What brake pads are best?

[Stevec33]

What brake pads are the best reccomended by forum users? Ive currently got some trw ones which were reccomended by my specialist but i think there rubbish, the bite and power is poor imo and they fade after only moderate amounts of hard braking and the pedal goes to mush.
Are aftermarket ones the way to go? Or genuine ones the best? The car is only used on the road but i want something that works well and dosent fade. Ive searched but cant really find a definite answer. Cheers

[RIV]

Ferrado DS2500

[KernowPete]

I've been using EBC Yellowstuff. At the time I fitted them they were getting some fairly rave reviews but since then opinion seems to have become much more split. My own experience with them hasn't been that great - I can't see any improvement over OEM apart from being quite a bit cheaper but they were an absolute pig to fit. I'll be due for a change soon and most likely going back to OEM.

[Wavey Dynamicist]

I got Ferodo DS2500.. Can't fault them..

My OEM ones were on the last legs when i bought they car so i can't do a direct comparison but feel is lovely, bite is good and i've done two track days and the fluid went before i got fade on both occasions..

I think i got mine for £270 all in, about the same price as OEM from what i remember.. One concern for me was the hardness of the pad and disc wear but the wear seems perfectly reasonable for me.. Would recommend.

[Stevec33]

Im not a fan of the ebc pads, had yellow stuff pads in a couple of previous cars and dont rate them at all. Was thinking ferrodo or performance friction may be the way to go but was unsure if there is any advantage over oem

[Iain_S4]

I currently have EBC Yellowstuff pads but can't say that there is anything about them that would make me recommend them over OEM. Going to try Ferodo DS2500 next.

Avoid the cheap Pagid pads that are supposedly the same as the OEM ones but without the Audi branding. They're not the same. Lots of other threads on here regarding that,

I've been using EBC Yellowstuff. ...... they were an absolute pig to fit

What was the issue, mine went in ok?

[AndyC160]

Anyone tried ferrodo premiere's?

[lengster1]

Ds2500 were no better than standard IMO,ebc I tried in a cooper s were tosh and never bothered with since,seem a bit rip speed stylee IMO,OE discs n pads are best combo I've found.

[lengster1]

If any pads were a pig to fit you will have corrosion of the alloy caliper under the stainless steel guide plates.

[guy]

Anyone tried ferrodo premiere's?

Yep, and very happy with them!

[Iain_S4]

If any pads were a pig to fit you will have corrosion of the alloy caliper under the stainless steel guide plates.

+1

I don't know what success others have had removing the button head cap screws to clean below the plates. They are a 3mm allen key so just round out. I resorted to scraping below them which probably didn't do the paint any favours and in turn the corrosion.

Its at the stage now that I needed to get the plates out so I could paint below the calipers. Ideally I could just take the calipers off and send them away but I don't have access to another vehicle while its off the road. Anyway I've had a go at it recently and manged to get all 6 screws out on one caliper and 4 on the other by hammering a T20 torx impact socket into the head.

http://www.teng.co.uk/catalogsearch/result/?q=MTD06T20

Unfortunately for the 2 screws that are still stuck, one has a snapped off drill bit in the middle of it and the other a snapped off torx bit (not the impact one) inside a hole drilled down the middle of the screw Waiting on tools to finish the job.

Once the screws are out I've replaced them with the following which should be more resistant to rounding out . . . and used copper grease on the threads.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00J ... UTF8&psc=1

[iluvmercs]

I have been using Pagid RS4-2s up front and recently added Mintex to the rear, as recommend by Unit20 as a good OEM alternative. OEM discs at the back, with LOBA discs up front. Before this though, I matched the Pagids with the OEM discs.

Pagid are very good and kick off much less brake dust than OEM, costing about the same. They take track punishment very well, but do have a habit of causing build up on the disc. Very happy with them, although for experimentation I am tempted to try the Ferrodo pads next.
They seem to have lasted longer than the OEMs too, despite similar usage.

Currently happy with the Mintex rears. Again, took track work very well, although most of the braking is done up front of course! Not sure of long term wear as they have only been on a month or so.

Darren

[R1RS4]

If any pads were a pig to fit you will have corrosion of the alloy caliper under the stainless steel guide plates.

+1

I don't know what success others have had removing the button head cap screws to clean below the plates. They are a 3mm allen key so just round out. I resorted to scraping below them which probably didn't do the paint any favours and in turn the corrosion.

Its at the stage now that I needed to get the plates out so I could paint below the calipers. Ideally I could just take the calipers off and send them away but I don't have access to another vehicle while its off the road. Anyway I've had a go at it recently and manged to get all 6 screws out on one caliper and 4 on the other by hammering a T20 torx impact socket into the head.

http://www.teng.co.uk/catalogsearch/result/?q=MTD06T20

Unfortunately for the 2 screws that are still stuck, one has a snapped off drill bit in the middle of it and the other a snapped off torx bit (not the impact one) inside a hole drilled down the middle of the screw Waiting on tools to finish the job.

Once the screws are out I've replaced them with the following which should be more resistant to rounding out . . . and used copper grease on the threads.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00J ... UTF8&psc=1

I had to do all this on mine, I had restricted movement on the front pads

So I removed the single screws and bent the plates forward, cleaned out all the corrosion then coated heavily in copper slip and folded the plates back and re tapped the fold back in position and pads work fine now

This was after spending two weeks drilling out 8 of the 10 spacer lug bolts 14 x 1.25mm threads

I am changing my front pads to Hawk fast road pads over the next week or so as they are supposed to be low dust fall out, very quite in operation and better than OEM for stopping, will report back on my findings

Fed up with the current dust fallout on the front wheels