Best fast road pad for £100

[BEEFTEC]

My brakes are in a bad state at the moment, not been serviced in a long time and looking at how bad the standard pads are seized, I think its pretty likely the pads are bent and the material is probably cracked.

So i'm gona change the pads - But to what?

I know the DS2500 come thoroughly recommended on this forum, so theres no doubt they're a good choice. But at just under £150, they're also 5x the price of OEM pads. Are they 5x better? I doubt it.

So whats my best bet for a £100 set of pads?

Car is used daily, so they must operate similar to OEM when cold, but i've also had fade from the OEM pads on the road; so want something quite a lot more capable during punishing road driving and track use.

I've not done a trackday yet, but hoping to get at least a couple in this year and my local track is Oulton Park; which is pretty heavy on the brakes.

What are my options?

EBC yellowstuff are £95
Mintex M1155 are also £95 - Maybe a bit too hardcore for road use? Read reports of glazing during normal road driving.

What else is there and also supplier names would be good as all I know of is Demon Tweeks and Camskill (camskill seems hard to navigate without part numbers)

Cheers

 

[Womble]

Personally, the stock pad is good enough for road and track. Once your calipers have been serviced properly, they should be fine, they will be ok for track as well. It is possible that you are using your brakes too much and not reading the road/conditions enough. The only pad worth changing up to is the DS2500, the rest just come second best. If you can't afford them this time round, fit standard pad until you can afford them. Oulton Park only has 3 big stops and there is plenty of time for the pads to recover. A lot of people stand on their brakes, when the speed can be carried into the corner, braking should be smooth and progressive, smooth is fast. If you do a trackday, book an instructor to help learn the track, this will make it easier on your brakes......

 

[Gam]

Only just fitted the DS2500 and I must say for the money they are worth it. The bite from cold is lovely but you get heat in them and feck me do they stop quick. [MENTION=1272]Fernandez[/MENTION] can get you them for about £130 delivered so that's not so bad as £150. I would steer clear of any EBC brake pads as a lot of people have had problems with them coming away from the backing plate, not really what you want.

 

[Matt W]

I have found the standard pads to be plenty good enough for track use

 

[Gam]

I have found the standard pads to be plenty good enough for track use

You can't be going quick enough then

 

[nutnutwelshman]

Me too find the STD pads on the meg and the Clio were fine too

 

[Gez]

If your brakes are in a bad way anyway, that could be the reason your having issues with them.

New standard discs & pads and a fluid flush through should do the trick

 

[Kelv]

I love the DS range of pads, they suit me perfectly, but id avoid the EBC offerings if it were me.

 

[Tuck]

I got Ferodo DS2500 all round for £209, totally worth it!

 

[Gam]

I got Ferodo DS2500 all round for £209, totally worth it!

That's a ridiculous price! Where from?

 

[badbuzz2]

That's a ridiculous price! Where from?

+1 wouldnt mind knowing myself

 

[Tuck]

Haha, thought people might be interested in this!

http://www.jjcraceandrally.com

Phone them and mention you're a member in here. I'll start a thread though lads

 

[BEEFTEC]

Well it seems difficult to choose pads from recommendations, because everyone seems to have either OEM or DS2500 on here. I'm sure there is decent upgraded pads out there for £100 but nobodies tried them.

So I either take a gamble on some EBC yellowstuffs or similar for around £100, or go for DS2500's. I've read all the stuff about EBC pads and the issues they've had, but I think really if this was such a huge widespread issue then they would have gone out of business a while ago.


Seems pretty clear that my OEM pads shouldn't have faded during normal road use, so its probably more down to the poor condition of my brakes.

Like I say, I can't really justify £150 for just pads when I can get new OEM pads, braided lines and race fluid for £110.

So i'm off to pick up some new OEM pads in the morning and see if I can get my seized in ones out! Then I can see how they perform and decide if I really need an upgraded pad

 

[MikeLYR27]

You could go for DS performance pads, imo there basically the same, just a dam site cheaper. Ive got them on at the mo and find them great. DS2500 are over rated.

 

[Rogue]

Well it seems difficult to choose pads from recommendations, because everyone seems to have either OEM or DS2500 on here. I'm sure there is decent upgraded pads out there for £100 but nobodies tried them.

So I either take a gamble on some EBC yellowstuffs or similar for around £100, or go for DS2500's. I've read all the stuff about EBC pads and the issues they've had, but I think really if this was such a huge widespread issue then they would have gone out of business a while ago.


