115 replies to this topic

[sford]

Start off slow and work your way up. I had green stuff to start, thought they were ok. Swapped discs and pads to Mintex 1144 at the same time and with no other changes it was a world of improvement. My fast road with occasional track time/hill climb means they warm up quick and last well. You need to be aware that it isn't only the discs and pads but also the fluid that is going to affect your performance. After a bleed with decent new fluid it made a difference to the longevity o the brakes. Since that first bleed, I figured I'd just get it re bled every few thousand miles. It's not expensive and coming up to having a go at bleeding myself will save a bit of cash. I changed to braided lines as well but as the fluid change was at the same time and reading what others have said it probably didn't make a huge difference. Incidentally I still use the 2 channel abs, have run both 17/17 and 16/17 wheels without issue. That said, 4channel an would be on the cards if the car were used more on track but other than broken connectors it hasn't given me too many problems, working in what it was defined for well. Also, think about your tyres. If you are On old bridgestones, no matter what pads you use, if the tyres are suffering then they will lock up easier with your better pads etc. First thing I'd look at is the Camskill deal, discs and pads followed by a good flush and brake bleed. That should see you good, with a view to replacing the pads as to wear them out/feel you need an upgrade. There is no point spending a fortune on race padsiof it is going to be used on the road and you are going to overshoot the end of the driveway on the way to work due to lack of heat.

[Bumblebee]

As I said previously I'm on rs14 and only use them for road,The bite from cold is really good! Which I didn't expect from a track pad

[Acidpopstar]

RS14s have been great for me so far. 3 track days and plenty or road use and hardly touched.

[hughcam]

I have tried the mintex m1155 on my N/A fitted with Nitron NTR's and track wheels (aswell as m1144's and CL5+ in another car) and in my opinion without doubt they are the best pads for fast road and occasional track use. They wear very lightly in comparison to the mintex m1144, leave very little dust in comparison to the carbon lorraine and m1144 and my discs are like new after 8,000 miles and a trackday. The initial bite is quite keen and overall brake force is way up on the lesser m1155. They didnt fade on track either after 15 lap stints. A major plus point for me is that they don't squeal like the more expensive pad options. Camskill are also doing a deal for m1155 front and rear including discs all round for £191.95 inc Vat. http://www.camskill....VX220_SPEEDSTER

[slindborg]

I have tried the mintex m1155 on my N/A fitted with Nitron NTR's and track wheels (aswell as m1144's and CL5+ in another car) and in my opinion without doubt they are the best pads for fast road and occasional track use.

They wear very lightly in comparison to the mintex m1144, leave very little dust in comparison to the carbon lorraine and m1144 and my discs are like new after 8,000 miles and a trackday. The initial bite is quite keen and overall brake force is way up on the lesser m1155. They didnt fade on track either after 15 lap stints.

A major plus point for me is that they don't squeal like the more expensive pad options.

Camskill are also doing a deal for m1155 front and rear including discs all round for £191.95 inc Vat.

http://www.camskill....VX220_SPEEDSTER

Bargain, I paid just over £200+ postage about 4 years ago

[Pidgeon]

Thought this was an interesting review of EBC's offerings for the Elise:-

http://ebcbrakes.com...sd-blade-discs/

Quote about yellows from Gordon Sheddon "About half distance you could feel the pedal get a bit longer and i thought that might be the beginning of the end but to be fair they stabilised and although retardation was slightly reduced, there was very little brake fade except the last couple of laps in the very high speed braking points…"

And about Orange: "With the Yellowstuff I was effective in slowing the car down, but with the Orangestuff I could really change the attitude and balance of the Lotus on the brakes,,, for a a serious track day user or racer this is crucially important.. The pedal stayed firm throughout the run and the limiting factor was tyre grip rather than brake performance.."

Which suggested that EBC can make pads that work in the Elise platform but I can't find Orangestuff's for sale for the vx/elise and I don't know where the blue's will sit.

So you're happy to believe EBC's own website over a neutral opinions? EBC are a triumph of marketing over design and the mere fact they are mentioned on this thread demonstrates how good their marketing machine is (because their pads aren't).

