Forget EBC, crucial exhausts are the big thing this year

Rotor cracks just depend on the particulars. If it has lots of little surface cracks, that's from heat cycling & aggressive pads and is fairly normal. Something to keep an eye on, but perfectly useable. Cracks that are longer or deeper than the typical surface stuff mean it's now an expensive paperweight. Kinda one of those "I'll know it when I see it" deals, like porn. :)

Now I get it! Thanks for relating rotor wear to something I can understand!:lol:

No problem, I figured everyone on this board would understand those terms. :lol:

I'm going to ceramic-coat my wheels and tires, should be good for like 50hp at the wheels :p

*ducks*

Back to brakes.

You guys suck.

Just busting your balls :p
My car makes 103whp, it's not like I'm talking shit ;)

Is my sig too big? ;)

Which pad would you choose for a dedicated winter pad ? no autocrossing, no track days, no driving over 75 mph. Just a good pad that works great when its very cold out (-10 C) . I'll take brake dust , and a lack of high temp use as trade offs, or what ever the trade offs might be. Most of the roads going to the ski resorts have speed limits of 55 mph, and lot of tourists who may and will stop with no warning for just about anything.

Cobb Street ?
Pagid RS Sport Blue ? Seems expensive but the RS Sport blue specifically mentions that it has high friction under colder tempatures.

Alex, I know you live in Tahoe, but I would still run the same pad in the winter as you run at AutoX. Track pads actually aren't very good for AutoX since they don't work too well when cold.

The R4-S's may not be best since, on 9*F mornings this winter, they would be a little slippery on the first stop. No biggie as long as you are ready for it though.

Probably no pad is going to bite on the first revolution or two if there is any humidity because of condensation, frost, etc.

This is really a tough question. I would be tempted to post something in the the Northeast region portion of nasioc, or I-club. Is there a Canada section?

I'd suggest the EBC Greens, but don't want to be struck down... :)

Maybe Scott, or Kevin can ask their Stoptech sources.

Did you have any problems with the OEM pads this winter Alex?

I love Axxis Deluxe Plus for regular driving, but I emailed to see if they are any better in the cold than our typical autocross pads.

I'll consider staying with the stock pads , or something like the Greens during winter, as the earlist i'll worry about winter pads will be november.

I'm just thinking that say in 30,000 miles of driving I will go through more then 1 set of pads. Considering autocrossing, + daily driving in the mountains,so that means I have to buy more then 1 set. Let's say 3 sets of brake pads. I may spend exactly the same over time (given enough time owning my car). either buying 3 sets of a good all around pad, OR i could buy 2 sets of summer use pads, and 1 set of winter street only pads.

Could be i'll sell my car before then, or the costs of pads won't add up as i'm guessing they might. But that's my silly little plan (currently).

Well, you're pretty much limited to anecdotal reviews on the forums for cold friction. Stoptech says that the manufacturers don't provide that info, and in fact provide as little as possible of any kind. So I'd look for reviews by Sti owners of individual pads and see if others agree. In the meantime, I'd plan on swapping pads for track, autocross, and street. It'll save you money in the long run anyway.

Remember that when swapping pads, you have to bed them in properly to get a transfer layer of the new pad material on the rotor. That means you'll actually be putting quite a bit more wear on the rotor and pads every time you swap than if you just pick a pad and go with it.

Sounds like i need to rethink my pad plans.

I'll anecodtal you!

Wait, what?

Until you beocme hard core track whore, don't sweat it. The stockers should get you through your first School as long as they are >50% and you bleed/flush before you go.

As long as you can bear some noise, we should be able to find a winter/street/autocross pad, then a track pad if you get into it. When that happens, you might end up with a track/autocross/street, and a street/winter. I haven't pulled the Stoptech Club specs (Basically porterfield R4 pads) out since I put them in. They are noisy, and suck when cold, but I know that and am willing to live with it. I proably wouldn't if it was my daily driver.

If you want to avoid rebedding, just have 2 sets of rotors, and 2 sets of pads... only probably takes 5 or so minutes per corner to do both instead of just pads.

Oh, and you are unlikely to need more than one type of rear pads. A set of decent street pads (R4-S, HP+, Greens, etc.) should work for all conditions until you get wicked fast at the track...

My anecdotal $.02-

For street, and at the risk of repeating myself, I love the Axxis Deluxe Plus. Quiet, clean, and don't feel mushy. They have decent cold friction too, or at least, I don't remember wishing I had better cold pads the winter before last. That was on my RS, which had a similar pad area/curb weight ratio to an STi. I have a set in the garage for the Miata that will go in on monday, although I may actually throw the fronts in on saturday afternoon to shift some bias to the rear. The Miata has extremely front biased brakes for some reason.

For track and autocross, I used a single pad because my RS and now the Miata don't reach high speeds. The best I used out of 3 pads were the Stoptech Club Spec. Dusty, but not excessively noisy, and had good cold bite (in the spring/summer/fall) for autocross. I could not come close to fading them, even at RFR and Buttonwillow. However, Scott had them during the winter in his Stoptechs, and they sucked ass when it was cold outside, so they would be mid-summer/auto-x/track only for you.
I also did track days on the OE Subaru 4 pot pads, and they were actually a *very* good all-around pad. Minor dust, no noise, and held up at the track- but I only drove them once or twice at speed and that was at Thunder Hill, which isn't very hard on brakes. The other pad I used for competition was the Ultimate, and I actually didn't really care for it. The initial bite at autocross ws less than the Club Spec pads, and the dust drove me crazy.

Dean, good call on second set of rotors for track pads. I might have to grab a set myself.

http://www.wrxfanatics.com/index.php...5&#entry636373

Any trufe to such a statement?

That's quite a claim, given that Carbotech doesn't manufacture pads- they reshape pucks from someone else.

While I have been unable to find anything but heresay, it is my understanding that Carbotech uses Hawk materials in their pads. I think HPS= Bocat, HP+ = Panther, etc... Buy whichever is cheaper if you want tat compound.

As far as compatibility, I wouldn't count on it.

I'm doubtful too. Valhakar is the only one I've ever seen saying that. I checked Carbotech's FAQ section and didn't see anything about it.