIW I don't recommend keeping the R4Es on the car indefinitely. I do plan to switch the pads back to the Sumitomo Type RS pads in August, when there is a lull in my drivers ed activities (I don't track during July/Aug--too damned hot).

I've turned off my PM since there is one forum member that's really annoying the hell out of me with his smart *** PMs (personal war with long-time friend now turned vicious enemy)...

 

If the R4E's are that good why not keep them indefinitely? Is there something better about the Sumitomo Type RS pads??? Do the R4E's not last long or something? When your driving on the street how long does it take for the R4E's to heat up and be silent, just hitting the brakes a few times or what?

Maybe I should sell the R4E's and just get the RS pads. I plan on tracking my car some but not to the extent you do, its more like a few times a year...plus I'm just a beginner so I'm prob not as hard on the car as you. Maybe I went a little over board with these pads lol. I basically wanted the best pad for the street that I could also use at the track. But the squeeling kinda turns me off if its real loud since I daily drive my car and hate for people to ask me whats wrong with it when they hear noises and **** haha

I guess I should decide before I mount them so I can actually get some of the money out of them.

BTW - you can set up a ignore list and just ignore certain people if you'd like.

STEPHEN

 

Because the R4Es ARE race pads, they will wear out rotors more quickly when using race pads at temps colder than operating temps. I just checked out my Type RS rotors this evening, and they are worn a bit more than before, from just having the R4Es daily for 3-1/2 weeks from my last track event. There is a slight "dip" where the rotor/pad meet on the rotor surface. I plan to spend the sweat equity this weekend and swap the pads back to the Type RS pads, since it's still two weeks until my next event. I think I will make this an Indy Rx7 Club event, and maybe get some help LOL

Quote:

Is there something better about the Sumitomo Type RS pads???

Not really. The Type RS pads are street pads that can be tracked hard without too much fade. The Type RS pads won't give you the ultimate in friction performance that the R4Es will, but close enough for you to not get frustrated with your brakes.

Quote:

Do the R4E's not last long or something?

The R4Es last long enough. Pad life really depends on the driver. I'm rather hard on pads, so I'll get half a season from a front set, and a full season from a rear set of R4Es.

Quote:

When you're driving on the street how long does it take for the R4E's to heat up and be silent, just hitting the brakes a few times or what?

Slowing from highway speeds does the trick. Stop-n-go driving drives you insane. That's another reason why I plan to go ahead and swap the R4Es out... the noise...like fingernails on a chalkboard

Quote:

Maybe I should sell the R4E's and just get the RS pads. I plan on tracking my car some but not to the extent you do, its more like a few times a year...plus I'm just a beginner so I'm prob not as hard on the car as you. Maybe I went a little over board with these pads lol.

Well I did say the R4Es are race pads that can be used on the street on your "to", and back "from" the track

Quote:

I basically wanted the best pad for the street that I could also use at the track. But the squeeling kinda turns me off if its real loud since I daily drive my car and hate for people to ask me whats wrong with it when they hear noises and **** haha

Sumitomo Type RS pads should fit your needs. The R4Es will wear out your rotors prematurely, dust heavily, and make too much noise for comfortable street use.

Quote:

I guess I should decide before I mount them so I can actually get some of the money out of them.BTW - you can set up a ignore list and just ignore certain people if you'd like.

Yup sell them, if you don't plan to track as much or drive as hard as I do. Did you get front and rear, or just fronts? The other reason I turned off my PM function is so that I would stop getting wheel/tire/brake/suspension questions from people. DamonB's the wheel/tire/brakes/suspension god now, so you all can bug him LOL

 

what so bad about the stock OEM mazda ones? i ahve those on my FC right now... i think they are fine.

though i haven't tried the good stuff so i can't say until i compare

 

The stock Sumitomo FD pads (US Spec versions) are fine for the street, but you will melt them on the track. You have perhaps 3 to 5 good laps, then away the brakes go...

 

I didnt realize they made so much noise you didnt like to daily drive them.

Actually when I asked you about running them on my daily driver you told me.... "They do squeal slightly when cold, but when hot, are very quiet. Put the shims in when you put the pads in. That keeps the squealing down. Yes they bite very well when cold. I do run the R4Es on the street, too lazy to swap.

If all that is the case I'll prob just sell them then and try and get some Type RS pads. I dont want to eat my brand new rotors away. I wish I would have got this info before I bought them and I would have gone with the Type RS.

I got the front and rear

I know the feeling, I have well over 400 incoming PM's in my inbox (no, I dont deleate them out lol) and most all of them are questions about getting more power out of a 3rd gen. Also, I'm not familiar with what pads DamonB runs, I was interested in the Porterfields cause you had spoke so highly of them and knew you mentioned driving them on the street and wanted your opinion on them. From the sound of it I thought they made a good street pad but now it doesnt sound quite so promising

Oh well, anyone want to buy some R4E's???

STEPHEN