Brake Pad Selection Advice

J

jims5600

Joined
May 26, 2013
Messages
122
Location
Clarence NY
Hello, Recently purchased a used 2018 Buick Regal Sportback,nothing fancy,base level. Good enough for this
old guy. The only complaint I have is the lack of brake power. I would say if others drove it they would say it
is fine-normal. Being front wheel drive,it fells like the rear brakes are doing their share. This vehicle only has
17k on it. Can any one recommend new pads that may give me more brake friction?
First front wheel car I've owned in years. Got used to my Silverado brakes and drove Vettes for the last 20
years,the brakes where real good. Maybe it's me. lol
Thanks
 
One of the few pads that will actually make a difference will dust like crazy. Don't pay attention to anyone that says to install Raybestos Element 3 EHT on it.
EBC Ultimax2 pads are the ones you want but the trade off is the dust they will make.
Brake pads are kinda like tires in which you cant have the best of everything in every category.

https://ebcbrakes.com/product/ultimax-brake-pads/
 
You wouldn't happen to know the brake code would you like JQ5 or J17? The JQ5 will be red Brembo calipers.
 
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skyactiv said:
One of the few pads that will actually make a difference will dust like crazy. Don't pay attention to anyone that says to install Raybestos Element 3 EHT on it.
EBC Ultimax2 pads are the ones you want but the trade off is the dust they will make.
Brake pads are kinda like tires in which you cant have the best of everything in every category.

https://ebcbrakes.com/product/ultimax-brake-pads/
Click to expand...

Why do you say that about the Raybestos? Have you fitted these to one of these cars and talking from experience or just being a ball buster right out of the gate. I wasn't going to suggest them there are better options, some that are OE depending on the type of caliper it has.
 
Let me look into it a bit and I will post back. I want to know more about the calipers and if they can take advantage of using anything other than whats on it OE which are not bad. Pads are only part of the total equation.
 
I had a brand new Focus (god help me) and I didn't like the stopping power. I swapped on Some Raybestos Element3 pads on it and was very pleased. They had great stopping power and didn't dirty up the wheels at all. On the other hand I had EBC Ultimax pads on another car that did make a huge difference in stopping power and was just as pleased with those. They did make a huge mess though, you would swear it had a locked up caliper from amount of brake dust that it would create. I guess it all depends on what trade offs you are willing to accept.
 
Trav said:
Why do you say that about the Raybestos? Have you fitted these to one of these cars and talking from experience or just being a ball buster right out of the gate. I wasn't going to suggest them there are better options, some that are OE depending on the type of caliper it has.
Click to expand...


Personal experience. I actually prefer the Raybestos pads. The mentioned EBC pads totally change the feel of the brake pedal.
The Raybestos pads wont do it folks.
 
EBC are good pads from my experience but lately some people are complaining about cracking of the pad material, how accurate this is I have no idea. They do make a lot of dust though and that may be a trade off the OP is unwilling to accept.
 
jims5600 said:
Hello, Recently purchased a used 2018 Buick Regal Sportback,nothing fancy,base level. Good enough for this
old guy. The only complaint I have is the lack of brake power. I would say if others drove it they would say it
is fine-normal. Being front wheel drive,it fells like the rear brakes are doing their share. This vehicle only has
17k on it. Can any one recommend new pads that may give me more brake friction?
First front wheel car I've owned in years. Got used to my Silverado brakes and drove Vettes for the last 20
years,the brakes where real good. Maybe it's me. lol
Thanks
Click to expand...

This car uses a large single piston front caliper, they work well enough but are not performance calipers. I was looking for Textar pads for the Opel Insignia (same car and J60) but they are not available in the US (part# 2213901). To be frank about it, there isn't a whole lot you can do with this to make a significant improvement over stock as far as pads go, I don't think they even make a EBC pad for this caliper.
While some pads may offer slightly better grip there may be some undesirable trade offs like highly accelerated rotor wear and heavy dusting.

