Rear brake pads, Any to recommend.

[716cuo]

Hi, My quattro 2.0's rear pads are very low and will need changing soon, I would like a set that don't produce a lot of dust as the current one's produce more dust than the front, I was thinking about EBC Green stuff, But has any one used these and do they produce less brake dust? Or can anyone recommend a different brand? thanks Darren

[Brycie]

Have a gander at this thread:

Brake Pads and Brake Dust (http://www.vwaudiforum.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?139419-Brake-Pads-and-Brake-Dust&highlight=green+brakes)

[Guest 2]

and this one too Pads need replacing - would anybody recommend Pagid? (http://www.vwaudiforum.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?141085-Pads-need-replacing-would-anybody-recommend-Pagid&highlight=pagid) ;)

[716cuo]

thanks for the links, looks like I will go with EBC then, going on the brake dust produced, I wouldn't fit cheap pads anyway.

[Crasher]

Febi or Pagid for normal use, EBC are good for heavier duty use.

[716cuo]

Okay, thanks for info.

[Brycie]

Febi or Pagid for normal use, EBC are good for heavier duty use.

Do you mean suited to those of us who don't spare the horses & often brake heavy & late, or do you mean really heavy use, e.g track days?

[Brycie]

I know it's a little old now, this thread, but hopefully still of use to anyone considering ebc pads. I was about to make the decision to go for ebc red stuff pads, despite the extra cost, but I've done some reading on ebc & some forums suggest that ebc are extremely hard on brake discs, to the extent that you'll almost go through a set of discs with every set of their pads. That may be a slight exaggeration, but if they are very hard on discs, this has put me off & I'm going to stick with Pagid instead. Food for thought anyway. You can buy an awful lot of wheel cleaner for the price of a set of discs, if their lower dust generation is steering you towards ebc.

[zollaf]

pointless using ebc redstuffs for normal road use, on the back of an audi. a tvr maybe, not an audi. they are for very fast or track use. green stuff are for fast road, but you don't really need them on the back. i run greens on the front of mine due to lots of twisty lanes and even though its an old tdi, i do drive it hard. yes i can get glowy red discs :) and no, they don't wear discs out any quicker than normal pads. i run the ebc turbo discs and got through 5 sets of pads before they needed replacing. ok only 2 were ebc pads, the others were ferodo's fast road pads, but they don't feel as nice as the ebc's.

[Brycie]

I thought the red stuff would be better suited to a car as heavy as the A6, . It's fronts I'm looking for at the minute.

I also drive around twisty country roads & don't spare the horses, and often get up to very high speed on motorways in the barge that is the A6. At one appointment in the Forest Of Bowland I arrived at recently, the smell of hot brakes was overpowering when I got out of the car. Funny enough it was the next day that my brake pad warning flashed up.

Now I'm undecided again if you reckon it's cobblers that ebc eat brake pads.

[zollaf]

there are lots of pads and discs out there. i like the ebc ones myself, but thats just what i like, i also like avon tyres ?? but really, ebc turbo discs with green stuff pads and you can't go far wrong for spirited driving. for the rear i would just fit standards, no need for anything better as they are only doing a small proportion of the braking.

[Crasher]

Red Stuff WAY WAY too serious for road use on the front never mind back! You need to get them cooking to work and on the back you have to drive your A6 like a loon all the time to do that, it is not going to work. Even Green Stuff on the front can be disconcerting to get used to, they feel terribly dull when cold and come alive with some heat. Personally I just stick to Pagid, they are perfect for normal road use. Even then, more than likely the discs will not be serviceable for another set of pads, these days it is unusual to just replace the pads. One reason for this is customers who freak out when they get the car back as the pads take time to bed in, it is just not worth the stress.

[Brycie]

I looked it up on ebcbrakeshop.co.uk & was going for the red stuff because their overview stated that greenstuffs were for light vehicles & perfect for hothatches. I've now investigated further & when you do their vehicle checker, you're right, they recommend greenstuffs.

[Brycie]

So you're saying that ebc DO in your opinion eat discs more than something like Pagid?

In my case, my warning has just come on for the fronts, so I guess I have maybe 5mm left on them? I do give the car some welly on twisty roads, brake late quite often & it is a heavy car. So I want something that's the best I can get for a car that's driven hard & is heavy. Don't want to shell out for new discs every time I replace the pads though.

I do understand the bedding in process & would expect them to be spongey for the first hundred or so miles, so I wouldn't be worried by that & would take it easy during that period. Not sure I really want to have to focus on getting heat into the brakes every time I go out either.

