Performance Brake Pads

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Originally Posted By: tenderloin
The link I posted for Amazon... selling Performance Friction pads FRONT AND REAR for $44.00 Total..DELIVERED is IMO a no brainer.

Great brakes. Great price


Agreed. While it looks many of you have success with many different pads. For the price of the PF they are worth a shot. Think I will try them with some cryo treated rotors from frozenrotors.com. Thanks again for all the input.

Also I replied back to Todd and will post his response when I get it back......
 
I found it interesting that the reviews on TR people either loved or hated most products. Look at the Hawk HPS pads, they get 8-10 or 1-2. There seems to be some correlation between car brand and the ratings but not much in the way of logical imput.
I wish I could afford to test them myself.
 
Many people do not like the feel of a "performance" pad. Most of these types take more initial pedal pressure but are easier to modulate over a wider variety of conditions. Some think the initial "bite" that many OEM applications provide means better braking performance and are easier to use.

It just takes time to get used to the different characteristics,,,and once you do..IMO you will be sold.
 
For a dodge intrepid, do not spend high dollars on frozen rotors, do not buy the drilled rotors either.

I would bleed the entire brake system first, and see how that improves pedal feel.

The intrepid is not a performance car, it does not have performance calipers on it. Upgraded Baer calipers or brembo would be the real upgrade, but that would require thousands of dollars, and probably larger wheels.

My advise is to bleed the system, take apart the sliders, and make sure all the contact points are greased up properly, make sure the rotors are within spec, and go from there.

Good tires will help the car stop better as well.

I am generally a fan of ceramic brake pads, get a good quality one though.. I have the monroe brand ones from rockauto on my saturn, and they give off too much dust.

Your intrepid is a family sedan, similar to a ford taurus. You aren't driving a f1 car, or anything remotely close to one.
 
Originally Posted By: JustinH
For a dodge intrepid, do not spend high dollars on frozen rotors, do not buy the drilled rotors either.

I would bleed the entire brake system first, and see how that improves pedal feel.

The intrepid is not a performance car, it does not have performance calipers on it. Upgraded Baer calipers or brembo would be the real upgrade, but that would require thousands of dollars, and probably larger wheels.

My advise is to bleed the system, take apart the sliders, and make sure all the contact points are greased up properly, make sure the rotors are within spec, and go from there.

Good tires will help the car stop better as well.

I am generally a fan of ceramic brake pads, get a good quality one though.. I have the monroe brand ones from rockauto on my saturn, and they give off too much dust.

Your intrepid is a family sedan, similar to a ford taurus. You aren't driving a f1 car, or anything remotely close to one.


Well, you are right that I do not drive a race car. However, I live at the foot of the Appalachian Mountains in North Georgia. The mountain literally begins in my back yard and continues up about 2,000 feet. My wife drives up and down this mountain every day to go to work causing a lot of heat to build up in the brakes on the way down. I have installed brand new rotors/pads only to have her warp them in 3 months. I could not believe it, 3 stinking months. By the time you get to the stop light at the bottom of the mountain you can literally smell the overheated brakes on all the cars. So because of my location and car use a typical brake job doesn't work well for me.
 
Originally Posted By: cos
rewote500,

Does your wife use a lower gear to help burn off speed?


We have used lower gears. It's just a steep road with alot of curves. On top of that all the tourists want to stop and look off the mountain. Almost impossible to reduce brake usage much. Here is a pic of the mountain from the top...

http://cache.virtualtourist.com/2183053-...Chattanooga.jpg
 
I had a feeling a mountain was involved.
You need to figure out if there is away to run some hose/ducting to the rotors/calipers/pads to help cool them.

Pads that can take the heat are a must. But, those same pads won't work too well until warmed up.
Cryo'ing the rotors should reduce the warping.

Doing everything possible to reduce the vehicle weight should also help. Break out the vacuum, gamble with the loss of a spare tire/jack, and enjoy slimfast!
 
Originally Posted By: Smoky14
I found it interesting that the reviews on TR people either loved or hated most products. Look at the Hawk HPS pads, they get 8-10 or 1-2. There seems to be some correlation between car brand and the ratings but not much in the way of logical imput.
I wish I could afford to test them myself.


Sometimes the OEM does not use the same friction coefficient for the front and rear pad. I suspect most aftermarket use the same coefficient material for front and rear, that may alter the brake bias too and give different brake experience.
 
Originally Posted By: rewote500
Originally Posted By: JustinH
For a dodge intrepid, do not spend high dollars on frozen rotors, do not buy the drilled rotors either.

I would bleed the entire brake system first, and see how that improves pedal feel.

The intrepid is not a performance car, it does not have performance calipers on it. Upgraded Baer calipers or brembo would be the real upgrade, but that would require thousands of dollars, and probably larger wheels.

