Hard to believe it, but after 20K miles I've eaten up both front and rear pads on my '08 MCS. Pretty even wear on all four corners, must be the traction control doing its job during autoXs to explain similar wear back vs. front (though I thought I turned it off on every run? go figure).
Since it's summer/autoX season, I threw the set of somewhat noisy Hawk HP Plus (autoX) pads on there for now, but the car still needs a new set of winter/street brake pads.

What pads do you guys run?
- OEM (what brand? how much?)
- Hawk HPS ($107 front axle + $97 rears from TireRack.com)?
- StopTech Street Performance Pads (TireRack has them on the cheap: $70 + $56) - what are these ?
- anything else to consider?

My priorities are: quiet and fade resistant on the street, with solid initial bite when cold, progressive application, low-dusting is a minor plus but not at the expense of anything above.

TIA,
alex f

P.S.: This will be the second set of pads on the car. The first set was covered by the dealer at 24K miles - the little brake pad monster!

 

I bought Centric carbon rotors from tirerack.com and it was a good decision! As for brake pads, I went with EBC greenstuff. No issues and definitely leaves a lot less brake dust. I'm shocked you went through your brake pads that quick. I did my brake job at about 43K miles. But I recommend the EBC redstuff and Hawk HPS pads for sure. Good luck!

 

We've had the best luck with the EBC Redstuff. They are great and affordable with much less dust and good bite.
On the other hand I've had terrible luck and many unhappy customers with Hawks so I can't recommend them.

 

Can only compare it to the factory pad but I'll throw the Porterfield R4-S out there as an option. Have had them on my car for about a month, including a track day. Quieter than stock and produce about 1/3 as much dust. No fade issues on track or otherwise and are excellent with a little heat in them. Very progressive application, which can make it seem like they don't bite as hard as stock in regular day-to-day commuting (especially when cold). The stopping power is there, it's just that the first quarter of it takes a little more pressure. Over the whole range of pedal pressure, I think of it as having higher resolution, giving you better ability to modulate the brakes.

I also have SS brake lines and am using a high temp fluid (Ate Typ 200) if that helps with the comparison.

For an additional commentary, see third and fourth paragraphs here (not me). I know you said you're using them on the street only; I think the points still give a good idea of how they perform. And they are completely usable on the street.

 

Way,
What are the operating temperature ranges of the "color (green, yellow, red) stuff" brake pads that you recommend?


While you seam to like them, I've rarely seen serious autoX or DE rats run "color stuff" pads. For autoX, it's usually Hawk HP Plus or Porterfield R4-S pads. For track, either Hawk Blues/Blacks or Performance Friction pads.

The above manufacturers share the optimal temperature ranges for their pad materials. If you had comparable data on "color stuff" pads, I could make an informed decision about them.

Thanks,
alex

P.S.: I've gone through most Hawk pads over the years, and would readily buy HP Plus for autoX and Blues for the track. However, I wont touch HPS pads for the street as they fade way too fast and provide no modulation in application (full ABS mode or nothing). YMMV.

P.P.S.: If anyone else cares, I found the thread where people share positive experience with Stoptech Street Performance pads: https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ds-review.html

 

I have had great experience with Akebono Euro Ceramic pads. Much less brake dust and easier on brake disk wear. Initial brake grab is not as touchy as the original pads and the brake power relative to pedal pressure is quite linear. The only negative is that brake power is reduced when stone cold but it improves immediately after one or two stops in the morning. I hope this information is of some help making your decision....