Best street pads.

[cuisinartvette]

Being as I have the Z at home for a week I decided to treat myself and hit some roads tonight...I had a spongy pedal syndrome I solved by finding air in the master last year but I gotta say these pads suck, period and they only have about 1000 miles on them, same with rotors, all new. I suspect they are too hard and create a lot of dust. (Napa Gold/perf friction whatever).

Im looking for a pad that has bite, grabbing power on the street. Dont want to have to heat them up so they work. It stops Ok but IMO substandard considering they are bigger than standard Vette brakes...

Have a set of performance frictions new in the box but Im leery to put them on, had a set of Wagners on the 89 and it literally stopped on a dime.

What do you guys recommend?


Other than that it felt good to get it out and let it breathe a little, 150 came a little faster than I thought it would. Not bad.

[ZR1Vette]

Couple suggestions:
Porterfield R4S street performance pads
EBC Red (ceramic) street performance pads

I run the Porterfields on my C6 (has the Lingenfelter 366 package so it runs a little faster than stock so needed better pads than OEM) and on the Lotus Elise... great bite, low dust and no noise.

I put the EBC Red with EBC sport rotors on the ZR and so far excellent but not enough miles for any real long term comments...
Michael

[tomtom72]

I'm using Raybestos power stops right now as a replacement for the OEM/GM stuff that came with the car, and honestly I don't see much of a difference between the two. I'm guessing that anyone's higher end pads are just about the same except that the Ray's dust more....but in fairness to the OEM pads on stock rotors...the car stopped fine. It stops finer now but I have slotted rotors, bias spring & s/s lines & GS calipers w/ss pistons.

The only thing with the semi-mets is the DUST....jezus!

All the C5 guys I hang with use semi-mets for their HPDE days and they just keep them for the street also & put up with the dust. From speaking with those guys, I bought a set of carbon metallics from performance friction and wanna see how they work. I may yet buy a set of Hawk ceramics to see how they work also....mostly because everyone says they are very low dusting. I have chrome wheels so the dust is a pia if I go to a show by myself it makes the car look bad. When I'm crusin' with my C5 buds the dust is a badge of honor!

[Nick]

I run the Hawk HP's. Seem to work just fine for the street.

Originally Posted by Nick

I run the Hawk HP's. Seem to work just fine for the street.

Just to clarify on Nicks pads. He is running the HPS compund. Avoid the HP+ as it takes to much heat to get a lot of bite in the pad, plus the HP+ pads will chew through rotors and throw dust like it's a party.

[LGAFF]

"Im looking for a pad that has bite, grabbing power on the street"-Cuisinart

-Always Maxis: with stayput protection



Oh, you're talkin brakes, uhhhh...my bad!

LGAFF
92 ZR1
#234

Sorry couldn't resist when I saw the title: "Best Street Pad"

[Nick]

Originally Posted by Jeffvette

Just to clarify on Nicks pads. He is running the HPS compund. Avoid the HP+ as it takes to much heat to get a lot of bite in the pad, plus the HP+ pads will chew through rotors and throw dust like it's a party.

Thanks Jeff. Its my car but I'll be damned if I can remember which brake pads are on there!

[cuisinartvette]

Originally Posted by LGAFF

"Im looking for a pad that has bite, grabbing power on the street"-Cuisinart

-Always Maxis: with stayput protection

Just about peed my damn pants

[gbrtng]

Stay away from Performance Friction's Z-rated ones - they are dirty and no low temp bite. I've used Porterfield R4S on the track and street and they have
moderate low temp bite. My favorites are PF 90 but they are not made anymore.

[ZR WON]

Contrary to the above( ), I like the Performance Friction PFZ Pad... They are great on the street, do well with short spells of heat(autocrossing, NCCC type one timed road course lap), and if you buy them from autozone, have a lifetime warranty. They dust more than stock, but they really suited my driving style. I've run the Porterfield R4S, Hawk HPS, and they are very similar to the PFC. The PFZ is definitely more aggressive, but I didn't find them to have any low temp bite issues. Of the three mentioned above, I think that the R4S has the worst low temp bite. Amazing how opinions are like a**holes, eh??? Not sure if this link will work:

http://www.autozone.com/N,312260/ini...cleSelect4.htm

Hmmmm, it seems Autozone changed their warranty. The PFZ are no longer lifetime, but two years. The PFC are lifetime however. Anyone who tracks their ZR-1 will go through a set of pads in 2 years though..

I've wanted to try the PF 97 or 01 compound for track days, but the ZR-1 is pretty much retired. Quite frankly, the stock Z06 pads/brakes are pretty damned good for factory equipment(using street tires). You go through rotors like candy, but the calipers/pads are leaps and bounds above the C4 J55 brakes. Once I get some Hoosiers, I'll be trying the PF 97 in the Z06 and see how they are.


Brian A.
90 ZR-1
12.09@118
01 Z06
not quite stock