I need to replace my brakes but im not sure which path to go towards. I drive hard on the street, occasional auto cross and street nights at my local dragway.

that being said, is it worth paying alot for my new brakes? My brother owns Allspeed innovations in Lebanon, Ohio and he quoted me 392.50 for slotted front rotors from stoptech, solid rear rotors, and hawk pads. looking through pepboys i can get oem equivalent pads for 60 (all 4 wheels) and solid rotors for 155.

so should i go all out with high shelf pads and slotted rotors?
oem pads with slotted rotors?
high shelf pads with solid rotors?
or oem pads and solid rotors?

I want to get the best for my money, so i doint see why i should go all out and spend alot of money when braking isnt that big of an issue and ive been living fine with the oem system

 

I would not put Pep Boys stuff on your car. Brakes are important, buy the Hawks & slotted rotors. My preference would be Akebono ceramic pads rather than Hawks.

 

Could not disagree more.
OEM is good, Pep Boys is just adequate.
The deal your brother offered is good.
Don't cheep out on brakes, they could save your life.

 

I was just using pepboys as an example, I meant just plain faced rotors and Oem spec pads.....and the only thing is, I go to highschool so I only work maybe 20-25 hours a week at $8 an hour. I should have replaced them 6 months ago, but never had money and didn't have a job.

So I'm at the point where I have to choose between simply fixing the brakes and get them back in good working order, or going with a more aggressive set up that I won't have to upgrade when I get to race more often

 

You'll quickly find that OEM/Pepboys pads will not hold up on the track; they'll fade so badly you'll crap your pants. If you're serious about tracking then don't cheap out. Hawk HP+ and slotted rotors are pretty good (that's what I'm running) but will fade if your really push them hard. Serious track cars will have track specific pads or a big brake set-up that will cost an arm and a leg.

If you just need to get around town without hooning the car, then find some OEM equivalent pads such as Pagid, Mintex, Textar or Jurid. Paired with unslotted rotors from ATE, Zimmerman, Brembo, etc. will give you a safe and high quality set-up without "brakeing" the bank (sorry for the bad pun).

 

Hawk HP+ pads makes quite a bit of dust, so if you hate dirty wheels, they are not the best. They bite well, but no matter how many times I've tried to break them in, they still are noisy.

 

Flush out the old brake fluid while you are at it too.

 

on that note, cause i was just about to open a new thread about it, how do i bleed the brkes? and the power steering fluid. do i need a bleeder to attach at the caliper, or do i simply open the resevoir and work them till theres no bubbles and the pedal is firm?

 

to bleed your brakes properly you should bleed them at the calipers individually. If you've got a power bleeder this can be a 1 person job, otherwise it's a 2 person job. Farthest wheel from the reservoir first, then work your way to the closest. Power steering fluid isn't a bleedable system, just add fluid and check for bubbles after you've moved the wheels back and forth a few times.