15 Month update on Napa Adaptive One brake pads

[Johnny248]

I installed Adaptive One brake pads from napa along with new super premium rotors about 15monts ago. I have been very happy with them on my car. Brake is quite, smooth, and strong. They have been pretty clean also. Not quite as strong as the EBC Red Stuff pads I had before, but the EBC did a number on the rotors.

For about a month or so I've been getting a little bit of pulsation at highway speeds. Not bad at all, but I'm anal enough about my car that it was bugging me. This week I used the on the car lathe to make a minimal cut on the rotors to fix it. .04 one pass is all it took. Visual inspection showed a lot of pad life left which I was happy to see. They have been so good for me that I also replaced the Thermoquiets and rotors on my Toyota. I have about 400 miles on those and they are also working very well so far. More bite than the Thermoqueits provided so it is also nice to get a little bit improved braking.

I've used MANY brake pads through out the years, and the EBC greens and reds have always been good for me. I did not have such a great experience with the Hawk pads that I had run in the past. Though they seemed to have good stopping power, they developed a shutter at the end of braking which I could only temperarily get rid of by machining, sanding, etc. The thermo's have also been good on the three vehicles I've used them on, but at this point if price is not too far off I think I will be sticking with the Adaptive Ones for future replacement unless something changes at some point.

So my ranking from what I've used for overall

1. Adaptive One
2. EBC Green
3. Thermo Quiet
4. Akebono Ceramic
5. Napa A.E.
6. Duralast Gold
7. Centric PosiQuiet
8. Hawk
9. China no name, Kingdom, Moorse Elite, etc.

 

[SIXSPEED]

How is the dusting of the NAPA pads vs the Duralast Gold? And were the Duralast Golds the Cmax ceramics?

 

[Johnny248]

The Adaptive have been pretty darn clean to be honest. We used to install the Bendix pads at one of my former places of employment, and imho they always seemed pretty dirty compared to some other pads.

I installed some Duralast Gold on a realitive's car then I don't think they are the cleanest either.

Believe it or not, my EBC Reds were pretty clean also. I'd have to say from what I've seen the Adaptive pads are about as clean or close to as clean as anything I've seen. Not saying they are dustless, I don't think there is such a thing, but I've been happy with them. I tend to brake a litter harder than some folks, so I expect to see a little more dust on my wheels than say my moms wheels.

 

[SteveSRT8]

We would agree with the list as presented.

The Adaptive's have really performed for us. I have a Silverado with 49k miles on a set and it gets pounded on pretty good.

 

[sunfire]

You should try Raybesto Adv Tech next. I replaced my OEM pads and they are just as good with an FF rating. I wonder how you would rank them since you've used every major brand out there.

 

[defektes]

I have Adaptave ones on my Parents silverado 05, for about 8 months now, used in heavy city driving. I resurfaced the rotors and used those pads, they are pretty good. 11k so far and dusting has been minimal, braking is great, and no other problems to report.

 

[The Critic]

I have 35k on a set of Adaptive One pads on my Saturn and they have been OK, but they have recently begun squealing like a bus.

 

[sunfire]

Aren't Napa's Adaptive One made by Akebono?

 

[mechtech2]

Makes me wonder how all the riveted organic low end pads some people had us put on the car worked so well.

It should not be an anomaly if brake pads do not cause grief.

 

[SteveSRT8]

I think it's the individual's definition of 'works well'.

To one person that is a quiet brake pad that never squeals and will stop them safely from 30-50 mph in traffic with decent pedal effort.

To another it's a much higher performance pad that needs to cope with 'spirited' driving yet still deliver all the performance with none of the noise.

Then another just wants no dust on his pretty wheels.

As I've said many times before, brake pads are like ice cream.

 

[rainman49]

I've been wondering what to get for my wife's BMW 530i (E60). The OEM pads have great stopping power but the dust is ridiculous. I'd love to find pads with near OEM stopping power with at least half the dust. Any suggestions? The online stores where I get parts from offer Akebono, Textar, Mintex, Axxis.

 

[Johnny248]

Originally Posted By: The Critic
I have 35k on a set of Adaptive One pads on my Saturn and they have been OK, but they have recently begun squealing like a bus.


Wondering if your squealing is related in installation (not that they were installed incorrectly) but rather using the correct lubes used, and possible worn hardware/clips?

