My inidicator light came on today that I must replace brake pads [at 21,000 miles]. Any suggestions about the best pads to use with my stock calipers and rotors?

I recommend Brembo drilled rotors, ferodo DS2500 brake pads and Motul RBF600.

This in my opinion, is just as good as it gets,
for better you will have to get a Brembo Big Brake Kit.

I've read lots of praise for the EBC Greenstuff pads, especially with stock rotors and calipers. They greatly reduce the amount of brake dust, which means you don't have to clean your wheels as often...

He didn't ask about buying rotors & fluid . . . I read a lot about green stuff pads . . . I've also had good experience with Mintex redbox on my Audis, & far, far, less brake dust.

Hawk HPS - a great street pad.

Vince

Besides the best replacement pads, which replacement pads allow you to continue to use the wear sensors?

EBC Geen stuff have the slots for wear sensors.
Frozen plain rotors work for me.

I've heard good things about Mintex redbox, i.e. less dust, better stopping, no greenstuff "squeal". I dunno about sensor slots, but I'm thinking about getting them.

Best pads for what?

low dust?

cheap?

track use?

2nd vote for the Hawk pads.

I have the Mintex redbox and they are great for the street. Much less dust than stock. They seem to work fine for auto-x as well.

Great street pad!

Alex

Here’s my general summary of STREET brake pad performance, from what I can glean from all of the message boards (and EVERYONE has an opinion), books, vendor websites and manufacturer websites.

I have not driven with all of these pads and it is not a comprehensive list- this is just my general impression of the majority of the pads

Stock: LOTS of dust - Good performance - Fair fade resistance - $30/axel
Redbox: Some dust - Good performance - Good fade resistance - $40/axel
Hawk Ceramic: Low dust - Good performance - Better fade resistance - $70/axel
EBC Green: Low dust - Better performance - Better/Best fade resistance - $80/axel
(15-25% more bite than stock when cold)
EBC Yellow: Low dust? - Best performance? - Best fade resistance? - $90/axel
(only one place sells ‘em that I could find – I couldn’t find any comments or reviews on MINIs)
Hawk HPS: Some dust - Best performance - Best fade resistance - $90/axel
(25-50% more bite than stock when cold)

I’m not having any real trouble keeping my webspokes clean (the benefits of grey wheels and no children so I can wash every week , so I decided to go for performance and chose the Hawk HPS pads. The fronts had a slot for the wear sensor, but the rear pads didn't, so I zip-tied the rear sensor to an out of the way location.

What is fade resistance?

When the brakes slow the car down, heat is generated. When the brake pads get hot they become less effective. This is called "fade".

You probably will never encounter it doing any legal on-street driving.

If you are in serious mountain terrain and do not engine brake going downhill (put the transmission in a low gear), you might be able to overheat the brakes.

Where it becomes a problem is on the race track.

A pad that is more "fade resistant" will still slow the car down as the brakes get really hot. At extremes, this is at the expense of the brake pads not stopping the car well when they are cold (like after cruising down the highway for long time and getting to the end of the exit ramp).

Yeah, the free ones you will get when you bring it to your MINI dealer. At 21,000, you're still covered under free maintenance.

I'd take the free ones as well. The sensor they will have to replace, alone, is $25. You might even need rotors ($80 x 4). Let MINI do the free work and give your brake system a good looking over in the process. Upgrade later if you want to, but get the parts and service for free, first, if you can. You could always upgrade the next day and sell the stock rotors/pads on eBay or here!

What's the best pair of shoes you own??

There isn't one.

There are only the 'best pads for your intended use' or expecations.

Street, road racing, wear, dust, cost all come into play. Low temp use, high temps, how much bite each offers....

All depends on what you're looking for...

The best I have had so far for my application (daily driving, autocrossing, DE's) have been Cobalt GTS pads... they're noisy on the street because they never fully reach their optimum temp range (unless you're hauling the mail through the twisties) and dust like heck, but offer the best initial bite, superior performance, and fade resistance I have found among all the test subjects (OEM, Mintex RedBox, Ferodo 2500's). They're also cheap. I love 'em. I do get funny looks from people at stoplights and stop signs, though, as they believe I am on the wear indicators...

Believe it or not, with the solid caliper bushings and cheapie brake ducts I had fitted the OEM pads were second best... That goes for daily driving, autocrossing and track days...

Thanks for all the info. I guess fade is something I need not worry about since I do no track time All I want is to replace my pads with some that stop 100% as good as the OEM's w/out all the dust.

For that case, I'd be thinking about the Mintex Redbox ($80 for all 4 wheels at Outmotoring: http://outmotoring.com/mintex_redbox_brake_pads.html) or the EBC Greenstuff for a bit less dust and probably more bite, but a bit more cost ($165 for all 4 wheels at Moss: http://www.mossmini.com/Shop/ViewPro...eIndexID=34834)

By far the best street pad I've ever used is Axxis Ultimate. Low dust, no noise, and good stopping power.

Hawk makes a great pad as well but HPS or HP+ might be more aggressive than necessary.

Mintex Red Box are garbage - they trade dust for stopping power. You may as well put a piece of 2x4 in there; total junk. Greenstuffs are OK but nothing special.

Let me say that the #1 most important factor for me is stopping power (normal street driving stopping power). I want less dust but I will put up with the dust if that is what it takes to get the good stop. I will just keep using OEM brakes unless there is a pad out there that provides equal or better stop with less dust. I have read so many offsetting negative vs positive comments on the Mintex red & EBC green that I am scared of both of them. I have never heard of the Axxis Ultimate, will have to check them out. Anybody else used them? Do you have to replace rotors to use the Axxis pads?

EBC Greens for over 10K miles, few autox's and some laps at Beaverun race track with no problems.

Had EBC Greens - switched to Hawk HPS - much better for canyon runs and occasional track days