You won't read anything bad about Mintex which are a proper pad. If you're budget conscious you need look no further. I am surprised RS-14s are £230 today, may be worth a call to Performance Braking in Monmouth, they've always given me the best price.

[Dave E]

Performance Friction 01's are an excellent track pad but are expensive and produce a monumental level of dust that WILL eat your wheels.

[oakmere]

I have tried the mintex m1155 on my N/A fitted with Nitron NTR's and track wheels (aswell as m1144's and CL5+ in another car) and in my opinion without doubt they are the best pads for fast road and occasional track use.

They wear very lightly in comparison to the mintex m1144, leave very little dust in comparison to the carbon lorraine and m1144 and my discs are like new after 8,000 miles and a trackday. The initial bite is quite keen and overall brake force is way up on the lesser m1155. They didnt fade on track either after 15 lap stints.

A major plus point for me is that they don't squeal like the more expensive pad options.

Camskill are also doing a deal for m1155 front and rear including discs all round for £191.95 inc Vat.

http://www.camskill....VX220_SPEEDSTER

What is the cold bite like compared to the M1144?

[siztenboots]

I always rate a pad first on its pedal feel, how well it modules on , and how it releases. Highest friction rating does mean less pedal effort, but is not the primary factor for me of choice for a pad.

[Bargi]

I have tried the mintex m1155 on my N/A fitted with Nitron NTR's and track wheels (aswell as m1144's and CL5+ in another car) and in my opinion without doubt they are the best pads for fast road and occasional track use.

They wear very lightly in comparison to the mintex m1144, leave very little dust in comparison to the carbon lorraine and m1144 and my discs are like new after 8,000 miles and a trackday. The initial bite is quite keen and overall brake force is way up on the lesser m1155. They didnt fade on track either after 15 lap stints.

A major plus point for me is that they don't squeal like the more expensive pad options.

Camskill are also doing a deal for m1155 front and rear including discs all round for £191.95 inc Vat.

http://www.camskill....VX220_SPEEDSTER

What is the cold bite like compared to the M1144?

Haven't used 1144s but the thing I found with 1155s was if cold and you really had to jump on them hard or emergency stop at a lowish speed (40ish) they were lacking. Don't get me wrong they did the business for normal braking cold.

[Bargi]

To the OP, while you might be balking at paying £50-100 more you need to consider how long they'll last, especially when you put a few TDs in the equasion. I went through 2 sets of 1155s in a year and with about 8 TDs and this was my first year and car as NA. I did about the same TDs the next year with it SCd and when I swapped out the CL5+s at the time they were hardly half used. If you're paying someone else to fit them its even more compelling. For piece of mind get yourself some good pads and new standard discs at the same time with fluid if you haven't already do recently and then don't worry about it for the next 2 years

[slindborg]

I have tried the mintex m1155 on my N/A fitted with Nitron NTR's and track wheels (aswell as m1144's and CL5+ in another car) and in my opinion without doubt they are the best pads for fast road and occasional track use.

They wear very lightly in comparison to the mintex m1144, leave very little dust in comparison to the carbon lorraine and m1144 and my discs are like new after 8,000 miles and a trackday. The initial bite is quite keen and overall brake force is way up on the lesser m1155. They didnt fade on track either after 15 lap stints.

A major plus point for me is that they don't squeal like the more expensive pad options.

Camskill are also doing a deal for m1155 front and rear including discs all round for £191.95 inc Vat.

http://www.camskill....VX220_SPEEDSTER

What is the cold bite like compared to the M1144?

Haven't used 1144s but the thing I found with 1155s was if cold and you really had to jump on them hard or emergency stop at a lowish speed (40ish) they were lacking. Don't get me wrong they did the business for normal braking cold.

I never found that, nor with the PFB97's either... sure the stopping wasnt 'as good' as when they were warm/hot but they were in no way lacking the ability to outdo OEM braking requirements from cold.

[siztenboots]

When I first got mine, it had SBS Pro Track, another carbon ceramic pad option that I never had problems with, same company as Pagid. Just beware that with many of these pads, as the pads thickness gets to less than 50% wear rate increases very quickly.

