So I spoke to my mechanic today as he feels I should bleed my brakes and install new pads...no problem...then he says do you want the best stopping brakes and dirty rims or less stopping power and clean rims with less residue...dah???.... what do you guys do...personally I want the BEST stopping power but as on my other cars that residue is awful and always looks dirty...isn't there a happy ground here??? any advice...thank you

 

Sorry but, Your mechanic is right .

It goes roughly like this:

OEM pads, stop very well, last very well, normal amount of dust. IMO the best compromise (for general use)

Ceramic based pads, stop almost as well the first time (but more prone to fading on repeated hard stops or spirited driving), fine for "regular" driving, last very well (the longest), least amount of dust (and many say its more grey than black so it looks even cleaner).

Good pads (....what I mean is aftermarket pads which with increased performance from oem....Hawks...etc) Will almost always stop better and fade less (a lot better depending on what compound you select) but also will generate much more dust. How much more depends on the compound you select, but its generally true that if they stop/perform better they are going to dust more. Can't get around physics (with the common pads and braking system)

The brakes don't actually stop the car by just squeezing the rotors until they stop. What they do is convert the kinetic energy (due to your momentum) into heat (via friction) which when ventilated radiates off the system and the energy conversion and loss results in your change in speed. (<very screwed up description of what happens but it makes the point ). If you screw with any one of the forces in the entire process you get a different result.

Generate less heat (less friction, as in the harder ceramics) and you get less energy conversion hence less momentum loss. But since harder, don't dust as much.

Same result if you generate the same heat but decrease how effectively you can radiate it off (like when you use regular pads but cut the rotors too thin) the rotors get saturated with heat, less conversion, less change in momentum.

The heat generated is pretty significant. The materials available and in expensive enough to use in mass production can only withstand so much friction/heat so something has go to give.....hence the dust.

You could get around more of it if the system had better materials and much greater capacity to exert force and radiate heat. That would be something like the carbon rotors and pads and bigger calipers on a ZR1.....but......I don't see those on mass production cars or in most peoples budget any time soon

This will teach you what happens when you ask a simple question here........you don't necessarily get a simple answer

I have no idea if its exactly correct but its probably more than you wanted.

Good luck on your selection

 

Good write up!

 

I went with the Hawk HPS pads. Better stopping with an ever so slight increase in dust...

I will say this, these pads need to be bedded properly, and occasionally re-bedded, for best performance.

But in all honesty, the stock pads are more than adequate for some occasional "spirited" driving. Unless you track your car, the stock pads are still an excellent choice.

 

Not much wrong with stock. I went with drilled and slotted rotors for looks rather than performance and, coupled with Hawk HPS pads I don't feel I've lost any stopping power. With stock rotors, Hawks may even give better than stock but I find they generate way less dust.

 

I had very bad performance from ceramic pads and drilled and slotted rotors (on the car when I bought it) I had annoying brake pulsation issues that could not be resolved. I switched to slotted (not drilled) rotors from EBC and Hawk HPS pads. They made an eyeball popping improvement in braking and I don't feel there is any worse dusting with this combo.

 

For a high qulitty street pad,low dusting and quiet look at the Carbotech 1521 compound. I will be happy to help you,let me know.

The Carbotech™ 1521™ is our high performance street compound. The 1521™ compound is known for its release and modulation, along with unmatched rotor friendliness. 1521™ is also a very low dusting and low noise compound with an excellent initial bite. This compound's excellent linear torque production provides incredible braking force without ABS intervention. Carbotech™ 1521™ operating range starts out at ambient and goes up to 800°F (426°C+). 1521™ is suitable for ALL street cars, perfect for your tow vehicle or fleet vehicle. Carbotech™ 1521™ is NOT recommended for ANY track use.

F $148 R $128 Less 5%.

 

Hawk HPS here, stay away from the HP+, they dust like crazy, more of a track pad....

 

I really don't track my car but maybe I do a little bit of spirited driving and I use Raybestos Quiet Stops. Very little dust and seems to be good stopping power.

 

I've never read a bad thing about the OEM pads - excellent braking performance and very little dust. The only prerequisite I would recommend to go along with them are slotted rotors like PowerSlots. The slots prevent uneven pad deposits on the rotors, which can cause pulsations. Slotted rotors (which are used by almost all racing teams, by the way) also keep the pads parallel and "fresh", even if you don't drive your car very often.

 

Thanks Jistari for the detailed explanation...I learn so much on here from all you knowledgeable guys and thanks to everyone else...a great help for sure.....

 

Last December Gene Culley (Gmpartshouse) set me up with a full set of drilled & slotted GM discs and a set of Hawk Performance ceramic pads and I love the effect. The break-in is essential, but once seated, they work great , very low dust and they stop on a dime. Even better the hotter they get, the better they grip. Very nice.

 

No problem at all....answers are free



(we charge for correct answers though...)


When you get the new pads in look up the proper way to "Bed" them (get your mind out of the gutter).

Bedding is a process by which we attempt to ensure that an even amount of pad material gets deposited on the fresh rotor surfaces. This helps avoid....well....uneven deposits that can lead to brake pulsations.

Most people think the rotors are warped when they get this symptom but that is rarely the case (thats what Ive read...Im not a mechanic but the guy that wrote the article was for many years).

Basicaly if you dont bed them on the first panic stop or say a very long time on the brake (like coasting down a long hill from highway speed to a dead stop at the exit with a stop light) you heat the pads up and when you come to a complete stop and hold the brake until you start moving again an excess of pad material gets stamped (yup like the ink from a stamp pad on a fresh page) onto the rotor. This creates a raised area on the rotor which you will feel going past the pads on subsequent gentle stops. The process repeats itself until you have most of the rotor surface covered in these uneven deposits. This is what feels like the rotors are warped.

The way to avoid this, is to Bed the pads.
All you need do is take the car out to someplace safe and do eight or ten abrupt (more on this in a moment) stops from like 55 mph down to 10 mph. Now....you dont have to lock them up, you dont have to stop in a fashion that flings your sunglasses off your face, just a nice harder than normal sustained stop to 10 mph. All your doing is getting the pads and rotors nice and hot and depositing pad material evenly over the entire surface of the rotor. You dont want to come to a complete stop on any of those eight or ten hard stops as this could lead to that "stamping" the material onto the rotor we spoke about earlier. After you do the series of 55 down to 10s you want to drive without coming to a complete stop long enough to let the system cool down. Probably like three/four minutes at highway speeds should do it. You can use the brakes if you have to, its just trying not to come to an abrupt stop and hold.

I have never had pulsing. I also asked a regular gas station type mechanic I take my DD to and he says he never does this, but in reading about the problem here and doing my own research it seems that many people who do HPDE type stuff do do it.

I do it when I put new brakes on, and I havent had any problems....YMMV.

 

Slotted rotors = NO bedding, EVER. (at least based upon my experience)

 

Another option is Adaptive One pads sold by Napa they have an inner & outer compound, the reviews I have read were very good, and that includes Corvette owners. I recently purchased for my car but have not yet had the car out for a drive.

 

Not on my Vette, yet.
I put them (sport) on my Supercharged Cobalt SS and love them. Much better material in the rotors than stock. Read low wear. I used the green stuff pads. Better than stock stopping and the Cobalt was no slouch in that dept. 60-0 in 119ft.

I would use them in a heartbeat. Kind of spendy though.

My vette had GM drilled slotted with ceramic pads, they suck! So I have had the rotors turned and went with Powerstop semi met pads. I haven't completed the project yet. I will do EBC if I don't like my current setup.

Ron