 

[Johnny248]

Originally Posted By: sunfire
You should try Raybesto Adv Tech next. I replaced my OEM pads and they are just as good with an FF rating. I wonder how you would rank them since you've used every major brand out there.


For some reason the Ray pads are harder to find here. Don't know who sells them, they just are not normally an option from the parts stores I deal with.

 

[sunfire]

Originally Posted By: Johnny248
Originally Posted By: sunfire
You should try Raybesto Adv Tech next. I replaced my OEM pads and they are just as good with an FF rating. I wonder how you would rank them since you've used every major brand out there.


For some reason the Ray pads are harder to find here. Don't know who sells them, they just are not normally an option from the parts stores I deal with.


I just ordered them from rockauto ~$7 shipping but I used a 5% off. Rockauto prices can't be beat.

 

[mechtech2]

raiman49 -
Ceramic pads are noted for their low dust [or at least it is clear/white which you don't see!].
Get a rating [on the side of the pad kind of like oil viscosity] of FF or more. These are friction ratings warm and hot. EE is less than EF, which is less than FF, etc. GG are available for the street, but can be a bit noisy and aggressive to the rotors.
Anyway, this is the key to what their friction is.

You should look up the stoptech articles for a good 1/2 read.
http://www.stoptech.com/tech_info/wp_bedintheory.shtml

http://www.stoptech.com/tech_info/wp_howto_bleedbrakes.shtml

Here's a start. Note that much of the information is for very aggressive driving or racing. At least geared for high performance.

 

[Johnny248]

Originally Posted By: rainman49
I've been wondering what to get for my wife's BMW 530i (E60). The OEM pads have great stopping power but the dust is ridiculous. I'd love to find pads with near OEM stopping power with at least half the dust. Any suggestions? The online stores where I get parts from offer Akebono, Textar, Mintex, Axxis.


Back in the day I used to use Axxis metal masters on my old '89 quest, and they were always pretty high performance pads and worked great. Not super clean, but never had any problems. We from time to time installed the Axxis pads (different varieties ) on cars at work and have never had a problem.

 

[Johnny248]

Originally Posted By: sunfire
Aren't Napa's Adaptive One made by Akebono?


I don't think so?? Napa brakes are "made" by RayLoc. What this means I'm not exactly sure. At one point when working at Napa I was told that the premium parts were Raybestos.

Every Adaptive pads I've used have been either made in Canada, us, or china. When they first came out, I seem to remember most of them being made in canada. Because of that, I thought maybe they were actually made by Satisfied which is a Canadian co. They also come with System 7 Grease (another thing I've seen on the Satisfied pads) and finally they Satisfied "grid lock" bonding technology which looks very similar to the picture on the Adaptive box.

(Btw, I forgot that I have used Satisfied Ceramic pads on a Jeep I used to have, and they worked great, very clean, no noise problems what so ever. Had them for about a year before selling the vehicle)

 

[The Critic]

Originally Posted By: Johnny248
Originally Posted By: The Critic
I have 35k on a set of Adaptive One pads on my Saturn and they have been OK, but they have recently begun squealing like a bus.


Wondering if your squealing is related in installation (not that they were installed incorrectly) but rather using the correct lubes used, and possible worn hardware/clips?

Worn hardware is a possibility, but GM does not recommend the usage of any lubricant on the shim. Coated shims should not need any lubricant, nor is it likely to be of much benefit.

 

[Johnny248]

Originally Posted By: The Critic
Originally Posted By: Johnny248
Originally Posted By: The Critic
I have 35k on a set of Adaptive One pads on my Saturn and they have been OK, but they have recently begun squealing like a bus.


Wondering if your squealing is related in installation (not that they were installed incorrectly) but rather using the correct lubes used, and possible worn hardware/clips?

Worn hardware is a possibility, but GM does not recommend the usage of any lubricant on the shim. Coated shims should not need any lubricant, nor is it likely to be of much benefit.


This is a weird subject. If you listen to Wagner, they say "integrated shims (like most thermoquiet) do not apply anything"

Metal shims (like most oem clip on shims) apply silicone or moly lube to backing

The adaptive ones always come with some Moly Lube, and I've always applied it to the back of the pads. Molded shim thermoquiet pads are the only ones I don't put the moly or some other sort of lube on the back. I figure that while it may not always be needed, I've never had it cause any noise or issues, so it's just to be sure.