I got my front pads smoking all too easily when doing Nigel's disc conditioning method the other day so I was looking for some uprated pads.

I already have EBC redstuff on the rear and was tempted by the RiceRocketUK Group Buy offer of front Redstuff for £76 or Yellowstuff for £80. I am looking for a very good fast road pad that will stand up to occasional track use. I was tempted by the yellows but a bit afraid they might be ineffective when cold. Has anybody tried the Yellowstuff <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

Pagid Blues are raved about by most owners that have tried them. Probably the best compromise between performance and duration.

My Pagid Group Buy #5 is an ongoing arrangement

You know my view on this mate <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />. Go with Nigel's GB, and you won't regret it <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />!

Phil

The Pagid blues do get great reviews, the trouble is £135 is a lot to spend with Christmas approaching so I am tempted to take an £80 gamble with the yellow EBCs if anyone can recommend them. If not I will get the Pagids in the new year <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I have the Redstuff pads and from cold they are pretty poor, about the same as the standard set up. <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

But get them warm and they are pretty impressive IMHO.

Webbo - nobody will recommend the EBCs - they just simply aren't upto the job

Don't waste £80 - you'll only end up spending another £135 in the new year.

Take a deep breath, stump up the extra £55, in the safe knowledge that you'll be on the pads that 9 out of 10 Coupe owners recommend <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

beg to differ <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> i wholeheartedly reccomend the yellowstuff. they are okay from cold and great when warm. they cannot be compared to the rest of the range which are pants, especially redstuff. i am about to put my money where my mouth is for the second time and getting a second set of discs/pads.

just to say i have no track experience with these pads though

Yellow stuff pads?? I have mintex just now, how do they compare?

Ross

Ross, I guess that is what I am asking in a round-about sort of way <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Damn you Nigel, you are doing a fine job of convincing me to stump the readies for the Pagids, you should get a comission <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

I'm gonna have to disagree with Nigel. (Though I haven't tried the pagids)

I've run with green, red and yellow stuff on the coupe.

The green is fine for standard discs and light use.

The reds are fine for grooved discs and a bit more spirited driving, but not for track use (I destroyed a set in an hour or so)

I now run with yellow stuff and they are brilliant. Work ok when cold (better than standard fiat brick pads) and just get better and better as they warm up.

I've used them on Knockhill (one of the hardest braking circuits in the country), the calipers turned gold and the brand new dot 5.1 fluid boiled, but the pads were absolutely fine <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Well there is a recommendation for ya!!!

Ross

edited to say : what discs do you run Fergie?

Ross

ive got grooved discs and have just bought some mintex extreme xxx pads will fit them during the week bed them in and let you know what they are like

Then how can you disagree ?

I've tried them all from Mintex, EBC and Pagid.

There simply is no comparrison, the Pagids are streets ahead of the others with both pedal feel and braking ability (hot and cold).
Yep they are £55 more expensive but I wouldn't use anything else <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

After reading all the reviews on Pagid blues i went and bought a pair.

Gonna put them on this week.

Looking forward to it

Did you try the yellowstuff Jimbo?

No I had Redstuff, they were poor from cold and slightly better than standard when hot.
Mintex were just poor all round and very noisey as in squealing.
Brembo sport were a good pad with good feel, good grip from cold and good performance when hot but they left loads of dust and didnt last long.
Pagid are easily the best all round, they do squeal on light pedal pressure but the performance is very good from cold and just gets better as they heat up <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I've had redstuff on my old rover. They are rubbish on startup but they were nothing short of amazin once they had heated up. Used them with redstuff discs aswell right enough.

I need new brake discs and pads soon but im unsure of whether or not to get the pagids as im not really a hard breaker.

Ross

If your running a coupe with a higher power output then really the brakes should be uprated to match.
Im using the Pagid discs and pagid pads, never suffered with fade yet.

How are they lasting tho? I'd ask nigel but he changes his brakes more than his underwear.

ross

My opinion of the Pagid blues is a bit mixed. I find the Pagid blues a bit wooden when either cold, wet or both. I'm not a fan I have to say. I'm running them on larger calipers and discs (340x35mm discs on Porsche 996 turbo calipers) though so the effect is amplified as my discs take a lot longer to get hot. I suppose they do still brake well when cold but don't feel great. When hot the bite is pretty good tho.

I wouldn't use them on the track personally either, Pagid Orange is the way to go IMHO.

I was never really happy with the Coupe brakes even with standard power, and no pad can solve the problem that the surface area of the pad or disc isn't big enough for a 300BHP+ car let alone a 400BHP+ ones.

Webbo. I've tried Mintex 1155's, 1144's, and pagid blues.

The best all round pad out of that lot is the 1155's (I did find they squeal - but the pagids rumble.) Much better from cold than the pagids. the 1144's are the best road pad of the bunch - but they do fade when pushed.

i've tracked the car on 1155's and they certainly do the job - but when the pagids have heated up they are the clear winner, and by a long way. I ran the pagids at silverstone, and they did not smoke at all - the 1155's would have. <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I'm not commmenting on any other pads as I've not used them.

I used to use Ferodo DS2000 and DS2500 and don't rate either of them either (particularly the former - they were barely better than stock).

What about redstuff/yellow stuff?

Ross

I ran Redstuff pads on my second Coop and they were very poor to be honest. Dreadful response from cold and prone to fade at the limit. Somewhere in the middle they were mildly better than the standard pads but not much. Then again you are never going to get fantastic brakes with standard sized Coop discs no matter what pads you fit. I've been somewhat spoilt recently. <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Thanks dude. I think im gonna go for the pagid. Got prices for redstuff and it was like £100 for the front set!!! <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> Think i might get the rear ones that Nigel mentioned aswell... dont they do a pagid replacement aswell???? <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Ross

OK so the Redstuff get a pretty universal thumbs down, the Pagid blues almost all thumbs up and ditto from those who have tried yellowstuff <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />. As I have just bought a Greddy EBC I think I am going to try the Yelowstuff pads (cue loud boos all round <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />). If I do a trackday and it is in session format like silverstone, maybe a Pagid blue rep would like to swap pads to compare them <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/idea.gif" alt="" />

i've always found ds2500 great. life is limited and discs get hammered (organic pad). my brother who's just bought my coop also swears by them. however they are quite dear. yellowstuffs were supplied and we are going to do some brake tests and get some feedback. Pagid is excellent pad though for sure. it doesn't have the same high temp capability as ds2500 or the same high friction rating as ds2500 and personally having not used it I can't comment on life but I imagine longer than many competing brands.

basically long and short of it is reg 90 approved pads (should be used by law in all cars after 2000 MY) are never as good as nonreg90 high performance pads. Green & Red are reg 90 approved. 1144 (reg 90)not as good as 1155 (not reg 90). DS performance (reg 90) not very good - DS2500 (not reg 90) - great.

IMO the coupe lacks sufficient brake cooling and I think a good solution would be additional ducting to cool discs.

Maybe its down to the discs each of us use?

I'm running EBC Turbogrooved (dimpled and grooved) all round with Yellow stuff at the Front and (i think) greens at the back. I would go for Porche size if I could afford it.

Obviously EBC pads will be best matched to EBC discs. I've never heard of EBC discs cracking etc. Have you Nigel? (lol)

If anyone would like to see how good they are, feel free to drop me a PM and come out for a spin <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

ran pagid discs with 1144, 1155 and yellowstuff. yellow was best. ran 3g 10 grooved discs with yellow, and even better. found all 3 sets of pagid discs warped very quickly. 3g discs have lived alot longer, 12 months so far, and pads still fine too