Brake pads... again

[skydragon]

I recently serviced the brakes on my seven, by removing the old 'green stuff' pads the previous owner had fitted (front and rear) and fitting Mintex 1144 pads on the front, with CC blue spot pads on the rear, as well fitting as new front discs and new brake fluid. (the car has standard calipers all round). I've driven approx 200 miles since the change. (The new discs were cleaned/abraded before fitting and the brake system is bled fully)

 

It may be me starting to drive the car harder, but I'm not that impressed by the new braking performance. It's ok, but I'm fairly sure the old 'green stuff' pads had better bite and were more efficient (may memory may be playing tricks on my though). The other thing I've changed is the tyres, where to comply with MSA regs I've had to swap from Yoko AO48's to Yoko A539's. This will obviously affect the braking, but I'd presumed it would just make it easier to lock a wheel up rather than make the car feel 'slower' to brake hard.

 

I'm going to be using the car mainly for hillclimbs, so I'm looking for a setup that will really brake hard from cold (when needed) more than one that will take a lot of heat over a long time (although ideally I'd like both qualities...).

 

Should I give the Mintex 1144's more chance... or do I need to consider something better (Pagid RS14 or RS15?). Or am I in need of a caliper upgrade?

 

The season starts soon and ideally I don't want to be messing around changing things later in the year.

 

Views/advice welcome.

[Pezky]

Did you follow the bedding in instructions with the new Mintex pads? I assume it must make a difference as they want you to do it.

I cannot lock up my front wheels either (running Yoko A021's) and M1144 pads on standard calipers.

If you want to upgrade, look at HiSpec brake calipers as they fit on standard discs

 

Jonathan

[skydragon]

Did you follow the bedding in instructions with the new Mintex pads?

 

Yep, and they've had some fairly aggressive track use since, so they should be fairly well bedded in.

 

I'm not saying the current setup is totally naff, but I'm ideally looking for something that will brake hard and is capable of locking the fronts up when provoked to do so.

 

look at HiSpec brake calipers

 

Just done a search and can't find much on these for front calipers. Has anyone any feedback on these? Good/bad

[Revin Kevin]

Hi all,

If you can't lock your front brakes with M1144 and Ao21r tyres with standard calipers then I suggest you have an issue with the braking system somewhere else, I would even go as far as saying would this pass an MOT. I run the above set up and without trying too hard (read being an idiot) the fronts will lock at speeds well over 60 MPH. I have done a fair amount of back to back testing with different disks' and pad material and for fast road use I have ended up back at M1144's with standard disks for effcient and cost effective set up.

 

Cheers

Chris

[skydragon]

(I can't speak for Q102) but i'm not saying that I can't lock up the fronts up on my car with the current setup, but that it would take a significant amount of pedal pressure to do so. I'm fairly sure the green stuff pads were better in this respect and the 1144's 'seem' like a bit of a step backwards (to repeat though, this may just be my memory).

 

is capable of locking the fronts up when provoked to do so.

 

When I wrote this I meant that I'd rather have a brake setup where I can brake hard with moderate pedal pressure. That's what I'm trying to achieve. At my last sprint/trackday I did manage to lock a front wheel up a few times when trying really hard, but I was having to fairly stand on the brakes to do so. Mayby I'm just being lazy and I need to develop my leg muscles more

 

My current setup is OK for fast road use, but I'm not sure it's optised yet for track/Hillclimb usage?

 

 

Edited by - skydragon on 30 Mar 2009 10:27:44

[taffyracer]

if you're looking for a pad that works really well from cold then i really don't think you'll find better than Pagid RS29, i've ran them for years on many road cars, i ran them in my GT3 cup car and on sat changed my 7 to them, they are just superb, expensive but they last and last and have great bite from cold and also when hot, a real do it all have your cake and eat it type pad

 

http://www.xlraceparts.com

[tweeky]

sorry to hijack this thread but what is the bedding in procedure for the mintex 1144 brake pads I never got anything with mine, good job there not fitted as yet !!

 

 

Tweeky

 

In a purple haze