Don't know what to do now. My instinct is to only give my car the best. I only use premium fuel, premium oil & premium tyres (2 New Dunlop Sport SP01 went on 2 weeks ago) & despite my gearbox being sealed for life, I've had the oil changed in that too, so if I know there are better brakes out there, I naturally want them. Decisions decisions.

[zollaf]

yes, the greens do feel a bit dull until they have warmed up, but when on a twisty country road, that happens pretty soon. when cooled back down on a longer drive they still feel ok, just takes a little more effort. when i do drive a car with normal brakes, they soon get too hot for comfort which has never happened with the greens. all ebc pads come ready to use though, no bedding in required, other than to the shape of the disc if its worn, and they have a layer of disc conditioning material on them , rather like glass paper, to clean the disc. i used to fit ebc all the time until my factor had a falling out with the rep and went to ferodo.

[Crasher]

All modern pads eat discs more than they used to due to their Asbestos free compound. Also, to achieve a long service life, pad material is much thicker than it used to be, double in some cases so if once you did two sets of pads to one disc you now get one to one. I have just come to accept that you always do both now and I no longer get pedal feel or squealing complaints from customers and complaints are THE last thing I want. When you fit new pads to old discs you need to know the minimum thickness, usually stamped on the disc but it corrodes away, and then measure the disc in a couple of areas. If the disc is at or just above minimum that is no good, you have to anticipate where the discs will be when the new pads are 75% ish worn and often that will be way below minimum, it is just too much aggravation. I have had, well am having, a customer feedback problem with some EBC Greens we fitted a few weeks ago. We put a Hi Spec big disc and caliper conversion onto a Golf 2 16v and rebuilt the backs, re-using his 38-mm Golf 4 calipers. When I road tested it the pedal felt long and dull but I assumed it would firm up and become more responsive as the surfaces bedded in to each other and when the pads got hot but he did not like it at all, most unimpressed. We have recovered it back (bloody miles away!) and have done a 24-mm master cylinder conversion and it feels better but I have a feeling the front pads are making it feel, well, dull. We even fitted a pair of brand new TRW rear Golf 4 calipers as the bleed nipple threads failed, as usual!

[neilos100]

I thought the red stuff would be better suited to a car as heavy as the A6, . It's fronts I'm looking for at the minute.

I also drive around twisty country roads & don't spare the horses, and often get up to very high speed on motorways in the barge that is the A6. At one appointment in the Forest Of Bowland I arrived at recently, the smell of hot brakes was overpowering when I got out of the car. Funny enough it was the next day that my brake pad warning flashed up.

Now I'm undecided again if you reckon it's cobblers that ebc eat brake pads.

Hi Paul....

Get the redstuff pads...they are excellent. I have them on the front mated to Ebc's Ultimax discs. Have had them for around 35-40k miles so far and there is plenty of life left in the discs and the pads...should get at least another 35k from the pads. Discs are not showing only minimal wear. I have not experienced any issue with them needing to warm up..press the pedal and you stop (very quickly!) ...simples. Ill use them again and when the time comes to replace the rear pads redstuff pads will be used.

Hope that helps,

Neil

[Brycie]

Thanks Neil. The redstuffs are only recommended for >200bhp cars according to their site & mine is only remapped to 178bhp, so I thought they'd be a waste on my car.

Good to have personal experience of these though & another consideration.

I didn't know that about modern pads crasher. If all of them are now the same, in terms of disc-wear, then I can forget cost & just focus on safety, which is the most important factor anyway.

So Zoll, you wouldn't worry if you needed your brakes 2 miles from home while your brakes are still cold?

[zollaf]

oh god no, even from cold mine feel fine, just not as good as they do when hot. they will still lock up from cold on a dry road easily enough (switchable ABS). they also make a lovely whining noise , but they are a performance brake disc/pad and not for comfort or minimal noise.
on another subject, i recently fitted new rear discs to the back of a minibus. its been looked after by the council for the last 8 years and i have just taken it over. i knew the rear discs and pads needed doing, but was gobsmacked when i actually measured them. they are 30mm thick new and can go down to 25mm. i measured 21 at the thinnest, and less than 1mm on one of the pads.

[Brycie]

I hope it didn't carry kids! And local councils have the audacity to lecture other businesses about health & safety?

Thanks for the response on the cold pads Zoll.

[zollaf]

carry kids, oh yes, and adults , even my mum. its a local community transport thingy. i look after all their buses, they have 5 of them and they are all rather well maintained,, even if i say so myself. i have just taken this one over , the council owned it and have just given it to them, i gave it a service and the bill was £1500 to get it fit for use , as far as i am concerned...