Brake pad review thread.


Kipper

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 27, 2008
Messages
2,163
Hi guys, I think this is a common one but was thinking it could be a good idea to have a thread with all the brake pads used by EK9.org members and their thoughts to help others (like me) who want to try something different. There are numerous reviews on the internet I know, but not as many specifically aimed at the EK9/DC2's due to their lighter weights etc... than a lot of models. I know for example people have shocking experience of EBC redstuff on their EK9's but have saw more positive comments on heavier models.

I'll start:

Manufacturer: EBC
Model/Type:Yellowstuff
Car and model:Civic EK4 SiR
Use (Track/street?):Mainly track
Price:£80.00
Supplier/Distributor: EBC Brakes UK.

Thoughts and comments (cold bite, durability, noise, dust, fade resistance etc...):

Not a particularly great cold bite for performance pad but came to life on track with some heat in them and didn't fade on me once and the track I use you can reach 120mph, the fluid bolied on me before the pads faded. Lasted just about 3 track days and 500miles road use which was quite good IMO. Overall Good friction on track, relatively low dust and noise perfect for the people relatively new to the track and use their cars on the road too. Not quite the bite of DS2500 but great value for money none-the-less.
 
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My experience with Yellowstuff is the same. It kept working wonderfully when driving my DC2 on the Nordschleiffe. I don't really feel that the cold bite is a problem. Maybe it's not optimal but it certainly is more than sufficient imho.
 
Great idea for this thread, am looking to see what people think about the SpoonSports pads, hugely expensive but are they worth it?
 
Yellow stuff would be poor except for the cost. Half the price of some others. They are a bit wooly for feel but do take the heat and stop pretty consistantly. Im actually a fan of them.

Ds2500 on my ek seem pretty good, a bit less wooly but presumably more expensive. Were also good on my skyline. Ds3000 work great on friend's mazda rx7 and have done a whole season of time attack.

Have used Cl5+, Cl6, Mintex 1144, pagid 4-2 on my old 930kg vx. The 1144 werent really up to track work. The rest were excellent pads but over 100quid a set..well over in some cases.
 
Manufacturer: Ferodo
Model/Type: DS2500
Car and model:Civic EK4 SiR
Use (Track/street?):Mainly track
Price:£110.00
Supplier/Distributor: JJC.

Thoughts and comments (cold bite, durability, noise, dust, fade resistance etc...):

Had a great bite from cold, considerably better than the yellows and the bite when warm had much improved the yellows, If I'm honest I think they had an adverse effect on the EK4 SiR ABS system, sometimes I would stamp on the brake pedal and it would just go hard and not brake at all, I had to lift my foot off and try again a bit more lightly, had they too much friction for the ABS ECU to cope with I'm wondering? Never faded the track day with great feeling throughout although I maybe felt a bit more compression in the pad towards the end of each session, could be a number of variables though. However I don't think they dealt with the track day too well on the drive home, they built up loads of deposits on the disc/pad which left juddering, also were half worn+ after 1 day and 120 miles road use, I honestly think the compound was a bit "soft" for what I'm after and I don't think I'll run them on the front again, quite a lot of dust and no noticeable extra noise. £110.00 for brake judders on the way home and half worn after about an hour on track, I don't think I'll use them again even with their great braking capabilities, They don't have the durability IMO.

I'm tempted to run CL RC5+ and something pretty sticky on the rear next to get some extra rear bias, My new teg is 98 spec with no ABS and it's running endless pads all round at the mo (came from japan with them) and some hard braking with a slight turn gives the rear a lovely turn in with the sharp bite on the rear, love it!

Anyone tried stoptech, hawk hp+, Tar ox corsa? Be interested to hear some reviews on these.
 
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Manufacturer- Hawk
Type- Hp+
Car- EG8 civic
Use- Street
Price-$80 if I recall (fronts)

I used these after fading cheap pads on a back road. They are made for dual use- street and light track such as autocross. The pedal feel is very stiff, and the initial bite is tremendous. This is a very abrasive pad and is very high dust. It wears your rotors pretty quickly. I loved the performance of this pad, I couldn't really fade them on the street. Even after a bed in procedure at high temps where you can smell them, the pads didn't fall off much. The biggest issue on the street to me wasn't the dust, but the noise. They squeak at gentle stopping speeds. Everyone thinks you need new brakes and won't hesitate to tell you.

Manufacturer- Stoptech
Type- Street Perfomance
Car- DB8 Integra
Use- Street
Price-$60 +/- (fronts)

You could call these a Hawk Hp+ "lite". For the street they were perfect. They wouldn't fade, made less dust than Hp+, and best off all, made no squeak noises. They didn't have quite the initial bite of the Hp+, but close. I highly recommend them for street users, especially after not hearing any good things about Hawks street pad, the HPS.

