Anti brake-fade Pads

Born_2_Kill_83 · 13 Sep 2007 at 16:18

O.k I want some aftermarket pads next time round for me motor as the power and weight combination of my pussy under heavy braking soon creates dangerous amounts of brake-fade.
I've heard of Red Stuff/Yellow Stuff and Green stuff pads, but what are the differences. Spec me some pads which will reduce my brake fade and perhaps reduce a little brake dust. However stopped power of the big cat isnt really an issue atm.

JBeck · 13 Sep 2007 at 16:30

Mintex M1144, decent pads for fast road stuff, low dust/noise/fade.

Matt82 · 13 Sep 2007 at 16:32

ferrodo ds2500, think of them as the eagle f1 of brake pads. good when cold, even better when hot, pretty much unkillable

here was the drivers comments

Guess the pad type.
no fade, in fact no idea they were glowing until Daz showed me the pictures. 280mm disks, DS2500 pads, motul rbf600 fluid

discs are brembo plain, from memory its his wife's car, a 20vt lupo lol

i have EBC yellow. when cold, they felt better than the previous OE pagid pads, when caned hard, they just get better... i cant get near to their limit on the road it seems, not been on track since i had them fitted.

Defcon5 · 13 Sep 2007 at 16:35

Matt82 said:
a 20vt lupo

Nice!

Born_2_Kill_83 · 13 Sep 2007 at 16:42

Matt82 said:
ferrodo ds2500, think of them as the eagle f1 of brake pads. good when cold, even better when hot, pretty much unkillable

here was the drivers comments

Guess the pad type.
no fade, in fact no idea they were glowing until Daz showed me the pictures. 280mm disks, DS2500 pads, motul rbf600 fluid

discs are brembo plain, from memory its his wife's car, a 20vt lupo lol

i have EBC yellow. when cold, they felt better than the previous OE pagid pads, when caned hard, they just get better... i cant get near to their limit on the road it seems, not been on track since i had them fitted.

OMG I must say that glow has impressed me, looks like sumthing out Forza 2 :eek:

Must rip your face off under hard braking. I've got my pads smoking before which is impressive but I want my disks glowing now!!!

Rossmac · 13 Sep 2007 at 16:46

I experienced brake fade the other week coming down a hill at around 70mph and approaching a T-junction. Needless to say, my heart was in my stomach when I finally came to a stop just before the line - and my feet were flat against the board! I've learnt my lesson all right!

Born_2_Kill_83 · 13 Sep 2007 at 16:49

Rossmac said:
I experienced brake fade the other week coming down a hill at around 70mph and approaching a T-junction. Needless to say, my heart was in my stomach when I finally came to a stop just before the line - and my feet were flat against the board! I've learnt my lesson all right!

LOL bit of over cooking certainly gets the blood flowing.

Matt82 · 13 Sep 2007 at 16:51

Rossmac said:
I experienced brake fade the other week coming down a hill at around 70mph and approaching a T-junction. Needless to say, my heart was in my stomach when I finally came to a stop just before the line - and my feet were flat against the board! I've learnt my lesson all right!

sounds like your brake fluid is incredibly shot

Rossmac · 13 Sep 2007 at 16:53

Matt82 said:
sounds like your brake fluid is incredibly shot

Do you reckon? I had been going down the hill at speed and braking to keep the speed under control for about 5mins, i just thought it was the brake pads had heated up and were simply not responding anymore when in contact with the brake disc.

What would you mean by incredibly shot brake fluid?

edit: When I say foot to the board, I mean I am pushing as hard as I could, rather than attempting a gradual stop. My brake pedals weren't literally on the floorboards.

Matt82 · 13 Sep 2007 at 16:57

Rossmac said:
Do you reckon? I had been going down the hill at speed and braking to keep the speed under control for about 5mins, i just thought it was the brake pads had heated up and were simply not responding anymore when in contact with the brake disc.

What would you mean by incredibly shot brake fluid?

haha lol braking like that to keep the speed under control is a sure fire way to destroy your brakes. heard of engine braking? just drop it down a gear etc the car should be able to maintain the speed itself, if not, dab the brakes a little, and let the engine braking do the rest..... much better than an out-of-control missile that wont stop at the end of the road.

as for brake fluid, well it certainly sounds like youve boiled it once already. when you boil it, it releases gas... gas is compressible, which you do not want in a brake system.

also, fluid absorbs moisture (hydroscopic). that lowers the boiling point too

when did you last change the brake fluid?

Rossmac · 13 Sep 2007 at 17:02

Matt82 said:
haha lol braking like that to keep the speed under control is a sure fire way to destroy your brakes. heard of engine braking? just drop it down a gear etc the car should be able to maintain the speed itself, if not, dab the brakes a little, and let the engine braking do the rest..... much better than an out-of-control missile that wont stop at the end of the road.

as for brake fluid, well it certainly sounds like youve boiled it once already. when you boil it, it releases gas... gas is compressible, which you do not want in a brake system.

also, fluid absorbs moisture (hydroscopic). that lowers the boiling point too

when did you last change the brake fluid?

Yes I have heard of engine braking, and no it wasn't a situation where I was intended to use the engine for the brakes as I was trying to go a wee bit faster than normal.

I have had the car about 6months now (Focus '03) and haven't changed the brake fluid nor checked it. Would you reccommend it?

Matt82 · 13 Sep 2007 at 17:09

trying to go a wee bit faster but braking to keep the speed down?

whatever the case, if you were thrashing it and the brakes faded that badly and you dont know the history of your brake fluid, id get it changed.

when i first got my car, the brakes would fade to nothing after about 4-5 hard bends. new brake fluid was one of the first things i did... ive not been able to kill them since

kirbrot · 13 Sep 2007 at 19:38

JBeck said:
Mintex M1144, decent pads for fast road stuff, huge amouunts of dust but no noise or fade.

fixed and seconded

nutcase · 14 Sep 2007 at 16:06

Don't forget to change brake fluid every couple of years to keep the brake system working at its best. You might find you don't need different pads then

dalin80 · 14 Sep 2007 at 19:02

really just sounds like you have killed the fluid in the front pistons.

BigglesPiP · 14 Sep 2007 at 23:58

How longs the brake fluid been in?

Road fluids slowly absorb water, and this reduces the fluids boiling point, the fade comes on quicker. Needs to be changes every couple of years.

Racing fluids does not mix with water, and so the fluid remains as new, unfortunately, any water in the system sinks to the lowest point, the calipers, and you end up with steam in the calipers the second time you touch the pedal. This fluid needs to be changed even more often, between every event, makes it 100% unsuitable for road use.