Reco's for replacement brake pads and brake fluid?

[DuffManRHA]

I'm going to get the rotors turned at the same time just to start fresh, but here is the info; I have drilled/slotted rotors (Powerslot brand IIRC) on all 4 corners, as well as Russell (again, IIRC) SS brake lines, and I will also be flushing the brake fluid and replacing it with some better stuff (and the stock stuff is 11 years old now too!)

The car is my daily driver at the moment, and sees spirited driving a couple times a week, but not full on roadraced/autocrossed anymore. I'm looking for a pad that will work well for my plans for being a good daily driver pad, but still better-than-stock braking once they are warmed up and I'm "spiritedly driving" :burnout:

Obviously they can't be full on race pads as those would get eaten quick, and from what I understand, flat out suck until they are hot. By the same token, I don't want a parts store type semi-metallic pad that will be harsh on the rotors (and noisy). Brake dust doesn't really bother me as I have the regular 17" Cobra clearcoated alloy wheels and no chrome, and they hide dirt well.

I'm also looking to get a good replacement brake fluid, same as the pad choice as far as being for a daily driver, with back country road driving a couple times a week. I live in So Cal and the car is garaged at night, not sure if that matters for not having to get a brake fluid that is more-than-stock resistant to water in the lines.

I have a gift cert to Summit that is burning a hole in my pocket, and I need to do this anyway! PLEASE feel free to ask any questions that might help me make a decision on what brand/type of pad to get. All my buddies around here just 1/8 and 1/4 drag race, so when I asked them the same question, they just laughed :beer:

Thanks!!

Eric

 

[Taz]

For fluid, I use and recommend the Motul RBF600. It's a DOT4 brake fluid with a dry boiling point of nearly 600 degrees, and its wet BP is higher than the dry boiling points of most DOT4 fluids. A little pricy, but excellent stuff.

The pad recommendations you get are going to be all over the map. I've been using the Brembo Sport pads for several years, because they produce mad grip over an extremely wide temperature range and are very rotor friendly. They're also very quiet. I just installed my 3rd set, and I've never had a squeak out of any of them.

Their downside is that they dust like mad (which is a characteristic of just about any rotor-friendly pad, since one or the other is going to get worn away), and they won't last as long as most pads. But at least they're inexpensive, so replacing them a little more often won't break the bank.

:thumbsup:

 

[Taz]

Here's a chart that may help with your pad selection ...

I lifted it off Tire Rack's website a few years ago.

 

[fastback brian]

for what you have planned , really nothing more than stock pads and fresh dot3 fluid is needed.. your car was designed to do just what you are going to do with it..I would shop around for a good price on PBR pads, factory pads cost 200, you should be able to get somthing close for a 1/4 that..make sure the rotors have more than ".020 above the min specs, more if you get some aggressive pads..

 

[soccerman002]

I ran Hawk HPS pads and Motul 600 fluid in my previous car, combined with slotted rotors and SS brake lines, made for a good street setup. Pretty much what I'm planning on doing with the Cobra this spring.

 

[Un4GivN]

I'm quite fond of my Carbotech Bobcat pads. They are a bit dusty, but they stop something fierce.

 

[SVECobraR]

Motul 600 fluid, stainless steel lines all around, with stock brembo blanks and brembo sport pads for the streets and hps+ pads for the track. Although i'm thinking about switching for carbotechs year round.

How do you like the carbotechs un4givn, which model do you use for the street driving?

 

[DuffManRHA]

sorry been a while since I've been able to get on; SVTP is blocked at work (but Corral isn't, go figure) and I just got a new computer finally.

Sounds like the Motul 600 is the way to go, so I've at least settled on that

Should there be any problem getting my D/S rotors turned at the local O'Reillys, versus regular style rotors?

I forgot to mention I don't put a lot of miles on the car (2k miles worst case every 3 months), so longevity of the pad at the expense of rotor wear is an acceptable compromise, meaning that I WOULD take a pad that doesn't last as long and is easier on the rotors.

