Performance Friction Carbon Metallic brake pads

[brianl703]

Any comments about these? My mom's 2004 Chevrolet Malibu Classic needs new brakes at 35,000 miles. I've used these carbon metallic pads on my 1988 Ford Mustang GT for the last 60K miles--I'm going to try them on her car. From what I've seen of them on the Mustang they are a pretty long-wearing brake pad.

She's pretty, uhh, hard on brakes...waiting till the last minute to brake and all of that. On the other hand she does mostly city driving so that could account for it, too. (I think 35K is a bit early for brakes, but maybe not?)

Hopefully these will last longer than 35,000 miles.

I also got the made-in-China Duralast rotors from Autozone, along with the pads. Supposedly carbon metallic pads are best used with new rotors.

 

[The Critic]

I prefer the ProACT ceramic pads from Akebono, but I've heard that the Carbon Metallic pads deliver fairly good stopping power. Not sure about their longevity though.

My mom still had some pad left on our 96 Saturn SL2 at nearly 90,000 miles, and most of her driving consists of 1-2 mi city trips.

 

[Colt45ws]

Good brakes. They will put you through the windshield if you do not wear a seatbelt. The ones on the Dodge Ram 1500 squeak alot but I chalk that up to my dad not listening to me and not getting new rotors or at least a turn.

 

[brianl703]

I installed the carbon metallic pads and the Chinese rotors this morning. So far they seem to be working better than the OE pads.

I also changed the brake fluid in the reservoir. I find that those suction bulbs sold to add water to batteries work great for sucking the fluid out. The fluid was a little dark. A full brake flush would be best but I don't have the time for that.

 

[Diesel_Clatter]

Put a couple of sets on our Dodge Grand Caravan a few years back. Went through one set in a little over a year and then got the lifetime warranty replacements and went through them. The Caravan was hard on brakes.

I remember thinking they worked great except for the first stop or two when they were cold. When they were cold they were almost dangerous since you really had to stomp on the pedal to get the braking you expected. Its been a while so who knows if they are even the same formulation.

 

[brianl703]

I have noticed that they work better when they're hot, but even when they're cold they work well enough.

 

[ATS-V]

I've used these for the last 2 sets on brakes on my car
I'm almost due for another set and was thing of Morse Ceramics, I installed these on my wifes SUV and although they stop good, they squealed like a SOB. I removed the shims to no avail and finally installed brake goop to the back of the pads and it's been better.

 

[Mr. Boston]

I installed a set of AutoZone ceramics on my business SWB Caravan. No dust but I'm not impressed with the grip. Guess I prefer to have dirty wheels and better stoppers...probably won't do ceramics again.

 

[The Critic]

Quote:

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I installed a set of AutoZone ceramics on my business SWB Caravan. No dust but I'm not impressed with the grip. Guess I prefer to have dirty wheels and better stoppers...probably won't do ceramics again.

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I have a set of AutoZone ceramics on my Saturn and despite doing several aggressive burnishing sessions, braking performance is subpar. On the other hand, Akebono ProACT ceramics are much, much better than the Autozone ones and deliver braking power comparable to (or better than) the OE semi-metallics on an Acura.

 

[DMC]

I like the NAPA Ceramix pads. Low dust, no noise, stopping power was as good as OEM pads on our 2000 Mazda MPV.

 

[CharBaby]

I installed a set on a Honda Accord and the car wouldn't stop. I had to remove them. They were only OK in the wet and the only stopping power that I got was when they got really HOT! Which wasn't often.

 

[c502cid]

The Performance Friction Carbon Metallics are one heck of a product, however, it is the only pad I have ever used that was super sensitive to being bedded in first per their instructions. Follow their break in instructions and they were perfect, don't follow and you were on your own. I was getting over 50k miles on them in a one ton 4x4 used for heavy towing.

 

[TylerL]

I put these pads on my 97 Escort but I think I'm going to take them off. This is because cold and even warm friction is less than the no name pads I had before. I really have to push down hard to get the car to stop. They say No Compromises, but that's a lie, they sacrifice cold fiction for no fade performance. Since I never drive around with smoking hot brakes, cold fiction is the most important.

