Quote:
Originally Posted by nanotech
Looking for a pad upgrade that doesn't require a pad swap for every track day, with the mindset of working tolerably well on the street (noise, dust not an issue - just want reasonable cold/medium stopping pressure). I am willing to take a pretty severe streetability hit, as long as I don't have to put 200C into the pads before they generate any stopping torque.
Ideal options appear to be Hawk Street Race and Pagid Orange. Neither appear to be available for the 135i stock POS calipers. EBC Yellow are potential options but reviews of these pads are terrible, plus they are rotor murdering machines.
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Let me give you a counter opinion on EBC pads.
I've run both the Yellows and Blues as a street/track pad. I have not found them to be rotor aggressive at all. Quite the opposite in fact.
I have put 12+ track days on the factory front rotors using exclusively the EBC pads and haven't replaced them yet. They are just beginning to show signs of ripples/grooves and are taking longer to bed new sets of pads.
The price of EBC pads is very attractive. I can pick up a set of fronts in Canada for $170 +tax (incl shipping), vs $400 for Hawk. The biggest downside is that the pad wear rate is faster due to the softer pad material. But I'm saving on rotors.
EBC yellow: More initial bite than the blues, probably higher mu too giving less pedal pressure required. Faster wear rate than blue. Brutal brake dust.
EBC blue: My current pad of choice. Endurance compound puts up with the abuse of heavy 135 better. Good but not great initial bite. Brake dust is surprising low for a track pad. I get 4-5 days at Area27 before I want to change the pads. On the street they work from cold, but you need a couple of stops to get the best out of them. No squealing, some mild brake noise upon application.
WARNING: When bedding the pads, the first time you get them really hot, you will get significant green pad fade as they off gas. Had a bit of a moment coming down a hill...felt like I was pushing on a rock, but car wasn't slowing down fast enough.
That said, once I had established a transfer layer on the rotor, subsequent sets didn't seem to exhibit this as much. But maybe I'm just being more cautious. YMMV
General comments:
The best mod I did for my brakes was getting rid of the splash shield. This allowed much better airflow around the entire disc. Like fe1rx did in his BBK, I protected the rubber boots at the ball joints from direct radiated heat. This applies especially to the tie rods.
One other thing I learned is how to use the brakes properly. The key is to use the brakes very hard at the beginning of the braking zone. Dump as much energy as you can while speeds are higher and airflow is better to pull the heat away. Maintain a near constant pedal pressure and then trail off the brakes as you enter the corner. If you find yourself coming to the end of the braking zone and are pushing the pedal harder to get it slowed down in time you are adding extra heat at a time when airflow is the lowest. This really amps up the brake temperatures.
Last thing. I've noticed that I get significant longitudinal tapered pad wear. Bad enough that I regularly flip the pad set over in the calipers to combat it. Yes, I have to re-bed the pads, but to me it is worth it. Seeing fe1rx's BBK thread listing the caliper piston diameters shows that the AP caliper has a greater difference in diameters than the factory one. I'd be interested in knowing if the pads in the AP have better wear.
Anyone else run into this type of tapered pad wear?