Hameed

I want to know what you all think of the upgraded brake pads you have used. Which ones are supposed to be better - I am specifically interested in your opinion on the following factors.

1. Overall brake pedal feel
2. Real world performance (predominantly heavy footed street use)
3. Brake dust generation

I have heard some good things about Mintex pads, however I want to know what else you guys think.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

I doubt you will notice anything much by just changing pads (except maybe more brake dust).

Hameed

For street use I think a big brake kit upgrade is overkill. For track use, definitely. Even steel braided brake lines don't seem to make much difference for performance. They are mainly for brake feel.

In other words it looks like the stock brakes on the GS are perfect for daily street use. However on the other hand the "look" of a big brake kit seems to be more important than it's usefullness on the street. For track use, I am sure the argument is overwhelmingly in favour of a big brake kit. However I doubt if I will ever have the time to take my car to a track on a regular basis.

///MDex

If you are going to go through the effort of upgrading the pads (jack up, remove calipers, labor, etc.) you might as well upgrade your rotors at the same time.

This past weekend when I had my work done at the dealership, more than one person comented that the OEM rotors are very soft, and of course, prone to warping. From experience (mine own + several others here), if you do any driving like we do, they'll warp on you too.

Chances are, unless your wife drives you car 100% of the time, and if you aren't careful 100% of the time, you'll warp your rotors.

Rotors and pads alone will help on a DD, and on the occasional mountain trip. That's experience talking too.

RAristo

I'm running Axxis Ultimate front and Axxis Deluxe rear with my Stoptech big brake kit. They are really nice and don't produce much dust. I've tried TRD also. It's very good in term of bite but produce way too much dust and harsh on the rotors.

Hameed

Excellent, so what rotors would you recommend upgrading too (pads as well)?

Incidentally, my wife drives like a man sometimes (at least from a stop and slowing down - always fast and hard), maybe not so fast around bends like I do though.

///MDex

Steve Ganz can put together a pretty sweet OEM sized rotor & pad deal for you. Shoot him an email.

He's got a couple different kinds of rotors and pads. Right now I have, well, HERE

HTH

Hameed

Just looked at your install - very cool looking rotors!

What upgrade did you get - Brembo rotors, pads ? (the calipers look stock)

///MDex

Yep - Brembo rotors F&R with EBC Greens F&R.

EDIT: BTW, EBCs are low dust; TRD are very dusty and very aggressive

GS4Will

Hameed..

i also recommend Akebono Pro-ACT Ceramic ones from japan for ~$50 rear and $60 front..low dust, great pads....

DrewGS4

Dex, very nice instructions. You should make that a sticky. Still looks a little complicated for me and pretty messy.....but great DIY job.


I never understood how you get jack stands under a car when you are lifting the car using a hydrolic jack.

///MDex

Thanks. It wasn't technically difficult, just a little laborious - I had tomtnc help me, and he'd done this many times before, so it wasn't too bad.

You need to be aware of the jacking point, then consider where you will place the jack stand - obviously you'll want as close as possible to that jack point.

RON430

Dex, I am curious. I switched over to EBC greens on my wife's Maxima before she got the GS3. They did brake better, and this is an area where the Maxima needed some help IMO. But the two downsides were that I didn't see any reduction in dust, if anything probably more. And the EBC developed an annoying "growl" for the last bit of the braking coming to a full stop. Have you noticed this yet? How many miles have you put on the new setup? I keep looking at the Endless pads but the truth is that outside of the need to be different, the stock pads do a pretty good job for me and braking is not a place where, for me, the stock setup is a problem. And with the advertising aside, I find almost no stock of Endless anywhere and I am hoping that GS4Will is right (I checked some other numbers and it seems correct) that the GS takes the same pads as the IS.

Ron

///MDex

1.) What brake pads did you have before the EBCs? This is how I arrive at my 'low dust' statement. I had TRDs. The are also advertised as 'low dust'.

2.) No growl yet, but I've been using them for less than 500mi. They are very quiet as a matter of fact - I just hear the tires.

That growl you heard was likely a vibration of the rotor or cotact between the rotor and the pad.

RON430

Not sure what brand pads were on it but the shop that installed them gooped them to the calipers. Obviously believers in the disk brake quiet to stop the pad shimmy. Pad shimmy when hitting the rotors is a much higher pitch than what the EBC developed. It was a very low growl and I think some other guys posted the same impression. They didn't do it initially but it did start and wouldn't go away. Like I said, the pads that were on it were put on my a tire dealer my wife used so I am not sure what they were but the GreenStuff were every bit as bad at dust which is to say, not great. Good luck with them, they did help the braking of the Maxima out but I wasn't that impressed. Another point of curiousity, if you have the Brembo brakes why didn't you get the Brembo pads? I have raced with Brembo pads and they are (or were) really exceptional although pretty pricey.