[SteveA]

I always got fade on my RC5+ pads, after two hot laps the braking G's were reduced by an average of 20%. They didn't degrade from that point on but it always gave me less force than I wanted so I never felt I could leave my braking any later. I will be testing PF01's on track soon and will post up the data.

Edited by SteveA, 19 March 2013 - 10:28 AM.

[siztenboots]

odd, I felt the opposite, just got better the more of a beating I gave them. Sure its not a fluid related problem ?

[Dave E]

I also found the RC5+ tailed of after a few laps which is why I changed to the PF's

[Boombang]

What is your mix of road vs track driving, and what tyres/suspension do you run?

Tyres are 888's, suspension is Nitron Street series.

I always hope to do more track days than I do but total mileage will be around 3k per year and (hopefully) 3-4 track days... I'm also considering swapping pads for track/road use but would prefer something that does both.

For your application I would never suggest a race pad, not anything sintered. Go 1155s and you have one setup that does everything. The camskills deals are nigh on unbeatable.

[hughcam]

I have tried the mintex m1155 on my N/A fitted with Nitron NTR's and track wheels (aswell as m1144's and CL5+ in another car) and in my opinion without doubt they are the best pads for fast road and occasional track use.

They wear very lightly in comparison to the mintex m1144, leave very little dust in comparison to the carbon lorraine and m1144 and my discs are like new after 8,000 miles and a trackday. The initial bite is quite keen and overall brake force is way up on the lesser m1155. They didnt fade on track either after 15 lap stints.

A major plus point for me is that they don't squeal like the more expensive pad options.

Camskill are also doing a deal for m1155 front and rear including discs all round for £191.95 inc Vat.

http://www.camskill....VX220_SPEEDSTER

What is the cold bite like compared to the M1144?

I honestly find the cold bite (first application) to be way above the oem pad and equal to the m1144. After the first 1 or 2 dabs of the pedal the bite is quite keen but not overwhelming. They are head and shoulders power and feel wise above m1144 for fast road up to quick trackday pace.

Obviously if your driving a 250 bhp plus car you may want some more initial bite for the faster corner entries ( the m1155 would still be perfectly adequate beyod this level IMO) but the trade off of the expensive pads is increased wear on discs, loads of corrosive dust and super irritating squeal.

[SteveA]

odd, I felt the opposite, just got better the more of a beating I gave them. Sure its not a fluid related problem ?

I use Halford Racing Fluid which has one of the highest boiling points of any brake fluid in its category and change it every 4th trackday.

It honestly didn't feel that bad but the data showed a 20% retardation in force.

[Captain Vimes]

Thanks for all your feedback - it's really useful, especially that some pads get mixed reviews (step forward 1155 and CL5+). While some are consistently rubbish (Yellows). I think the only pad that consistently gets praise is the Pagid RS14. They also seem to get praise for lasting the distance so should work out economical(?) in the long term - at least that's what I'll tell Lady Vimes ;-) Any more tips on best place to source them? At the moment, EliseParts looks well priced.


For those that mentioned discs/fluid - I already have some blank pagid discs from ECP and some Motul RBF600 fluid - which I will flush annually.


I'm still intruiged by the EBC Bluestuff and dropped a quick e-mail to EBC for their comments on this thread and to ask if they were willing to supply a set of pads for evaluation purposes. Here's the response:-

Hi

I suspect most of the problems people have had is only putting them in the front and then they don’t work well with other compounds in the back
You then get inconsistent braking and poor performance

Yellow were good enough to win the Lotus Elise racing championship with Rob Boston last year although on occasions he did use blue front yellow rear not what we would recommend but he liked it

You should not be concerned about some crumbling around the edges that’s how the pad works and the surface may be pitted not a problem

Interesting to note that someone said our pads are not good on lighter cars

Championship wins in FF1600 FF2000 lightweight single seaters
Championship win in hot hatch Suzuki swift
90+ drivers in the MX5 Championship and championship overall wins 5 out of the last 6 years

Silverstone driving experience use yellow on all their cars including the exige
All at odds with the lighter car info from the forum

No one should use green on track it is a road only pad as is red

Regards