Best Brake Pads For Track Use?

[Guest MarchHare]

I have recently bought a 1988 205 1.9 GTI which I plan to use predominantly as a track car for myself and my son. I plan to keep everything fairly close to standard but will fit uprated bits as things wear out. I am currently having the disks and pads changed all round and new brake hoses/pipes fitted. The disks and calipers will be standard 1.9 GTI fare as I think they will be OK for my intended use.

 

The question is which pads should I fit for track use? I believe Greenstuff are in fairly widespread use but my garage having some difficulty getting them as EBC appear to be snowed in or something!

 

What recommended alternatives are worth considering?

[WildCards 0]

I've always rated DS2500's although i've never tried them on 205. I would probably keep the rear pads standard though, as I imagine uprated pads on the back would take quite a while to get up to temperature, so wouldn't really be worth it. Are you getting braided hoses?

[Guest MarchHare]

Keeping standard hoses at the moment. As I haven't really driven the car hard yet I want to get more of a feel for how the standard set up feels before I make any bigger changes. Although braided hoses do make sense my first priority is just to get everything working properly, make sure it's safe and that all fluids stay where thay are supposed to!

 

Are the DS2500 a Ferodo pad?

 

Anyone use Mintex? I have used them on the Caterham and they seem a reasonable compromise for mixed road and track use.

[Spiky 37]

i run ds3000 all round great pad

 

last ages too

[Garry 1]

I use mintex M1155's albeit in GTi6 calipers and discs and have found them really good. Quite a bit cheaper than the ferodos too.

I get mine from Miles. drop him a PM.

[WildCards 0]

Are the DS2500 a Ferodo pad?

 

Yup.

[projectpug 0]

I agree with Spiky Ds3000's are awesome on track. 0 Fade and masses of bite the only slight thing is the pedal feel isn't great. I also wouldn't bother with the ds3000's unless you have sticky tyres (R888's etc) Ds2500's are more than enough for road orientated tyres.

[James_R 3]

Second vote for DS2500 pads good feel, cold bite and hot bite, and last out pretty well, got mine through miles aswell.

 

I've only had a bit of fade after an extended period at cadwell, and they still kept going.

 

I'm considering moving to EBC yellow's which I'm hearing good things about.

[projectpug 0]

Yellows are quite a bit cheaper too iirc?

[Guest MarchHare]

Thanks for the replies, going to see what I can get at fairly short notice as I have a track day booked for Saturday. Waiting on quite a few bits at the moment so fingers crossed it will all come together in time.

 

Planning a day at Bedford Autodrome with the Lotus-on-Track crowd. Be interesting to compare my 20 year old Pug with the latest Exiges and 211's. Will also be my 18 year old son's first track day. I thought the Pug might be an easier introduction than the Caterham and this is partly why I want to keep it fairly standard, i.e. so it still feels predominantly like a road going hatchback. He drives a basic insurance friendly Clio at the moment. Still a big step-up in power to the 205 but less of a learning curve than something like the Caterham I reckon.

 

Be nice if it's dry (or at least above freezing) though!

[Tom Fenton 1,526]

If you do a search there was a large topic about this just recently. In a nutshell everyone has different favourites, but anything from the Ferodo DS2500/3000 range or Mintex 1144/55 seem to be well thought of.

[Miles 331 1 Cars]

Or at the other end of the scale are Pagid RS4's, great pad if expensive, But as said either 1155's of DS2500's should be OK but it depends on your driving style

[oli-pug 6 2 Cars]

I've just gone from Mintex 1144 to Ebc yellowstuff on my gti180 calipers.

 

The Mintex began fading within 1 1/2 laps of the Bedford Autodrome Gt circuit with the old 1600 engine which wasn't reaching great speeds at all. I wanted a better trackday pad, which is still usable and affordable for a road car doing 10k or more road miles a year. So far, i'm very impressed. Cold bite is just as good as the 1144s!

 

The best bit is they're cheap, £55 for the set from ebc direct whereas my 1144s cost £85 with discount!

[Cloverleaf 1]

I've only ever heard bad things about ebc stuff? But i've never experienced them myself...

 

I've got 1155s on my 309 and they're pretty good. Had 1144s on my EVO and my mini and they were pretty good too.

[swordfish210 20]

Or at the other end of the scale are Pagid RS4's, great pad if expensive

 

Another vote here for the Pagids. I've got the RS4-2's (otherwise known as the "blue") and they're freakin fantastic, road or track. They work brilliantly from cold and just keep getting better the hotter they get.

[Guest MarchHare]

I use Pagids on my Caterham, great for the track but less so for the road. Not sure if this is more a function of the relatively low weight of the caterham as they take a while to get up to temperature, are a bit "grabby" (i.e. either on or off) but, boy, they sure do slow you down. I reckon they might provide a more progressive response in a (relatively) heavier car. I would be inclined to give them a go if it wasn't for the price, it would be an expensive mistake if they turn out to lack responsiveness in road use.

[MrG 3]

I've just put the yellows in my 205 and they're very good on the road. However on track I have yet to experience them but my mate runs them in his heavier track prepp'd e30 BMW and they are superb. Each to their own though.

[SPGTi 2]

Carbon Lorraine RS6 pads for the front. Awesome from cold and just don't go off. Great pedal feel and easy to modulate right up until full lock up.

 

Steve

 

ps I run these up front and pagid blues in the back for the hydraulic handrake.

[Jon_Bmw 13]

Old ebc pads got a bad rep(think greens), but the yellows really are a great performance per £ ratio. I use them on a slicked mi16 and I can't fade them at all. The cost a whopping £41 and really do stop the car well, cold bite is better than a ds2500 I have used in a 200sx, but most people, me included don't care about cold bite!

 

They have done about 600 track miles and are around 3/8's worn. They are slightly crumbly, which is annoying, but I have spoken to people whose Pagid blues are also crumbling(£120's worth of pad and its crumbling ). In my case, I suspect its due to a distinct lack of brake ducting and the hot and cold cycles the pad recieves makes them slightly crumbly. They still stop fine, but I am probably down to about 0.8 contact area compared to a new pad.

 

I seriously suggest you try some and at £41, its hardly a massive gamble is it.

 

4426 is the code for my caliper type, most sites only list the pads in black and green format, eg. 426 and 2426. All you need to do is manually put a 4 infront of the code for your pads(dependant on Bendix or Girling). Ebc direct is where I am currently getting a spare set from and you need to manually put in the code.

 

HTH

 

Jon

[DRTDVL 4 1 Cars]

If your looking at Pagid, i would also have a very serious look at endless pads also.