I'm looking at Centric 104's as a replacement, does anyone know if these have good cold and normal temperature performance.

Thanks

 

[The Critic]

Originally Posted By: TylerL
I'm looking at Centric 104's as a replacement, does anyone know if these have good cold and normal temperature performance.

Thanks

The SRT8 crowd seems to be very satisfied with the Centric 104 series on their 4-piston Brembo setups.

I would also consider the Bendix CT-3 pads for your application. They run about $54 shipped from AutoBarn, and they come with a one-time free replacement certificate. Bendix said that their testing showed the pads performed just as well as Hawk HPS pads, but without the noise. From the individuals I know who have tried them, they said the performance of the CT-3 pads is great.

 

[TylerL]

I found out the centric posi quiet 104 (these are the semi-metallic ones) are low dusting, which is a plus. Seems like a good deal for $33 shipped from rockauto.

If anyone else knows anything about Centric brakes please comment.

 

[TylerL]

Rockauto has Axxis Deluxe pads for $22.63 (Axxis is a Centric brand).

Do these stop about the same as the centric 104?
Excellent cold stopping power is my goal. (when I was say cold I mean the first few uses of the brakes, but it could be a hot day)

 

[Loogie]

I had similar disappointing results with the Performance Friction pads. I bedded them carefully on new rotors, and my braking system is otherwise in fine condition. Their cold bite is terrible. Get them hot and they bite better, but still not great. Pedal effort is high. Feel is linear.
They have no fade and provide a nice firm pedal...but, bite is low anyway, so...
On the plus side they last forever, are reasonably priced, readily available, and are pretty easy on the rotors.

I recently put a set of Axxis Ultimates on. They dust a lot, but are quiet and have unbelievable bite. Cold, hot, whatever. I have never had a set of pads stop so well in such a wide range of temps. But I do notice that grip does improve a touch when heated.
Feel is progressive, but controllable--easy to modulate. Spirited driving didn't result in fade. They seem to be treating my new rotors well. They were slightly pricey at about $60/set (I have rear drums!).

My car has never stopped so well.

 

[TylerL]

Thanks for that Loogie, big help, it lets me know I'm not crazy.

How how did hot did PF pads?
I got mine so hot that they started smoking.
Did this with some 70 to 20 stops and even a 90 to 10 stop yet they kept braking better and was able to even lock up a wheel fairly easy.

After I did this the brakes are ok for now because enough pad material transfered to the rotors to help with adherent friction braking at cold temps. But this doesn't last long because I normally drive like a granny and don't brake hard so they almost never get hot enough to transfer more pad material on to the rotors after it is worn away by abrasive friction braking.
That is what I believe is happening when I use these brakes.
I learned about adhesion braking from a stoptech article.
http://www.stoptech.com/tech_info/glossary.shtml

I hope the Deluxe perform similar to the Ultimates because they would be a steal at $22.64 if they had good performance.

 

[The Critic]

Originally Posted By: TylerL
Thanks for that Loogie, big help, it lets me know I'm not crazy.

How how did hot did PF pads?
I got mine so hot that they started smoking.
Did this with some 70 to 20 stops and even a 90 to 10 stop yet they kept braking better and was able to even lock up a wheel fairly easy.

After I did this the brakes are ok for now because enough pad material transfered to the rotors to help with adherent friction braking at cold temps. But this doesn't last long because I normally drive like a granny and don't brake hard so they almost never get hot enough to transfer more pad material on to the rotors after it is worn away by abrasive friction braking.
That is what I believe is happening when I use these brakes.
I learned about adhesion braking from a stoptech article.
http://www.stoptech.com/tech_info/glossary.shtml

I hope the Deluxe perform similar to the Ultimates because they would be a steal at $22.64 if they had good performance.

Deluxes don't perform anywhere as well as the Ultimates. The Ultimates deliver significantly better performance, but at the expense of heavy dust and noise.

 

[westex39]

Has anyone tried the Satisfied brand of brake pads.
I've seen them on Two Guys Garage. They had a tour of the factory on one show. They looked really good to me.