I've been looking at Hawk pads and the guy at O'Reillys I go to has a Lightning, so we shoot the shit when I stop in, and he says he's heard good things about Hawk pads, but there are so many different options I just don't know where to start. I guess if I broke it down by importance of characteristics, it would go (1 = don't care either way, 5 = very important):

Longevity = 1
Rotor wear = 4
Dust = 2
Stopping power = 5

In fact, they should market pads this way to make it easier to find the set thats right for you

Thanks guys, I really appreciate the feedback, and will def check it later today now that I can finally :beer:

 

[Taz]

I've been using the Brembo Sport pads for nearly 6 years with great results. Their characteristics match up with your priorities perfectly. Great performance cold or hot, very rotor friendly and don't produce any scoring like a lot of others do, but they don't last very long and they dust quite a bit.

One characteristic missing from your list is noise. Don't know how important that is to you, but the Brembos are quiet. I've never heard a peep from my Brembo pads, and am now running my 3rd set. They've all been silent.

EDIT: I wouldn't turn D/S rotors. In fact I don't recommend turning any rotors. If they're beat (i.e. warped, etc), replace them. If they're not, just scuff them up and bed the pads to them as is. This has always worked for me.

 

[DuffManRHA]

I've been using the Brembo Sport pads for nearly 6 years with great results. Their characteristics match up with your priorities perfectly. Great performance cold or hot, very rotor friendly and don't produce any scoring like a lot of others do, but they don't last very long and they dust quite a bit.

One characteristic missing from your list is noise. Don't know how important that is to you, but the Brembos are quiet. I've never heard a peep from my Brembo pads, and am now running my 3rd set. They've all been silent.

EDIT: I wouldn't turn D/S rotors. In fact I don't recommend turning any rotors. If they're beat (i.e. warped, etc), replace them. If they're not, just scuff them up and bed the pads to them as is. This has always worked for me.

Are those Brembo Sports used w/ stock calipers, and are those front AND rear or just front? Or do rear pad selection really not matter that much? You're def right, I forgot to mention noise, but yes it is important in the sense of not having squealing while I'm driving around, or heavy squealing on braking.

I don't think that the rotors need to be turned, but I was gonna check runout and if they needed to be turned then go from there. Any good source for replacement D/S rotors, or even just slotted ones w/ or w/o dimples? I've seen low quality ones that show cracking (even if only surface cracks, but still...) from the drill holes and the ones I have now do NOT do that, but I'm open to suggestions on replacements if need be.

Thanks!!

 

[01yellercobra]

I ran the Hawk HPS's for a long time. Right now I'm running some ceramic replacements and there was a noticable difference in stopping power. I'm putting Brembo pads I picked up from a buddy on tomorrow night. I'm hoping the Brembos work a little better when the on ramp comes to an end.

 

[Taz]

Are those Brembo Sports used w/ stock calipers, and are those front AND rear or just front? Or do rear pad selection really not matter that much? You're def right, I forgot to mention noise, but yes it is important in the sense of not having squealing while I'm driving around, or heavy squealing on braking.

I don't think that the rotors need to be turned, but I was gonna check runout and if they needed to be turned then go from there. Any good source for replacement D/S rotors, or even just slotted ones w/ or w/o dimples? I've seen low quality ones that show cracking (even if only surface cracks, but still...) from the drill holes and the ones I have now do NOT do that, but I'm open to suggestions on replacements if need be.

Thanks!!

OEM calipers. The Brembo part number is 07.8300.25. Front only. Rear pads matter. Ideally you want them to match the fronts with respect to performance, but Brembo Sports aren't available for our cruddy Varga rear calipers.

Until recently, I had been running the Ford Racing '00R pads in the rear calipers. They were quiet and provided xlnt performance. They didn't dust much at all, but they scored my rotors something awful, so I switched to the Satisfied Sport GS6 pads in back. So far, so good with those. They dust a bit more than the '00R pads did, but they're just as quiet and performance seems every bit as good. Best of all, I haven't observed any scoring (with new rotors identical to the old ones). The GS6 pads are available from Tire Rack.

I sincerely believe that you get what you pay for with D/S rotors. I personally recommend only Baer or DBA, because I've never used any other brand, and I've never had any issues with either of those. First decide what rotors you want to run, and then Google them to see who's offering good pricing.

Here's a close-up photo of one of the front rotors I recently replaced on my Cobra. This rotor has seen more than its fair share of HARD braking on Firebird International's main road course. I'm usually at speeds in excess of 150 on the long front straight of that track before I nail the binders for turn 1. As you can see, this rotor is worn down along the fire path, but there isn't a crack in sight. I replaced all 4 rotors at the same time, and there weren't any cracks anywhere on any of them.

