New owner. Brakes question

[john milner]

Purchased from Camskill in 2013. Unlikely to be fake.

Purchased in the first place because I needed new pads and Mintex 1144 was the clear winner based on comments here.

I gave up on them after a caliper seized which I suspect may have been caused by an ingress of dust. No evidence apart from there being a lot of dust.

Later I started to think about what an insurance company might have to say about driving on the road with pads that need to be taken to a quiet stretch of road for a heavy braking session before they worked. Then I started to look at type approvals and equivalency and why such rules exist. From there you get into the world of unknowns, untested and balance.

Due to the weight of anecdotal evidence I think it is likely that Mintex 1144 pads do improve our cars braking performance but there are enough downsides for me to avoid them.

One thing still does puzzle me though. If these pads are so good why do Caterham not fit them by default? Surely it should be 1144 or better as it would only add about £20-£30 to each car.

[ptr_drvr]

John, I feel like you're missing the point of the bedding in procedure. Having used a variety of track-focussed pads before, the bedding in procedure is not design to enable the brake pad to work - meaning the effectiveness of the pad is binary: It does not work, then once bedded in - it does. Rather, the procedure is there to provide a rapid bed-in procedure for a brake pad that is likely to be used in an aggressive application - read: spirited driving or track or even race use.

For a "normal" brake pad - one that is not expected to be pushed hard from the get go - a rapid bed in procedure is not required as considered road driving for the first hundred miles of use will be appropriate. 

The rapid bed in procedure only serves to prevent issues with the pad if used aggressively from brand new, so when one phones up their insurance to tell them about a brake pad upgrade, the conversation will be something more like:

"Hello Mr Insurer. I have upgraded my brake pads and will drive as considerately as I always do on the public road, but now know that my stopping distances have been reduced. Any problem with this?"

[Gridgway]

One thing not yet mentioned.  Back in my 1600SS days, I really didn't like my brakes,felt wooly and lacking in bite.

I discovered that there are brake pedals with two different ratios.  I had the longer leverage one where the pedal went further for the same amount of brake rod movement if that makes sense?  I change for the shorter levereage one which was harder to press and firmer, but gave a much more reassuring feel and "cured" my problem which was a bit the same.  HTH

[DW199]

Later I started to think about what an insurance company might have to say about driving on the road with pads that need to be taken to a quiet stretch of road for a heavy braking session before they worked.

It is worth noting that the current Mintex advice for 1144 pads for road use does not require a "heavy braking session".  

To optimise the braking performance of your new M1144 performance road brake pads you must allow for a ‘bedding in’ process as the new brake pad friction material has to condition its self with the brake discs on your vehicle. Generally in normal driving conditions the M1144 pads will require approximately 200 miles to become fully conditioned. During this period we recommend that you avoid hard or aggressive braking. Note: Excessive brake during the bedding period can cause the friction material to overheat resulting in glazing of the pad face and effect the overall braking performance. If your vehicle is not used on public highways then please see our Racing bedding procedure.

[The Shermanator.]

Thanks again to all for some really useful feedback. Plenty to think about it seems. But Mintex 1144's sound like a great choice. 

Cheers all.

[Geoff Brown]

Believe it or not ten years & 24000 mile later I am still running the original FERODO front pads in the four pot calipers.

They perform well when I need them. Fitted 1144 M-Series to rear when the diff was out. They appear to perform well with not too much dust.

I know that there is an issue with fitting the 1144 MDB1287 but we will not go there.......

[BigCol]

john milner said If these pads are so good why do Caterham not fit them by default?

My car failed its IVA (even after being thoroughly tested and any issues corrected by Caterham in the PBC   ) due to my rear brakes locking-up ahead of the fronts and Caterham sent me a set of the more-aggressive 1144s for my retest.

[GulfSeven]

I found that Mintex 1144 produced an unbearable amount of dust when I had my Elise, so used EBC Yellowstuff (I took it on track a fair bit).

Out of interest, what are the standard pads that Caterham fit on new cars now?