Track day brake pads. What’s the current favourite?

[Megaflow]

Some back ground first, I bought a cat N Fiesta ST last year for track days, it was a bit of a risk because the service history was lost when it went through the salvage auction. But I got it home gave it a though inspection to find it had been service only 10k miles ago and had nearly new standard Pagid discs and pads on it. I thought I might as well use them before upgrading them. Four days later and they are still going strong, but haven’t got much more left.

I used to track day and sprit. A Westfield a few years ago, in that I ran EBC Greenstuff, which were utter ste, a lump of wood would have more stopping power and feel, and then Mintex M1144 which I really liked.

But the M1144 has been around a while now, surely there must be something better on the market. What is the latest hot ticket in track day pads?

TIA

[tomkingshott]

I run my fiesta st on track and daily and i'm currently running PBS pro race pads up front with pumaspeed j hook discs on. The rear i'm also running the j hook discs and standard ford pads just carry a spare set as they're cheap. I do have a set of EPC RP-X for up front if i want a bit more bite.

I previously had standard ford discs and DS2500 front and rear and this set up is a lot more track focused. The noise from high speeds isn't great with the discs but it's not a huge issue to me. There is alot less brake fade on this set up too the standard discs started to get a bit too warm and spongy for my liking

[phazed]

tomkingshott said:

I previously had standard ford discs and DS2500 front and rear and this set up is a lot more track focused. The noise from high speeds isn't great with the discs but it's not a huge issue to me. There is alot less brake fade on this set up too the standard discs started to get a bit too warm and spongy for my liking

I have run these on TVR's for years and this last year on my Octy vRS.

Never, ever any fade but will echo the weird noise when really hot, (say after 15 mins of hard use on track) from high speed.

That aside, great on the road as well.

Reasonably priced at Cambridge Motorsports. https://cambridgemotorsport.com

[tomkingshott]

phazed said:

I have run these on TVR's for years and this last year on my Octy vRS.

Never, ever any fade but will echo the weird noise when really hot, (say after 15 mins of hard use on track) from high speed.

That aside, great on the road as well.

Reasonably priced at Cambridge Motorsports. https://cambridgemotorsport.com

yeah i worded that badly actually. i meant the noise with the new discs and pads. the standard pads with ds2500 were next to silent apart from the odd squeaking at low temps but it really was minimal

[iguana]

Nothing mentioned so far is a track pad really, tho I got on fine with 1144 as a rear pad, usually Rs29 or I think it's rst 29 now, or on a smaller budget Ds1.11 are the faves, are other faves depending on application, tons of other manufacturers, Endless, Carbon Lorraine, Hawk, or if you can fit them the ex btcc raybestos or Project Mu, the later ones part used tho , are big money new

Edited by iguana on Friday 24th December 18:31

[loggyboy]

When i was just trackdaying i kept it cheap and simple. A Decent brand of disk (usually Brembo HC) and my pad of choice was the OE spec Mintex. Used to stick a new set on a few weeks or month or 2 before each TD and that would usually do the day and a few k miles after (sometimes less). But at under £20 i didnt care if they died the day after the TD. Never let me down performance wise (once id added some cooling ducts) But even before they only overheated once and it was down to it being a very hot day and car being double driven.
However when I switched to racing I used the general norm in the series of Carbon Lorraine RC6 (or 5s if they are more available). A 6 times jump in price and I wouldn't want to waste them on the road but God Damn they stop well!

[1781cc]

Can’t go wrong with DS1.1 IMO, reliable, consistent pedal feel and last a good while on the car. When I ran them in the 987 brembos I had on the car before I’d get about 8 days before replacing

[Oilchange]

Yes, DS1.11 or Uno. I run DSUno and they bite hard, don’t fade and last a long time. Perfect for my use and they come in many sizes and while they’re not cheap they won’t break the bank.
I use DS3000 (which are harsh but work well when warmed up) on the rear because its one of the few sizes they haven’t got Uno in, annoyingly.

[nickfrog]

Really pleased with DS1. 11 too on a relatively heavy car.

[E-bmw]

DS1.11 or RS29 for me also, DS1.11 are preferred, nothing in it price wise & either will last a year with enough meat left on to keep as emergency spares.

[Turn7]

I ran 1144 in my Fury and liked them a lot.

I have a set to put in the Caterham for next season.

The Cat crowd seem to favour ds2500/pagid/1144 overall......

[Kswap]

Been using PBS Prorace the last year. I’ve got a different brake set up for next year. I got some EBC Bluestuff that someone was selling new for pennies so I’ll break the new setup in with them. I’ll go Carbon Lorraine RC5+ after.
I use Pagid blanks for discs. £9.75 a pair from Euros lol.

[Throttlebody]

EBC blue on the rear and either EBC RP1 or RPX on the front.

Ideal for the Fiesta ST. Great combo. Do a Google for the reviews.

[Krikkit]

I have mintex standard discs and M1144s in my ST150 with the fogs and arch liners out to help with cooling, been absolutely fantastic so far and only half worn after 3 days on track.

I think a lot of pad choices boil down to how well sized the brakes are (and hence what mu you're after) for your car and how much cooling you can do.

[White-Noise]

Ive got ds2500 in the golf which I've really enjoyed on a ring trip but that is about it.

On the clio I ran ds1.11 front and ds2500 rear which I really really loved and they took as much punishment as I could give them. I then fitted pbs Pro race recently to replace the ds1.11 and I've had a major vibration issue since, I've got a set of new discs to go on (I did replace with pads) so I hope that somehow I warped them (!?). Then I'll see if they suit me but they're far cheaper than the ds1.11 but I kind of wish I stuck with what worked...

[Megaflow]

Thank you folks. Looks like DS1.11 is the way to go.

[Cambs_Stuart]

I've been using performance carbon 097 in my clio. 6 trackdays (and one evening session) plus a few thousand road miles and they're not half worn. Stopping power is fantastic and i've not managed to over heat them once.
They are a bit noisy when cold though.

[carl_w]

loggyboy said:

However when I switched to racing I used the general norm in the series of Carbon Lorraine RC6 (or 5s if they are more available). A 6 times jump in price and I wouldn't want to waste them on the road but God Damn they stop well!

CL RC6 are great on the track, very progressive if you've got track day tyres and work well from cold too. On road tyres I find them a bit "grabby", and of course they wear out the discs as quickly as the pads. I found Pagid RS29 good on the Z4M on track but a bit too squeally for everyday use.

[Ben Lowden]

I ran CL RC5+ on my Megane 250 and they were brilliant but had an appetite for discs. I've switched to DS UNO now for my 275 although they also destroyed my front discs albeit I think they were at the end of their life anyway. Great stopping power (until the discs warped) so will be interesting to see how I get on with them this year with a fresh set of discs.

I think this comparison table really helpful for understanding the Ferodo range.

[M.F.D]

Ben Lowden said:

I ran CL RC5+ on my Megane 250 and they were brilliant but had an appetite for discs. I've switched to DS UNO now for my 275 although they also destroyed my front discs albeit I think they were at the end of their life anyway. Great stopping power (until the discs warped) so will be interesting to see how I get on with them this year with a fresh set of discs.

I think this comparison table really helpful for understanding the Ferodo range.

Also used Carbon Lorraine RC5+ on my Megane 250 Cup. Ran plain Brembo discs, braided lines and RBF 660 fluid. Was an excellent set up on the stock 4pots and lasted well too.