M3hunter

On my last day at the track my stock brembo brakes faded, probably because overheating. What do you recommend me to prevent this?
Ferodo is a great recommendation. What about Carbotech pads?

M3hunter

Sam, which brake fluid do you recommend?

Sam Strano

The Ferodo's are AWESOME pads. The only time I've ever had the peep is after beating the hell out of them on track, and then it's still less than some pads out of the box. And that noise is always down to just crap building up in the slot anyway. Knock that out and no noise again.

Sam Strano

That's like asking "what about a Ford", there are many different pads compounds, etc. Frankly Carbotech seem to work ok, but are nothing special. I can't run them all, and really have no reason to carry them because I'm very pleased with the lines of pads I have (and use myself). There is always some other option out there, just like there are other cars, other women, other houses, etc. If you like what you have, chasing others doesn't make a lot of sense.

As for fluid. I have a lot of brands. The BEST is Castrol SRF. Amazing stuff for fade, pedal feel. I have race cars run a whole season with only bleeds here and there. It's not cheap, but remember that a bottle of it is 1 liter vs. 1 pint like most fluids... such as Motul RBF600 which is probably the most recommended fluid I have.

M3hunter

Interesting, Which is better for street & ocassional track: Hawk HPS , Carbotech 1521 or Ferodo DS2500?

Sam Strano

Let's just say this. Every car I own that there are Ferodo's for, I use them. They are great pads. If you drive them normally they act normal, you might even forget you have killer pads because they aren't all nasty and irritable on the street.

I had them on my 2011 GT/Brembo car. I had them on my 2013 Scion FR-S. I have them on my 2000 Corvette right now (the other two cars are gone). I do NOT have them on my 2007 C6 Z06 because they don't make them, or I would.

Ooops, ok I lied. I don't have them on one car I could, my 1993 BMW 325is winter beater that I paid $1400 for, and lives at all times on Blizzak's and well I don't need those kind of pads on that car.

I put 22k miles on the pads on my Scion. I ran them all winter (pre-dating the BMW beater), I drove them to CA and back the long way. I ran 4 or 5 track days on them. They always worked, even when it was -15F, the rotors were beautiful, and always are on every set I've used. Same on the Mustang and Corvette.

I've tried lots of other pads. There are cheaper pads, I know that. But sometimes you just have to pay for what works. I've only had one guy not love them (and he did not hate them, but he wanted a more on/off pad and didn't care about noise and dirt).

Carbotech max rates those @ 800F, and says in no uncertain terms it's not a track pad. HPS are NOT track pads. Ferodo's are marketed at a track day pad. Now admittedly it's better on a lighter car than heavier one, and I'm going to remind you that ultimately you should be on a more use specific pad if you are going to track much or very hard. But if you are looking for a compromise, this is the one, the DS2500

M3hunter

Thanks Sam, I trust entirely your suggestions, is very good that you also try your own products at the track, so that talks very good of you. All the products that I bought from you improved the way that my car handles, no regreets:

*KONI shocks (the most important improvement: to replace our crap stock shocks that affect badly the way our cars handle & felt on the road).

*STEEDA Sport springs that really helped the package plus looking much better.

*Your adjustable sway bars, that help me fine tune my 5.0 handling.
Thanks Sam!!

Sam Strano

I'm glad you are pleased with the recommendations and the products. I try hard to make sure folks get what they need (even if it's not what they think they want, I'm a terrible salesman in that regard).

I do think you'd like the Ferodo's, they rock. Are they enough for the track work you do? Only one way to find out.