When the time comes you can certainly try the Elements 3 or Akebono (which may be OE anyway) pads they will not be any worse but how much better if at all I cant say but I seriously doubt not much over OE.
There is a way to really improve the braking performance of this car but it would be costly (or cheap considering a full big brake kit from someone like Wilwood can cost over 3K with custom brackets and all needed bits) and that would be to install the larger Brembo set up that was offered as an upgrade on this car but it would take a lot of research to determine if the wheels would fit and MC and other pieces would work with it and would probably cost close to 800-1K. Some off a wreck would be ideal and much cheaper if you could find them
 
If there is no other high performance pad available. I would use these:

1. Power Stop Z23 or up. I use these personally for over 6 years. They work really well in normal cars like Toyota Highlander, Toyota Matrix when no other high performance pad avaliable. They might need a bit warm up during winter, just 2-3 stop signs will do.

2. Akebono Street Performance Ceramic, not Pro Act. I haven't use these but these are well reviewed by forums.

3. Raybestos EHT Element3. I would use these if the above are not available. I have used these on Toyota Highlander. They have a little bit less bite than Z23, but still work decent.

All of the above are available at RockAuto, not exotic hard to find brands.
 
skyactiv said:
Personal experience. I actually prefer the Raybestos pads. The mentioned EBC pads totally change the feel of the brake pedal. The Raybestos pads wont do it folks.
Click to expand...

I put the EBC Ultimax2 GG pads (and rotors) on my Patriot last September to replace OEM ceramic Akebono FF pads (different than aftermarket Akebono).

I don't notice dusting to be a problem - no better, no worse. I also don't notice these pads braking any better than the OEMs. My brakes have always been just a bit soft and not "grabby" feeling at all (especially compared to my son's Soul). The EBC's brake very similar to the OEM's - certainly good enough but no great improvement in feel. I guess YMMV applies? Maybe the OP just needs to adjust to the feel of his new vehicle.
IMG_4245.JPG
 
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I just buy Akebono ProAct and feel I get high quality pad that does not dust a lot. I am not going to go try a bunch of brake pads and see if there is one I like a tiny bit better.

Before you blame the brake pads someone needs to go over the brakes looking for problems where a brake pad is not moving properly because of rust or corrosion.

You are in NY where there is no such thing as too much salt or brine on the roads in the winter according to the highway people. Some are pulling the brakes apart yearly just to clean and lube without replacing anything. Use to be wait until the pads are gone then service the brakes. Not any more.
 
Your complaint is probably due to nature of the pad. OE is ceramic, it could be Akebono.
If you could find ATE, Pagid (Textar is not available as Trav pointed) they could do the trick, but expect dusting. Another option is EBC Green Stuff or EBC Red Stuff.
EBC Green Stuff will do a trick when it comes to pedal feel. I currently have Green Stuff on Sienna, and they are far ahead of Akebono OE pads. But, expected lifespan is some 35k, though I do drive aggressively regardless that it is minivan. There is nice solid feeling on pad, and they bite hard.
Step up would be EBC Red Stuff. They are more potent and bite really hard. On very cold days they might give you impression that after 1 or 2 brakings they bite harder, but they are street pad, so cold bite is there. I have them on Tiguan, and they are good, no excessive wear. I would say they are wearing less than EBC Green STuff.
Expect dusting from both pads, as you would from any performance pad.
Under no circumstances get EBC Yellow Stuff or Blue Stuff. They are street/track pads, and pretty much jack of all trades.
 
I've only tried maybe 10 different pad brands over the years, but my top 3 are
1) Akebono ASP (Performance Line)
2) Raybestos EHT Element 3
3) Akebono ACT

All three of these are ceramic pads, traditionally semi-metallic pads have more bite but the trade off is brake dust,noise, and faster rotor wear. Not sure if that is still true, but that was the general consensus for years.
 
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