I've just aquired some AD22VF calipers. I'm about to order some slotted rotors to suit.

I'm curious as to which brake pads I should purchase. I drive the car mainly on the street.. however I do a fair bit of autocross work, which I've found street pads seem to work okay with. I do however plan to get out and do some circuit work ocasionally.

Should I get a street pad and a race pad? or a compromise (something thats suitable for both?)

What pad should I be looking at?

Thanks, James

stillen metal matrix pads work great. get some motul RBF600 brake fluid also. its the best brake fluid i used by far!

I don't like compromise pads, personally. They can be harsh and noisy on the street, and they wear fast at the track. Buy a set of plain vanilla street pads for daily driving and autocross, and put on your front race pads before you head for the track.

It's a pain to do swaps, but you'll get better performance in both situations. Plus, it's an excuse to bleed the brakes, a chore you'll be doing anyway.

I run Porterfield R4Ss on my rally car. I use the car only for rallying - BUT , rallying involves a fair amount of transiting on the highway etc. from stage to stage.

I use them with Ford HD fluid, which I keep pretty fresh. I have found this setup to be pretty fade resistant compared to stock. Good inital bite, good feel, no noise.

Robin

Ive recently spoken to a guy who who "builds" custom pads using whatever materials, he does race brakes and all. He mentioned that he had 5 different compounds to choose from depending on the driving / racing conditions. I spose I'll just go a decent street style pad (also for autocross). And look at something more hardcore for racing on the circuit (and swap the pads out as required)

Thanks guys, James

Axxis Ultimates. I just installed a set this week. Excellent cold bite. And they're made in Australia.

Tim

try some EBC brake pads they work for me..

Originally posted by sunnysupersaloon
try some EBC brake pads they work for me..


....if you don't mind cleaning your wheels every 10 minutes of driving :)

I like my Hawk HP+

But I'll be trying something else after these. Need to experiment with different pads or else I'll always think the Hawk are the best :)


BTW, every track brake pads will make tons of brake dust.

I personally feel the factory pads are hard to beat for street use for the combination of cold and hot stopping ability. I absolutely hated the Axxis pads on my SE-R with the AD22VF calipers. First stop of the day I always thought I wasn't going to be able to stop. I haven't tried the ultimates yet.

Forget about dual use pads. Get a good race pad for track use.

I dont know if my Hawk HP+ are considered dual use. But I can say that they performe great at the track, with almost no fad in 20 laps.

And on the street, even in cold use they still brake pretty hard.

Id love to have some blues for the track and swap them around, unfortunatly, I do not have a garage, or even a parking space where I can work on my car. So swapping pads, 2 times a week, in the street, is just not an option for me !

Ive never heard of Axxis, and you say they are made here in Aus.. interesting, the name "ultimate" sounds familiar, the type of pad... Ummm. Tell me if this might be Axxis (rebadged Bendix pads)

www.bendix.com.au look familiar? Metal king, Ultimate, etc?

Yeah I guess I will go a street pad for street and autoX, and a race pad for circuit. much easier.

I'm fitting AD22VF's very soon, got them ready, also have new slotted rotors to match. Cant wait for better braking....

I need to source some braided brake lines here in Australia... hrmmm, spose i should start looking

James

Just did some research and Axxis are made by Bendix. More than likely they are the same as Bendix Ultimates. They are cheap and I have been very impressed so far. What are the prices in Australia for Bendix Ultimates?

Tim

I have been anointed the forum brake expert (I dunno why).

Here's what I know: There is no such thing as a dual purpose pad that does everything from street to the road course. Don't waste your time looking for it, it doesn't exist.

Slotted rotors may or may not do anything to help braking. They might help clean the pad to keep it from glazing on track, at the expense of increased pad wear (cheese grater anyone?). I'm still undecided as to weather they are worth it or not.

Do enough track stuff and you *will* come to the conclusion that you need a dedicated set of pads AND rotors for the track. So go ahead and accept it.

Street/autocross: I would recommend these as they are all good.
OE Nissan NX pads
Axis Metal Masters
Axxis Ultimates
Porterfield R4-S
Hawk HP+
KVR

Carbotech has something called a Kellated Metallic pad that is supposed to be the shiznit for autocrossing. No warmup needed and big-time bite, torque and excellent modulation. Makes some noise on the street. Don't even think about taking it to a road course.

stay far, far away from EBC (all their pads suck) and VGX.

Track:
Porterfield R4, R4-E
Hawk HT-10
Carbotech Panther +, Panther XP

These are the only pads I know work well on track. I no longer recommend Hawk Blue because I strongly suspect they have recently changed their compound to be more rotor friendly, and they now fade after ~3-4 hard laps on most cars. 2 good friends who were long time Blue users/advocates have abandoned them.

Hawk pads are awesome track pads - but if they are not up to operating temps, they are absolutely brutal on your rotors under street conditions.

I just installed a set of Axxis Metal Masters on the the front with a set of Stillen MM on the rear. So far I love them for spirited street/light track use. Plus, they dust a little less and the dust doesn't seem to stick like other pads I have use.

Good luck with your search...

Matt, on what do you base your EBC opinion? They are very popular for motorcycle applications.

Originally posted by MaddMatt
I have been anointed the forum brake expert (I dunno why).

Here's what I know: There is no such thing as a dual purpose pad that does everything from street to the road course. Don't waste your time looking for it, it doesn't exist.

Carbotech Panther +, Panther XP

These are the only pads I know work well on track. I no longer recommend Hawk Blue because


Figured i should throw my Carbo Panther experience in.
I have had them on the street for a couple of months now. Totally useable. Sure they seem a little weak at first, not as bad as if you just did a drive thru car wash ***. Get a good stop or two in them and they begin to give the Sentra very German feeling brakes. Awesome stopping power. A good firm press on the pedal at speed is a get shoved into the seat belt hard experience.
Honestly i put them on w/ the AD22s to bed them (ok try them out too) and have been too lazy to drop in my street pads. They do dust like mad. Wash yer car and a week later the wheel/tire is coated, looks like a bad gunmetal paint attempt. They are also not cheap, easily twice the price of good semi-met, overkill for the street. Although i'm still not sure exactly why, they do get way squeaky in stop&go traffic?!?
On the other hand, the rotor looks barely broken in.
They sure are fun too.
I also don't know bout pad wear. I will be takin a peek soon so i will pass that on.

Matt, on what do you base your EBC opinion? They are very popular for motorcycle applications.

They may be fine on motorcycles, but they suck on cars.

My opinion comes from personal experience with both the red and yellow compound. Their Redstuff was intended for lapping days on lighter cars. At a lapping day with my SE-R (2600 lbs with roll cage) I got a whopping 60 (six, zero) miles out of these pads before they were to the backing plate. $90. 60 miles.

I tried their Yellowstuff next, as that is supposedly an all-out race compound. I lasted the whole weekend (just barely) but the friction coefficient was so poor, I had to move my braking points 100-150 back in order to stop the car. For ~ half the price, I could get the same wear and probably better performance with OE pads.

I gave up on them. Haven't tried the greenstuff, but after talking to at least 5 other people who had them, they hated them just as much as I hated their other compounds. There are far better options out there for the same money.

EBC is hellbent on making a pad that is easy on rotors. Their pads may be easy on rotos, but they won't stop a car for shit. When my rotors cost $28 each, I don't give a damn if the pads I use are easy on them or not. I want my car to stop when I hit the brake pedal.