OK, in the vane of the Brake Fluid thread, I am creating this to find the best bang for the buck brake pads. This was prompted by the high prices for R4 pads for the 04 Brembo calipers.
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Brand Compound STI-F STI-R Description
Axis Ultimate $75.00 $41.36 Axxis Ultimate is a kevlar- and ceramic-strengthened compound which offers far and away the best price to performance ratio currently available in a high-performance street pad. Proper bedding procedure is critical to the performance of this pad, but once complete, you can expect truly world-class bite, MOT, minimal rotor and pad wear, and very low noise levels. Dust production is medium-to-high. On front-engine platforms, the Ultimate is excellent for aggressive street and autocross use in the front calipers. It also works very well in the rear, for applications ranging from aggressive street to moderate track use. Ultimate is NOT recommended for use on road courses in front calipers as this can cause uneven pad deposition on rotors as well as resultant vibration. Street and autocross use only. OK for club-level track use in rear calipers.
Cobb Street $175.00 $150.00 Designed for street use, our Street Formula Brake Pads are the best balance of performance pad without excessive noise, brake dust, or rotor wear. A brake pad’s job is to create friction on the brake rotor to help slow the vehicle down, and our Street Formula pad excels when both cold and hot. Well suited for autocross competition and aggressive street driving – they have a very linear torque response to give you the confidence you need to brake later and dive deeper into the corners. When you’re looking for a suitable upgrade over the factory brake pads, look no further than our Street Formula Brake Pad.
Cobb Track $200.00 If you are enjoying your STI at weekend track and driving school events, then we offer our Track Formula Front pad which is much better suited for this use. While the stock Brembo pads are good for the street, they quickly fade on the track. Our Track Formula pad is a compound specifically designed to be a balance between a full street and full race pad. It is actually neither, which makes it perfect for weekend sessions. It won't fade quickly like a street pad, but it won't destroy the rotors in short order like race pads. We only offer the Track Formula for the Front due to the rear brakes typically not getting hot enough during weekend track sessions to warrant a more aggressive pad.
EBC GreenStuff $109.00 $69.00 Designed for premium street driving offering better brake effect at loads and speed. EBC Greenstuff has a high initial brake effect and gives drivers confidence from first application of the brake pedal. There is no such thing as a NO DUST pad. The very nature of how a brake works requires that some dust be generated to avoid rotor vibration (shimmying). The EBC pad creates less dust and dust is more easily washed off than most. All pads create more dust as they are bedding in especially if rotors are worn. Nominal friction coefficient 0.55. For heavier faster cars and vehicles above 200bhp we strongly recommend Redstuff which DOES offer much less dust.
EBC RedStuff Ceramic$121.00 $95.00 Since this material was introduced in late 2003, it has received many positive write ups from performance drivers of faster cars such as the Impreza. You can read some of these write ups and comparisons to other performance materials on www.scoobynet.co.uk and www.subiegal.com. This is a truly impressive fast road pad for repeated heavy braking. It emits far less dust than semi-metallic pads and has been proven to stop a passenger car/sedan/sport compact/hot hatch 13 metres quicker than OEM pads from 100mph/160kph. Features EBC Brake-InTM surface coating which conditions rotor surface and accelerates pad bed-in.Nominal friction coefficient 0.5 with approx. 50% dust reduction compared to other pads.
EBC YellowStuff 1793$130.00 $105.00 Although a full race material and capable of high temperature use with very good wear life, this new formulation sets a new trend in race type brake pad compounds. The “bite” from cold is superb which is uncommon with race materials (normally requiring warm-up) and makes this a pad which can be safely used on the highway as well as on the race track. This new formulation was used by numerous championship race and rally drivers in 2004 and is truly a milestone in brake pad material development. Nominal friction coefficient 0.6 with zero rotor damage and similar dust to original pads.
