Helo58

I have been overwhelmed with brake pad choices from all of the obvious sites. I just purchased the Brembo rotors (eBay) for the front but have had some difficulty choosing an appropriate pad. I accelerate hard and I brake hard and appreciate good modulation and feedback from the brakes. No track duty for these pads.

I have used EBC pads on my motorcycle previously and loved them and I see that they are a "mid-priced" option in the Bluestuff and Yellowstuff. By mid-priced, I mean not Autozone ($80) and not OEM ($300+). Can anyone recommend these with respect to initial bite, feel, dust, and noise?

chris07is

iTrader: (10)

I have the yellow stuff, I've taken it to the track the bite is good enough. Although it has squeaky noise when its not warm enough. Not bad for the price either.

ebbsnflows

Like you I've used them on my sportbike (along with steel-braided hoses) as well as my Z06. I have nothing but positives to say about them. Performance is high and dust is no worse (maybe a little less) than OEM.

Have you looked at the Stoptechs? From what I've read on here most folks seem to like the Stoptechs (for a mid-grade/affordable street duty pad). I'm still learning the ins and outs of the ISF (in comparison to my past Z06's/Cobras/Camaros)...but the Stoptech's have decent rep.

Sirguy01

For the street I would look into the Hawk HPS.

I've used them for years now, I think they are a great street pad. Pretty quiet, good bite, not as dusty as some others and the pad life is pretty good.(depending on how you drive)

I used them for light track duty on my z06, I did 6-8 laps no problem before they gave out which isn't bad IMO for a street pad. I just put them on my isf and they are exactly what I expected.

samjones

iTrader: (1)

Used Hawks on my bmw and I loved them, same performance as OEM with a lot less dust

Helo58

This is good to hear. I get a little noise out of the stockers, so no worries there. Thanks for the feedback.

Thanks for the input. Glad to hear they work well on a Z06 too. I have lived with the OEM dust and if anything it is a motivator to inspect the tires/wheels/brakes on a regular basis when cleaning. I was looking at the price point on the Stoptechs and they are about half of the EBCs or Hawks. It is my hunch that at this price, they are on the street side of street/track. Lugging 4000lb of sedan with 400hp, I wouldn't mind some "reserve" that a more aggressive pad might offer.

I saw a couple of Hawk Pads with the HPS name. I assume you mean the blue box as this is what came up most frequently. Do you know how the HPS 5.0 differs? A few forums say the 5.0 has HP+ bite with HPS noise and dust (to paraphrase). I liked your phrase about 6-8 laps. Although my car will never see a track ($$$) it does occasionally see US Hwy 129 (NC/TN) and roads like it. In my head, I figured a pad capable of 5 hard laps at CMP would be sufficient for my street needs. Thanks for the input.

mindcrime

iTrader: (2)

whatever is on the car now doesn't produce any dust. stops ok, maybe a little brake dive, but I'm lowered on Tein springs.

SpeedFreaksUSA

iTrader: (1)

I have direct experience with *a lot* of different pads and I would like to give my honest feedback. Not trying to bad mouth EBC or HAWK but I have personally never had great luck with any pads from either brand. Both manufactures are a little misleading to say the least when it comes to the true "performance" of their products, at least in my opinion.

The Stoptech street pads are much less than the others but price doesn't always directly correlate with performance. I have had direct experience with most pad compounds from EBC, HAWK and Stoptech and I can honestly say that for aggressive street use I would pick the Stoptechs over EBC redstuff and especially the HAWK HPS every time.

-Matt M.

Helo58

Thanks for the input Matt. Being the rather impatient person I was, I went ahead and ordered the Hawk HPS 5.0 before seeing your post. I read some fairly positive HPS 5.0 experiences on other vehicle forums and some less favorable, but that was the case with just about any pad I searched.

With what seemed to be at least 30 different choices, weighing initial bite, wear, noise, etc., I just gave in and went with the flavor of the day. Now I am facing a new thought... I am reading now that some pad dust is more corrosive than others. Carbotech seems to have good offerings that they advertise as non-corrosive dust. Can you elaborate on what makes some brake dust more corrosive than others and where the pads you offer fall in that spectrum?

bbong

Ran EBC Yellows on Evo, STI and now ISF. They're very good brakes, no cracks, very good grip, not fading, not much dust either, can withstand track condition no problem. I've been running EBC's since 2009 and always at the track, never a single problem.

Only thing I can say about Hawk HPS Plus is that they suck, dusty and very loud. On the track they're fine, but daily driving I couldn't stand the squeak and dust they'd leave on the wheels.

I want to try Winmax I heard they're good, though a lot more pricier than EBC's, but it never hurt to try different things, waiting for the EBC's to wear out, did I mention they almost lasted all season for me, one thing I know, I'll never buy another set of Hawks HPS's, I have a almost brand new set (Evo) in the garage that's how much I hated them.

clarionguy

which winmax did you go for W3?

SpeedFreaksUSA

iTrader: (1)

Yes, that is absolutely true however it tends to be more of an issue with more aggressive compounds from the more "budget minded" brands. Many of HAWKs older track compounds were notorious for being corrosive and ruining the finish of your wheels and even paint if you let it sit for too long (especially if you let it get wet and sit for a while )

This is something we have always taken into consideration when choosing which brands and products to support- we only sell what we know works exceptionally well. The corrosiveness of a pad obviously hinges on what is in the compound- I can't tell you exactly what chemical reactions are happening because compound recipes are safeguarded secrets and nobody will give you specifics about what is in them. It may be an an acceptable compromise for someone having fun driving their sub $5000 beater car around the track but we know nobody with an IS-F is willing to ruin any painted surfaces on their beautiful car We tend to focus on the higher end brands (Endless and Project Mu specifically) and because we know their products will not compromise on things like this to achieve the performance levels they do.


If you were happy with EBC yellows and are looking at trying a Winmax W3 or W4 you should also *really* consider the Project Mu HC+800. It's in the same category as the Yellows and W3/W4 on paper but in practice is in a different league in every aspect, especially the versatility they offer. We had done our own exclusive batch of them recently and are currently running a special on front and rear sets at a very competitive price. Take a look here- Speed Freaks USA: Project Mu HC+800 Introductory Special

-Matt M.

bbong

I've heard of them, but never tried them, the price is more than competitive! I'll give them a try, thanks!

2010ISF

Ive been using the EBC Yellowstuff pads and they've worked pretty good so far. I've tried simulating some emergency stops just to see how the pads perform and they definitely have some stopping power. The only thing I notice is the brake pedal feel is a little numb as compared to stock. When I bought my F 9 months ago it came with the stock pads and the noise was so terrible I had to switch pads so after I had these installed the noise pretty much went away. Here and there I will get a squeak or 2 but it isn't loud and doesn't make your ears bleed like mine did before. I'm not sure if anyone else is experiencing the numb pedal feel that I do but I haven't done the 10 stops from 60-5mph (ish) that everybody says to do so maybe that explains it.

KJH

Agree with this. Maybe not as much as Matt, but I, too, have a lot of experience with many different pads installed on powerful, heavy street cars. As such, I would never recommend EBC pads to an IS-F owner. I tried them once in my black Supra at the Streets of Willow in a magazine test. They were toast after less than two hot laps.

It seems almost every thread I read on brake pads include many posts about avoiding brake dust. Certainly, the OEM pads generate a significant amount of brake dust, but I would never sacrifice braking performance for clean wheels. Your car, your money, but the IS-F has one of the very best OEM brake systems. Like the Supra, owners have to be VERY careful to not degrade top notch OEM performance as a result of being susceptible to deceptive advertising from budget brake pad manufacturers.

Ken.