A buddy of mine runs a popular cheaper brand of D/S rotors, which shall remain anonymous. He takes his Cobra out to Firebird sometimes, and his rotors always develop little micro-fractures around the holes. He says he doesn't worry about it unless the cracks begin to travel to the edge of the discs, but I'd be afraid to run them on the track like that. This is why I don't recommend going cheap on D/S rotors.

:thumbsup:

 

[DuffManRHA]

OEM calipers. The Brembo part number is 07.8300.25. Front only. Rear pads matter. Ideally you want them to match the fronts with respect to performance, but Brembo Sports aren't available for our cruddy Varga rear calipers.

Until recently, I had been running the Ford Racing '00R pads in the rear calipers. They were quiet and provided xlnt performance. They didn't dust much at all, but they scored my rotors something awful, so I switched to the Satisfied Sport GS6 pads in back. So far, so good with those. They dust a bit more than the '00R pads did, but they're just as quiet and performance seems every bit as good. Best of all, I haven't observed any scoring (with new rotors identical to the old ones). The GS6 pads are available from Tire Rack.

I sincerely believe that you get what you pay for with D/S rotors. I personally recommend only Baer or DBA, because I've never used any other brand, and I've never had any issues with either of those. First decide what rotors you want to run, and then Google them to see who's offering good pricing.

Here's a close-up photo of one of the front rotors I recently replaced on my Cobra. This rotor has seen more than its fair share of HARD braking on Firebird International's main road course. I'm usually at speeds in excess of 150 on the long front straight of that track before I nail the binders for turn 1. As you can see, this rotor is worn down along the fire path, but there isn't a crack in sight. I replaced all 4 rotors at the same time, and there weren't any cracks anywhere on any of them.

A buddy of mine runs a popular cheaper brand of D/S rotors, which shall remain anonymous. He takes his Cobra out to Firebird sometimes, and his rotors always develop little micro-fractures around the holes. He says he doesn't worry about it unless the cracks begin to travel to the edge of the discs, but I'd be afraid to run them on the track like that. This is why I don't recommend going cheap on D/S rotors.

:thumbsup:

Word to the cracking: MAYBE they would be ok w/ hairline/surface cracks on the street but I DEF would not do any hard braking, or stopping my car from 150mph+ w/ those things. IIRC mine are Powerslot and (knock on wood) no cracks yet and that includes high speed/hard braking on a favorite back road... all within legal speed limits of course :lol1:

I think I'm gonna take your reco on the front pads at least for the Brembo Sports and get the better brake fluid at the same time, if only for upcoming So Cal summer months and hard driving w/ some vacation days I have to use: in financial services its common that you MUST take 1 week of time off w/o coming into the branch/office at all, and I have to do mine before July 12th 2011 :beer:

The 00R pads sound good but maybe too harsh for D/S rotors or anything more than racing, but those GS6 pads sound good, I'm gonna check those out as well. Where do I get the Brembo Sports at, I couldn't find them on Summit?

Would I notice a measurable difference in braking performance w/ brake coolers?

Thanks!!

 

[VirtualSVT]

Hawk HPS pads and Powerslot rotors.

And Ford's brake fluid. Good stuff.

 

[Taz]

Word to the cracking: MAYBE they would be ok w/ hairline/surface cracks on the street but I DEF would not do any hard braking, or stopping my car from 150mph+ w/ those things. IIRC mine are Powerslot and (knock on wood) no cracks yet and that includes high speed/hard braking on a favorite back road... all within legal speed limits of course :lol1:

I think I'm gonna take your reco on the front pads at least for the Brembo Sports and get the better brake fluid at the same time, if only for upcoming So Cal summer months and hard driving w/ some vacation days I have to use: in financial services its common that you MUST take 1 week of time off w/o coming into the branch/office at all, and I have to do mine before July 12th 2011 :beer:

The 00R pads sound good but maybe too harsh for D/S rotors or anything more than racing, but those GS6 pads sound good, I'm gonna check those out as well. Where do I get the Brembo Sports at, I couldn't find them on Summit?

Would I notice a measurable difference in braking performance w/ brake coolers?

Thanks!!

You can find the Brembo Sport pads HERE.

I doubt you'd notice any improvement on the street with a brake cooling kit. Cooling ducts will help reduce fade on the track, but you're very unlikely to push your brakes that hard on the steet.