[Shotimes] ceramic brake pads?

[Donald Mallinson]

I had a local repair shop with an owner I trust (racer, 
mechanic) recommend Akebono pads for the 540 that I was 
going to put on a few track days events.  These pads hardly 
make any dust, the wheels were almost perfectly clean after 
two hard track days in a row.

Wear was almost non-existant too.  They are a ceramic pad 
that the Tire Rack does NOT recommend for track days, but I 
have used them for three events now and they perform 
beautifully, and a close inspection reveals no ill effects 
in the pads or disks.

I think Akebono makes a pad for the '96 style stock brakes, 
if so, I think they would be great for track/street use.

Don Mallinson

Leigh Smith wrote:

> Jason,
> I have had both. The Porterfield RTS, Carbotech F, Hawk HPS are high
> performance high friction pads and handle heat very well. Work well for
> street or track. Don't dust too bad at all, especially for hi-perf pads. But
> pricey.
> The ceramics are newer, I run them on the street (on a van), not much dust.
> Not sure how they would tolerate track days, etc. The mfgr's do not
> recommend them for track use. Not sure why. Friction doesn't seem to be
> quite as high as the prior pads, but about "normal". They do handle heat
> very well though. I had a sticking caliper/brake hose on the van, and things
> got almost red-hot, but never had any fade! Even destroyed the pads
> (cracked) & the caliper seals from the heat, & warped the rotors.
> Maybe someone else has tried them in a performance situation.
> Many have tried the Ford pads even on the track and they work well as long
> as you have the 96 brakes.
> The Performance Friction pads work very well too but are dusty.
> Basically as long as you have the bigger brakes, the car is much less
> sensitive or "needy" for the expensive pads.
> Lee
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Hartberger, Jason M. AT3" <hartbejm@roosevelt.navy.mil>
> To: "SHOtimes mailing list (E-mail)" <shotimes@autox.team.net>
> Sent: Thursday, December 23, 2004 3:24 PM
> Subject: [Shotimes] ceramic brake pads?
> 
> 
> 
>>Tire Rack says that "ceramic pads are recommended by the manufacturere etc
>>etc."... is this true? I know the SHOs came with semi-met pads to begin
>>with... should I get ceramic pads? Do they offer any performance
> 
> advantages
> 
>>over composite pads? like the Hawk HPS? I don't know what to do here...
> 
> the
> 
>>ceramic pads seem cheaper but to me they don't seem to be as aggressive...
>>they seem like they'd handle heat better than other pads, though - being
>>ceramic and all - and isn't heat what causes fading mostly? Any inputs? I
>>want a pad that doesn't put out a metric shit-ton of dust (I'm quite
>>flexible with that) but one that handles heat well. What should I go with?
>>
>>Jason
>>
>>Sorry for all the questions... too much time to think.
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