Manufacturer- EBC
Type- Greenstuff
Car- EK hatch
Use- Street
Price- I forget

Had these in 07' and not sure if the pad formula has since changed. These are a street pad. They didn't squeak or make much dust. They also had low initial bite. I didn't like the pedal feel either, a bit mushy. I do not recommend them at all. I've had $15 parts store pads that I liked better.
 
Good reviews, thanks for the info Dino, I was so close to going HP+ this time all round but the noise reports really put me off and I plan to use the car a fair bit over summer.

Ordered some SARD Racing pads instead :p. I'll update this once I've tried them at the 'ring.
 
Great idea for this thread, am looking to see what people think about the SpoonSports pads, hugely expensive but are they worth it?

I've had a set and there like an endurance compound not much bite hot or cold but kind to disks and last a long time.
Only up side is spoon points, I sold mine
 
I found the Yellowstuff on my EP91 (similar setup/weight to the EK9) very poor unless they were hot.
When they were hot, they were fine.

Best pads I've used are Dixcel, but that was some years ago on my DC2R
 
Manufacturer: Project MU
Model/Type: HC+
Car and model: Civic EK4 with ep3 brake setup
Use: track focused haven't changed pad yet from when was daily as well Supplier/Distributor: JP Racing <info@jpracing.it>

absolutely awesome pad honestly I don't even really consider another brand when it comes to pads anymore has OK cold bite like it starts proper braking within a mile of driving then as the discs get hotter and hotter the pads get better and better I've never managed to feel the slightest bit of fade with these and the pad life is incredible as well I've done many trackdays with this pad and never had any irregular wear or anything like that just slow steady pad wearing away. The only thing that could possibly put you off this pad (apart from cost) is that it can be squeaky when used everyday Project MU sell these as a street/trackday pad but I would say it's a pretty hardcore street mod but if you've a lot of power that need stopping then these would be well worth it
 
Manufacturer: Endless
Model/Type: ME20 Circuit/Rally compound
Car and model: '99 DC2 Non ABS model
Use: Nurburgring/Road use
Supplier/Distributor: RHD Japan
Price: £150.00-180.00

Thoughts and comments (cold bite, durability, noise, dust, fade resistance etc...):

Fantastic bite from cold, the best I have ever experienced from a brake pad alone and it steadily gets stronger as they get hotter. After 4-5 laps of the ring and about 2k miles they still look like new.

They are quite noisy and the noise increases as they get hotter, on the road anyway. I would rate the dust level 7/10, 10 being extremely dusty, I expected them to be worse to be honest. You can hear the sound of the metallic compound meeting the disc, I quite like it to be honest. I put new blueprint discs on with these and they caused horrible vibrations around the ring with some heat in them, I would not recommend these pads with OEM type brake discs. I also think some slotted ones would benefit the pads to maintain a smooth contact area.

Overall all, I will be buying these again without a doubt, going to look at getting some for the rear. Oh and if you don't have ABS, beware as you could find yourself locking up very easily, I think with me having a high grade endless pad already on the rear helps balance the brake bias.
 
Good thread mate :nice:, should be great to have one for camshafts :secret:

Manufacturer: Ferodo
Model/Type: Racing DS3000
Car and model: Civic EG6
Use: Street/Track
Supplier/Distributor: Circuit Supplies
Price: ~£160 (I can't remember exactly)


Pros:

Good bite in cold conditions for a race pad;
Awesome braking power at high speeds;
Very good fade resistance;

Cons:

Loads of dust, very hard to clean from the wheels;
Sometimes noisy (specialy in hot days);
Brake disc killer (2 sets of disk brakes for a set of pads);


My favorite pad, sometimes you have to do a couple of hard brakes just to clean the disk to prevent brake judder.



Manufacturer: CL brakes
Model/Type: RC6
Car and model: Civic EP3
Use: Street/Track
Supplier/Distributor: Fortuna Moto
Price: ~£180 (I can't remember exactly)


Pros:

Good bite in cold conditions for a race pad;
Good braking power at high speeds (not so good as the DS3000);
Very good fade resistance;

Cons:

Less dust then DS3000 but can turn your wheel black after a hard day;
Very very noisy look's like a train;



Manufacturer: Project MU
Model/Type: Type NR
Car and model: Civic EG6
Use: Street/Track
Supplier/Distributor: VTEC direct
Price: ~£180 (I can't remember exactly)


Pros:

Awesome bite in cold conditions, quite amazing;
Good compromise in dust/performance;
Not noisy;

Cons:

Not so good at high speed's;
Brake judder at high temps;

In performance they are quite amazing in the initial bite but in this field end's here. Not very fan of this set of pads.
 
