Almost time to replace brake pads on my daily, currently has stock-sized rotors on all corners (will be adding a BBK once rotors are worn); all rotors are drilled and slotted.
Wondering if anyone has any suggestions on a more performance-oriented set of pads, I'm mainly looking at EBC Red or Yellow, or Hawk HPS or Performance Ceramic. Used to have EBC Yellows a while ago on a JCW, my only complaints (but not really) being they had shorter life and tons of dust.

Anyone perhaps have experience with any of the other pads I'm looking at? Thanks for any and all help!

 

EBC red

this is WAY's most common recommendation too

 

+ 1

 

Reds are ceramic correct? Do they hold up on the off chance this particular car sees occasional AutoX (and the mountain-pass long way home in the evenings)?
Also, if I have been assuming correctly, I've been comparing EBC yellow to Hawk HPS, and EBC Reds to Hawk Perf Ceramic.

 

Yes I'd recommend the EBC reds they will be low dust with good bite when cold still. They do handle more heat than the stock pads.
https://www.waymotorworks.com/ebc-re...r50-53-52.html

I've never had good luck with Hawk pads on the MINIs so I don't recommend them, but if you want them we do sell them.
https://www.waymotorworks.com/02-06-...3/brakes/pads/

If you feel you are going to push them harder more often with mountain runs and more AutoX you may want to go to Yellows, or get a more race style Gloc pad or something to swap over to when you do AutoX or Mountain weekends. Having a pad that can do everything is the holy grail and just doesn't exist, but we do try to get as close a possible based on your use.

 

I've been running Hawk HPS pads for well over 10 years/100,000 miles. I originally put them on my car because the OEM pads produce WAY too much dust and the HPS are supposed to be low dusting. I put (plain) Brembo brake rotors with the HPS pads and have been very pleased with their performance in street driving. They give good brake pedal feel and they have never left me wanting for better brake performance.

I have never autocrossed my car so I cannot speak to their performance on the track but for the street driving I do, I am 100% satisfied with their performance and when I needed new pads a few months ago, I put exactly the same setup - Brembo rotors with Hawk HPS pads.

I am looking forward to the same combination on my other car as well.

 

Thanks WAY! Yes Reds are looking very tempting, as this is not my track car, so realistically AutoX may only occur once a year with this one. Spirited back road carving is every day though...

Ghost: Do you have white S-lites? How do the HPS treat them dust wise? With my current pads, there's a slight sprinkling of dust after the first run to the store on clean wheels, and they really don't look terribly, noticeably dirty for 2-3 more days after.

As an aside, dust is not my ultimate deciding factor. Low dust is a perk, but dusting is not a deal buster per say.

 

[QUOTE=BlownR53;4495353
Ghost: Do you have white S-lites? How do the HPS treat them dust wise? With my current pads, there's a slight sprinkling of dust after the first run to the store on clean wheels, and they really don't look terribly, noticeably dirty for 2-3 more days after.

As an aside, dust is not my ultimate deciding factor. Low dust is a perk, but dusting is not a deal buster per say.[/QUOTE]

I do have the white S-lites and I am very happy with the low dust from the HPS pads. As you may know, the OEM pads used to turn my wheels black after less than a week of driving. The HPS pads never come close to dirtying my wheels like that, even after a month without a wash - though they are noticeably dirty if I go that long.

At the time I made the switch to HPS pads, I didn't really know about high performance brake pads, I just wanted my wheels to stop getting filthy in mere days. I liked what I read about the HPS pads and decided to give them a try. Over the years since, I've heard all kinds of good things about EBC pads - I don't doubt they're good. It's just, as I said, I don't have a single complaint with my current brake set up, so I just stick to what I'm happy with.