Ferodo DS2500 $193.50 $99.90 Ferodo DS2500 is a club race pad that can be used on the street and for light track use. This compound produces some noise on the street but retains good cold friction and has an MOT of around 1000 degrees F. It also has 35% less compressibility than competitive products giving it very good pedal feel and modulation characteristics. DS2500 has an average friction level of approximately (0.50) which remains constant at any speed and at any temperature up to 1000
Ferodo DS3000 $277.20 $133.20 Ferodo DS3000 is a full race pad that offers a very high average (0.62) coefficient of friction, flat torque curve, and very good modulation characteristics. DS3000 is a race-only compound, and is NOT to be used on street applications.
Hawk HPS $121.50 $75.60 HPS - High Performance Street disc brake pads are world renowned for increasing stopping power on your street legal vehicle. Increasing the performance of your vehicles braking system is easy when you choose Hawk Performance’s HPS braking compound. This unique Ferro-Carbon formula was developed for street performance using the safety and quality of Aerospace and Motorsports severe-duty friction technology. The High Performance Street compound offers a higher coefficient of friction over stock brake pads and can provide you 20-40% more stopping power and higher resistance to brake fade than most standard replacement pads. Less fade means you’ll have a highly durable brake pad with less brake dust..
Hawk HP+ $160.20 $99.90 Hawk HP Plus is a pad with moderate dust production, moderate rotor wear, high initial bite, high average torque and a similar MOT to Hawk HPS. Great autocross pad.
Hawk HT-10 $162.00 $162.00 Hawk HT-10 is a full race pad that has good modulation and release characteristics, which make it a great race pad for the "weekend warrior." You can expect moderate rotor wear, moderate dust production, a stable torque curve, above-average bite, and an MOT of 1,600°F.
Pagid RS Sport Blue $162.90 $124.20 Pagid RS 4-2-1 (Sport Blue) is a high-performance street compound with good fade characteristics and high cold friction. Although this compound is reasonably expensive, it provides similar friction characteristics to Axxis Ultimate with the exception that it produces slightly less dust. Sport Blue comes with noise-dampening shims to help keep unwanted noise to a minimum.
Porterfield R4S $152.00 $68.00 For high performance and heavy-duty street conditions. Perfect for prolonged everyday street use while also being capable of tolerating the most severe street use without any fade. Rotor friendly of course. The R4-S friction level will give you an impressive increase in stopping ability with very minimum pedal effort. R4-S compound has the absolute lowest noise and dust levels, far below OEM equipment or any other high performance brake material. Good for autocrossing, some drivers' schools, and rallies. The R4-S compound is available for virtually any vehicle sold in the US. We also offer the R4-S in pad sizes for competition type calipers that are used under street driven conditions.
Porterfield R4 $209.00 $100.00 Designed specifically for heavy-duty motorsports. The carbon based semi-metallic R-4 materials allow the pad to absorb tremendous amounts of heat and dissipate it at very even rate. Carbon Kevlar material warms up to race temperature quickly, which is quite helpful during restarts, and when track time is limited. When used with cast iron and steel alloy rotors, the R-4 compound requires minimal bed-in period. Throughout the entire heat range, the carbon kevlar material will give extremely consistent modulation and predictably. This is truly the most rotor friendly racing brake pad material ever. Good for road courses, oval track, rally, vintage racing, autocross, club events or professional racing events.
Project Mu NS $84.00 $74.00 Street Brake Pad with Superior Initial Stopping Power - Developed specifically for the street, NS outperforms any stock brake pads. Reliable in any weather or road conditions, NS gives outstanding initial stopping power which is a prime importance on the street. In addition to reducing brake dust and squeal, NS helps keep rotor wear to a minimum. Applicable Rotor Temp: (F&R) 0 to 400 deg. Celsius
Project Mu B-Force $109.00 $99.00 Economical Street-Type Brake Pad with Superior Initial Stopping Power - With the clear objective to improve overall performance above that of stock brake pads, the street-type brake pad was developed for street use where initial stopping power and resistance to fading is of prime importance. In addition to reducing brake dust and squeal, these long-last pads help keep rotor wear to a minimum. Applicable Rotor Temp: (F&R) 0 to 400 deg. Celsius
Based on this, Axis ultimates probably are the answer for street/autocross, and I think I'm going to have to try the EBC Yellows. I liked the greens, and reds when I used them, so I have to give them a try I think.