My advise is to bleed the system, take apart the sliders, and make sure all the contact points are greased up properly, make sure the rotors are within spec, and go from there.

Good tires will help the car stop better as well.

I am generally a fan of ceramic brake pads, get a good quality one though.. I have the monroe brand ones from rockauto on my saturn, and they give off too much dust.

Your intrepid is a family sedan, similar to a ford taurus. You aren't driving a f1 car, or anything remotely close to one.


Well, you are right that I do not drive a race car. However, I live at the foot of the Appalachian Mountains in North Georgia. The mountain literally begins in my back yard and continues up about 2,000 feet. My wife drives up and down this mountain every day to go to work causing a lot of heat to build up in the brakes on the way down. I have installed brand new rotors/pads only to have her warp them in 3 months. I could not believe it, 3 stinking months. By the time you get to the stop light at the bottom of the mountain you can literally smell the overheated brakes on all the cars. So because of my location and car use a typical brake job doesn't work well for me.


It's been my experience that most north GA people speed up hill and ride their brakes hard downhill. No idea why, as I tend to drive slow uphill and drive pretty fast downhill. Maybe I'm missing something growing up in flat Florida.

My rant on the driving habits out of the way, I'd upgrade the brakes and rotors on any vehicle I owned up there. I drove my truck 1100 miles through NC, GA, and TN a few years ago and I didn't have one problem with my Powerslot rotors. I also recommend Hawk brakes anytime brake questions come along, but I don't always get good receptions for that.

The idea of using lower gearing is probably a bad suggestion, depending on the vehicle. I'd much rather replace brakes than an AT. Just my 2 cents.
 
Carbotech is great but expensive.

I have used both Hawk HPS and Axxis Ultimate, and I'd say the bite of Ultimate is better but HPS is easier for a typical driver to use, and have less dust than Ultimate.

When I was using Ultimate, I have to wash my wheel almost weekly and blast water through the rotor/pad area to remove the dust, otherwise the dust make braking actually worse than OEM.
 
Originally Posted By: benjamming
If Hawk doesn't have any data on stopping distances, I would recommend them for tricycles only. I'm sure Todd meant they don't have any data that they will publish.
What is a heavy car & light car?
How is the pad formulation spec affected by vehicle weight?


I'm sure you're probably aware that aftermarket brake pads do not go through nearly the same vigorous testing that OE friction does. More often than not, when they claim "application specific," they are likely specific to a particular type of brake system design and the weight of the vehicle, but I seriously doubt the manufacturer has field tested every application.

Aftermarket pads in general, tend to optimize one or two variables over the others. For instance, it is common that a number of aftermarket brake pads shed less dust and last much longer than the factory pads. But from my experience, this sometimes leads to a reduction in the brake feel in comparison to the factory pad.
 
Aftermarket pads in general, tend to optimize one or two variables over the others. For instance, it is common that a number of aftermarket brake pads shed less dust and last much longer than the factory pads. But from my experience, this sometimes leads to a reduction in the brake feel in comparison to the factory pad. [/quote]

When I had an Integra, I used to get pad fade from time to time on the street (!) which prompted me to try PBR/Repco/Axxis Metalmasters. They didn't fade, but they had poor cold braking. Oddly they had excellent "frigid" braking (ie. -15C and below). They also upset the front/rear brake bias, since OE spec on the Integra was semi-metallic F and organic R and Metalmasters were semi-metallic all around. Less grab in the rear altered the balance of the car. They dusted significantly less than OE, but also left deposits on the rotors. I'd have to go out an re-bed once every month or two to get rid of shimmies.

The cars I've had since then are German (Porsche 968, BMW 528) and have had a higher-spec braking philosophy than the Japanese. I've felt no inclination to get anything but OE (Pagid variant on the 968 and Textar variant on the BMW are my choice). The Porsche didn't see heavy track duty, never faded, and the previous owner had "cool carbons" or something on there and they worked like [censored] compared to OE. Both the Porsche and BMW OE pads dust a lot, but I just clean it up and live with it.
 
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"By the time you get to the stop light at the bottom of the mountain you can literally smell the overheated brakes on all the cars."

This triggered a thought:

If I understand what I have read correctly concerning brakes; stopping the car and then holding the brake pedal with very hot brakes will deposit brake material on the rotors in the area in contact with the pads.
This will cause "high spots" and areas of uneven friction.
This is what is commonly reported as a "warped rotor".

I am pretty sure that I have experienced this my self a time or two.

May I suggest: If safely possible once stopped on the long downhill place the vehicle in park and let off the brakes while waiting at the light.

I hope this is helpful.

Rickey.
 
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