lightweight car - best trackday pads

[FNG]

I'm sure it's been done to death but wanted a relevant and up to date opinion.

I have a Sierra based kit car, 570kg and 140bhp or so, geared for 115mph so it won't be braking that hard for that long.

Vented Sierra calipers up front, drum brakes at the rear.

Running R888Rs or A539s depending on road or track, dry track or wet track.

Looking for pad recommendations.

The lack of much braking effort at the rear and no brake bias adjustment means I don't want anything too grabby.

It will do 5x as much road use as track, so anything needing to be heated before they work properly isn't much good.

I'm not in a financial state where £250 pads is ever going to fly.

More looking at standard Ferodo or Pagid which I've heard are very good compared to motor factor specials, or something by EBC, stretching to DS2500 or PBS if they really warrant double the cost and I'm wasting my money with anything less, but my budget is preferably sub £100.

I'm hoping the light weight of the car will be very much in my favour on a budget!

Any strong contenders or don't-go-theres?

[Krikkit]

Just decent quality standard road pads would be more than up to the task by the sounds. You only really need to upgrade in this kind of scenario if you're overheating them, which I assume you won't...

But as a first cheap attempt then yeah I'd go for something like DS2500 or Mintex M1144 which will last pretty well, although they do need a bit of temperature to be at their best. From very cold they're barely distinguishable than standard road pads imho.

Maybe the first port of call would be some temperature indicating stickers on the pads for your next trackday and see how hot it's getting?

[FNG]

Thanks.

I’m not after more braking effort - with a shove I can already lock the fronts - it’s just to ensure I don’t overheat the brakes as the last thing i want and can afford is to waste a 150 quid trackday for the sake of 50 quid of pads.

It’s not the same animal at all but many years ago I did cook a set of pads on a JDM turbo nutter track car and lost half the day sorting it. And they were never the same afterwards either.

I’ve done a bit more reading since and agree that OE Pagid or Ferodo or Brembo pads are probably fine given the cars weight. They’re 35-40 quid a set. Or I can go Mintex M1144 for about 50 quid. I’m erring to Mintex as I’d hope they can cope with a bit more heat than OE, equally part of me wants to try a known quality pad and see how they hold up.

Needless to say brake fluid will be done at the same time so that hopefully won’t be part of any overheating.

[braddo]

FNG said:

Thanks.

... OE Pagid or Ferodo or Brembo pads are probably fine given the cars weight.

I would say so. Weight makes all the difference and pads from a good brand should have no problem. I think it's worth stretching up to say £100 for the sake of those Mintex which I think are popular in Elise and Caterham circles. You probably won't need to change the pads again for another 5 years!

I had an old Caterham for a couple of years and I'm not even sure what pads it had, and standard calipers, but the braking on track was outstanding and never problems with fade (or wear!).

[FNG]

Good feedback, thanks.

It’s entirely possible the pads in the car are a decent spec, but I have my suspicions they’re pretty old as the car hasn’t done many miles and certainly not many trackday miles.

So I’ll probably take a new set along with me to a first trackday and see how the ones in it hold up.

I can get OE spec Brembo or Pagid for £35-40 or M1144 for £45 so I’ll go large and spend the extra tenner

[Krikkit]

1144s can absolutely take a lot of battering, if the price difference is so small then crack on imho