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Manufacturer: Endless
Model/Type: ME20 Circuit/Rally compound
Car and model: '99 DC2 Non ABS model
Use: Nurburgring/Road use
Supplier/Distributor: RHD Japan
Price: £150.00-180.00

Thoughts and comments (cold bite, durability, noise, dust, fade resistance etc...):

Fantastic bite from cold, the best I have ever experienced from a brake pad alone and it steadily gets stronger as they get hotter. After 4-5 laps of the ring and about 2k miles they still look like new.

They are quite noisy and the noise increases as they get hotter, on the road anyway. I would rate the dust level 7/10, 10 being extremely dusty, I expected them to be worse to be honest. You can hear the sound of the metallic compound meeting the disc, I quite like it to be honest. I put new blueprint discs on with these and they caused horrible vibrations around the ring with some heat in them, I would not recommend these pads with OEM type brake discs. I also think some slotted ones would benefit the pads to maintain a smooth contact area.

Overall all, I will be buying these again without a doubt, going to look at getting some for the rear. Oh and if you don't have ABS, beware as you could find yourself locking up very easily, I think with me having a high grade endless pad already on the rear helps balance the brake bias.



Hey
want to buy a set @ rhdjapan (http://www.rhdjapan.com/endless-circuit-compound-brake-pads-cc33-cc38-cc40-cc43-cc60.html)

you mean the CC40 (ME20) ?? because @ the rhdjapan page they said only c33 and cc38 fits @ EK9/ITR ???

a littlebit confused
 
Guys, don't just stick to one supplier ;) I can get you most things.
I've been running Yellows, DS2500s, DS3000s and currently running CL RC6 and that's both the performance and cost order as well :D
 
Manufacturer: Buddyclub
Model/Type: notsure?
Car and model:Civic Ej6 h22a7
Use (Track/street?):Street
Price:£80.00
Supplier/Distributor: Buddyclub uk

Not really amazing on the road as they seem to fade quite quickly, but used them on 2 tracks in an ek9 and they perfomed really well. Better on track than road.

Going to try stoptechs next, which are meant to be good on the street but not so good on track.
 
Manufacturer: OEM (Nissin?), Ferodo, EBC, Brembo, PFC.
Model/Type: Stock, DS2500, Yelloustuff, Sport2000, Notsure.
Car and model:Civic EK4+B18C JDM+DC2 Brakes
Use (Track/street?):Street/Track
Price:From £80 to £140
Supplier/Distributor: Shop

I've tried more o less 5 set of different brands on my EK4 after got DC2's brake. First one, obviously were oem. Not enough of course. Second one Ferodo DS2500: good bite in cold but suffer immediately when hot. Then, EBC Yellow. Really better than Ferodo overall, especially when hot! Great durability, not noisy and not aggressive to the discs. After finished those, I've decided to get Brembo Sport2000. WORST PADS I'VE EVER TRIED!!! Lower than oem, terrible bite when cold and worst when hot!! Now I got PFC (don't remember model) They say are "ready racing" compound and I trust them because beyond good bite when cold, works better as they get hotter!!
 
Manufacturer: Performance Brake Solutions (PBS)
Model/Type: Pro-race
Car and model:Civic EP3
Use (Track/street?):Track & Street
Price:£109.00
Supplier/Distributor: PBS, Rival Motorsport, Area Motorsport

Thoughts and comments (cold bite, durability, noise, dust, fade resistance etc...):

Not a particularly great cold bite which is expected for a pad rated up to 800 degrees C, Covered 3 trackdays and about 3000 road miles and still had some life left in them. They can be noisy when just using them day to day but some abuse on track sorts this out, not as audible as CL for example. I would compare them to DS2500's in terms of dust, Very high resistance to fade on track coupled with Motul RBF600, Completed a 30min session at Cadwell with no issues. Overall I highly recommend these pads even disregarding price, They can withstand consistently hard braking and take the punishment, However I have used much better pads for 7am commutes to work. Also stamped 'Civic Cup' - So they are a serious pad design wise. I have just ordered another set which now have new backing plate hooks to help pad and backing plate adhesion, The new backing plate design was introduced in Jan-17.
 
Manufacturer: Genuine Honda Oem
Model/Type: Honda Oem
Car and model: EK9
Use (Track/street?): Track
Price: Cheap
Supplier/Distributor: Honda

Done 3 track sessions with 3 hours on each session, cant fault them. Excellant bite, braking force straight from the go, no fade after constant hard braking, no hicups, not a single problem, loads of life left in them. Cheap and effective, wouldnt swap them for anything else.
Ek9 has standard brakes, standard pads, goodridge brake lines all round, typ200 fluid, brake stopper, 15" Slips, ad08r 205 50 15.
 
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