Brake pads

[Hangie]

Hi,

Most probably I'll need to replace my front pads in the following months. Does anyone got any recommendations what to buy ?

I was thinking about EBC Redstuff ones. I never used them but got greenstuff in my previous Accord and I was happy with them.

Thanks

[NemesisUK]

Any reason you're not contemplating Lexus pads?

[Guest]

I'll be fitting red stuff to mine when the time comes. Reason - price of lexus pads.

Sent from my STV100-4 using Tapatalk

[Tinonline]

Call Lexus Birmingham and ask for a discount I got mine for £65 but the biggest saving was the discs. All In was £195 and try getting that quality for that?

[Tinonline]

So how much are the Redstuff pads?

[Hangie]

£65 is not bad price. As far I know stock price is closer to £90-100 area. Price it self is not a problem but fact you are paying almost £100 for standard (are they made by Textar ?) pads is :)

Redstuff got even a little bit bigger price tag of £100-110 but they are ceramic pads. As per EBC site

- + 20-25% performance gain

- quiet

- almost no dust

- gentle on the disc 

 

2 disadvantages are when it is very cold (way lower than UK cold) they might need a while to get to the max performance plus heat transition is a little bit lower than in metallic pads but we got quite big disc in GS and I'm not going to use car for any track days etc. Probably due to heat characteristic they are not recommended for trucks and SUV.

[Ala Larj]

What about wear rate? Do they last as long as standard pads? I like the idea of less dust more than anything!

[Hangie]

Website is saying that life time is good so I assume yes, but I haven't used them before. Here is the website with all the details: https://ebcbrakes.com/product/redstuff-brake-pads/

Plus it is the UK company so buying them you can support the local economy ;)

[Ala Larj]

Interesting. Am also wondering whether it will prevent the slight juddering I mentioned in a previous post: 

 

[XT5]

When I bought my GS450h front discs & pads, Lexus Birmingham were selling them from their eBay shop for £175 delivered. I told my local Lexus main dealer parts manager the Birmingham price but said I'd rather buy from him so he did them for £170, collected from from the local dealer.

This was earlier this year I think, maybe the end of last year.

Just my opinion, but I'd much rather have the real thing rather than aftermarket stuff.

Always worth asking, you've everything to gain and nothing to lose!

[LexusLarry]

I had EBC Yellow's on my 2006 GS300 when I bought it last year and they are amazing, very grippy cold and hot. I've tried Lexus and Pagid pads before but these are by far the best so I've just ordered replacements as they are now due along with EBC discs but they only really reason I got EBC discs was for the black coating to you don't see any rust.

[simonman]

I agree.  Yellow stuff are amazing pads.  I'm getting yellow stuff next.

[i-s]

My experiences...

I've messed with different pads and discs in the past. My first experience of third-party parts were Black Diamond - like Larry, I liked the idea that the black coating would look smarter than regular rust finish on the bell and edge of the disc - the truth is that they rusted like any other disc anyway, before suffering serious cementite issues. The pads crumbled (chunks of pad material fell away), and I had to junk the whole lot. This was on my mitsubishi galant. I replaced with EBC greenstuff which were awful - no bite at all from cold (yes, I know that's an expected characteristic of higher performance pads, but they didn't display any higher performance than any other pad I'd tried on that car) and terrible dusting. 

On my Accord I had mintex pads and discs and these were great on that car.

On the Volvo I got genuine volvo discs at a good price, and based on my prior experience with the accord I bought similar mintex pads. This was a mistake - the pads had been great on the ~1450kg Accord, but the 1860kg Volvo was a different matter - the pads couldn't cope with the weight. They never developed the level of friction required and would glaze easily (but still had 8mm on the front pads after 40000 miles). 

The point I'm trying to make is that different pads will introduce different behaviour - it might be more to your taste,  but it might also be less so. If it is less so then saving a few quid wasn't worthwhile because now you'll be thinking of changing them again which will cost you more. 

Another point to please consider - this really affects my Leaf, and I surmise that it will to some extent effect the GS also. Hybrids and electric cars use the friction brakes much less than other cars due to the use of regen. That means the brakes stay cooler most of the time and so the cold bite of pads becomes more important. Putting a pad that needs some heat in it to work well (EBC rate redstuff as similar cold bite to their orange race pads) could be a very bad idea - or at least lead to an unpleasant and disconcerting driving experience. 

So far I've not seen any third party manufacturer come up with a compound optimised for EV and hybrid vehicles - it would be a very soft pad with low metallic content. It would generate lots of dust (but on the plus side the dust would be much less aggressive and more easily cleaned than high-metallic pads) and have a relatively short wear life (but one that would be acceptable given the lower duty of brakes on hybrid/ev), but provide strong braking from cold when needed. 

As it is, the vehicle manufacturers have some sway to develop the compound as appropriate to the characteristics of the vehicle, and I'm inclined to stick with it. 

[simonman]

DONT WRITE OFF THE EBC BRAND BECAUSE OF THE GREEN STUFF PADS, THE YELLOW STUFF PADS WORK FROM COLD AND CAN SCRUB OFF SO MUCH SPEED IN A VERY SHORT DISTANCE.  GIVE IT A SECOND CHANCE 🙂

[Britprius]

I use the EBC black stuff pads on my GS450H. I find that they suit the hybrid well in all respects producing little in the way of dust, and do not ware the discs like some of the harder metallic compound pads.

John.

[Tinonline]

I've done my rounds of brakes.

Disaster with Pagid set-up on the front of my Renault Laguna - couldn't get them to stop squealing. I was selling the vehicle anyway so off it went.

Textar on 1979 Porsche 911 Targa & BMW 635csi - good braking & wear.

Mintex on Jaguar 4ltr S type. Squeaked a bit as they bedded in but are really excellent in terms of braking & wear. 

brembo on XKR - brembo calipers on the Jags are poor quality - the alloy expands and blows to such an extent you either replace them or have to file down replacement pads to fit.

Stops so quickly...in an emergency you'd probably collect a line of rear end shunts as you stop but nobody else behind you can! I was wary of hard breaking at junctions...

Lexus discs and pads on front - Mk4 LS400 - perfect. 

I've got a full set of brembo pads to go on my 1995 Alfa Romeo 155 Sport - it's a L/H drive out in Spain. That's a whole story on its own.🙂