Seems pretty clear that my OEM pads shouldn't have faded during normal road use, so its probably more down to the poor condition of my brakes.

Like I say, I can't really justify £150 for just pads when I can get new OEM pads, braided lines and race fluid for £110.

So i'm off to pick up some new OEM pads in the morning and see if I can get my seized in ones out! Then I can see how they perform and decide if I really need an upgraded pad

How'd you work that out. Hels are 69 + 30 for fluid + pads and if you're paying labour...definitely more than £110

there was a guy on eBay selling barely warn in rc5/rc6 pads. Not sure if he's still about

 

[Gilmos1]

I really can't see you getting genuine brake fade on the road, how do you drive?! Suspect your brakes are knackered, which seems the case. OEM is more than up to the job on the road.

 

[BEEFTEC]

You could go for DS performance pads, imo there basically the same, just a dam site cheaper. Ive got them on at the mo and find them great. DS2500 are over rated.

Thanks, i'll look into those.

How'd you work that out. Hels are 69 + 30 for fluid + pads and if you're paying labour...definitely more than £110

there was a guy on eBay selling barely warn in rc5/rc6 pads. Not sure if he's still about

OEM pads i'm getting today for £29, Goodridge hoses are £50 from demon tweeks and ATE super blue fluid is £30 for 2 litres. Hopefully won't be paying labour unless I can't get these seized in pins out. Got an EZ bleeder so was hoping bleeding brakes would be pretty straight forward too.

I'll check ebay for pads too.

I really can't see you getting genuine brake fade on the road, how do you drive?! Suspect your brakes are knackered, which seems the case. OEM is more than up to the job on the road.

It only happened the once and I was surprised myself. Pedal was still firm but just had nothing more to give power wise. Like you say, sounds as though this is more down to my brakes being unloved.

I'm thinking that if the ends of my pads are seized in, then the pistons under hard braking will be bending the pad and probably not giving full pad contact on the disc

 

[Womble]

Ahh your buying pattern pads not Genuine Renault. You may as well have a piece of chocolate for the pad material. Get the ones from a Renault dealer, that is what we mean by Original Equipment Manufacture. You need to strip the calipers and clean all the brake dust out. It is not a 5 minute job, it's likely your pad guides have corrosion underneath which then jams the pad, giving poor brakes. With a proper strip down, standard pads. hoses and fluid, Clio Brembos will stop you all day long. Let them get caked with brake dust and pad deposits renders them useless.

 

[BEEFTEC]

Ahh your buying pattern pads not Genuine Renault. You may as well have a piece of chocolate for the pad material. Get the ones from a Renault dealer, that is what we mean by Original Equipment Manufacture. You need to strip the calipers and clean all the brake dust out. It is not a 5 minute job, it's likely your pad guides have corrosion underneath which then jams the pad, giving poor brakes. With a proper strip down, standard pads. hoses and fluid, Clio Brembos will stop you all day long. Let them get caked with brake dust and pad deposits renders them useless.

Oh I see, well the pads i've picked up for £30 are still Mintex pads. Not like some completely unknown pads.

I bargained that it'd take me a few hours to change the front pads properly, I knew it wasn't going to be too easy, I had my wire brushes and drill attachments to tackle all the dirt.

Either way my first attempt at them didn't go well. Couldn't get the pins to move even a little bit. Ended up putting a bit of a chip in the caliper and the pin itself seems to just be disintegrating rather than moving:

 

[Womble]

You need to soak the opposite end of the pin in wd40 and brake cleaner. I use a punch with a centre drill hole in the middle and you need a big hammer and one big hit. There is like a spring collar on the inside side that keeps the pin in. After you have soaked that, they usually come out first bat. The hole in the punch means the punch locates on the taper pin, 1 it doesn't slip off and chip the paint on the caliper, and 2. It stops you flattening the end of the pin as you have. Also, it sometimes helps tapping the pin from the other side to loosen the retaining collars. You can get a full set of pins from Eurocarparts for £15, not listed online but they stock them. As for the pads, you can buy Ferodo pads for £20 for Brembos but they are made of cardboard, as are your Mintex ones. Good pads are £100, as said get some from Renault, you will not be disappointed and it will be cheaper in the long run. The standard pads are very good value and very good performance and about £60 with discount I think. Oh and buy yourself a couple of cans of brake cleaner