[The Z]

Folks,

Like so many others I've had enough of the dust that the standard brake pads produce so am going to get the fronts replaced. I believe either Hawk or Greestuff are the ones to get.

So my question is which one? I've been told the Greemstuff pads will cost me around $200 for the front pair. I don't know what the Hawks are worth.

Any experiemce with these?

TIA

 

[apsilon]

I tried the Greenstuff on my MX-5 once. If you think the stock Zed pads are dusty you ain't seen nothing yet. The greenstuffs were the dustiest pads I've ever come across and it as a black dust.

Apparently the quality on the EBC pads varies a fair bit between batches so maybe I just got a bad set but I won't use them again.

 

[ky350]

Did some research on the Hawks a few months back. It appears that they will dust less, but they may squeel, which I cannot tolerate.
I did get some pricing fm Aussie distributors but I threw out the info when I decided against these pads. From memory, expect to pay about $180 for the rears and around the $240 for the fronts.

 

[Conceyted]

Greenstuff is VERY dust free. To back up and explain the guys post above. EBC was bought out about 1.5 years ago and revamped. Their entire lineup was redone and the products were changed to perform how they are advertised to perform. The pads are amazing, no dust (even less than the hawks) and ABSOLUTLY no squeal.

I had the Hawks HPS pads for 5k miles and they began to squeal. They still do, and some say that may be because of my rotors. Either way, I am switching out the enitre setup to go back with greenstuff in the next two weeks.

 

[AntonioB]

everyone of my Euro cars has had the EBC greenstuff pad change done immediately after delivery

ive never encountered any problems with their performance in everyday driving, but since they are a harder compound pad (hence why they dont give off as much dust) they tend to scour and wear down the discs quicker. But nothing a quick disc machining wont fix, not the end of the world

if you're into track driving, stay away from the EBC greens, they're more an on-road pad

the squeeling is luck of the draw. My 993 didnt squeel despite having cross-drilled discs, but my M3 squeeled lightly every now and then with solid discs. It was really random, could never work out under what circumstances, but it was very light and inaudible inside the car with windows up

 

[dave079]

I have Hawks on mine and they did squeal a little for the few few hundred miles but havent heard a squeal out of them in months. They are very dust free compared to OEM

 

[2003z]

[/quote]
DO you have brembos?
I've had Hawk HPS, HP+ for track days and EBC.
The HPS sqeal more and have to be ground down to fit in the brembo calipers. stock fit fine, I think.
The EBC make less dust than the hawks also. I'm sticking with greenstuff for street and hp+ for the track.

 

[dave079]

[/quote]
DO you have brembos?
I've had Hawk HPS, HP+ for track days and EBC.
The HPS sqeal more and have to be ground down to fit in the brembo calipers. stock fit fine, I think.
The EBC make less dust than the hawks also. I'm sticking with greenstuff for street and hp+ for the track.
<div align="right">[snapback]102356[/snapback]
[/quote]


No I just have the regular brakes, no brembo on mine.

 

[Duncan]

I've got greenstuff on the Z and have previously run them on the skyline. Unhappy with their performance both times, but they have an uphill job with the standard brakes, they are appallingly small for such a heavy "sports" car.

I spoke to Bendix a few weeks ago an Ultimates are due shortly for the 350....go for those for sure. Half the price of the greenstuff about $100, and much better.

 

[smoothz]

I can only comment on the Hawks since I just installed them. They seem to work great, hardly any dust, and no squeaks. I've driven almost 600 miles on them. I also have SS lines and Motul DOT 4 fluid, so braking performance is much better than stock. I've heard a few negative comments about EBC. Chris is the only one supporting them (must be some under the table sponsorship or something :wink.

 

[scathing]

Originally posted by Duncan@May 11 2005, 07:45 AM
I've got greenstuff on the Z and have previously run them on the skyline.  Unhappy with their performance both times, but they have an uphill job with the standard brakes, they are appallingly small for such a heavy "sports" car.

Gotta love those parts bin specials.

 

[scathing]

I'm about to put DS2500s on the front, to go all round. Great pads, but from what I understand they're dusty as all heck.

Might be time to look at black rims, after I pay for the last round of modifications.

 

[Nuff]

No need to buy new rims, you seen mine with nice gun metal look to them

 

[Iggy_Type_R]

Sorry if this is a little off topic... but:
a. How often do you wash your car? For me it's usually every Sat morning, so I don't really care if the pads are dusty, they look fine every weekend anyway

b. No one's mentioned RB74s? I remember putting Ferodo 3000 on my ITR, and being very unhappy with them on the road (and not that happy on the track to be honest). But I always came back to RB74s for both road and track use. May they are too old now, I dunno... having had the Jeep for two years I have not followed what's been happening with brakes If I've missed something, please enlighten me.

Also from memory, you could give your stock pads to RaceBrakes and they'd recoat them with their stuff, to save like $80 per corner.

 

[scathing]

Ferodo DS3000s are horrible on the road. Like any serious racing pad, they need a fair amount of heat before they're usable. There are mixed reviews - I know some people who run them on their cars and find them excellent.

At the same time they find the RB74s to be bad. They're better than stock, but lacking in feel and still not ultimately providing the same retardation.

It could also be the car and caliper configuration, of course. Just like tyres, different pads suit different kinds of cars.


If money is no object, you could always consider Project Mu. Their rotors and pads are very expensive, but talking to the people who are using them on their S15's they find them very impressive.

 

[davidm]

No one's mentioned RB74s?

When I got my pads replaced at Race Brakes they did not have the RB74s for the 350Z Track. They might now ... I loved them on the S2000 but since I've had the DC2500 at the front I am going to stay with them as I am very happy with them on the road and track.

 

[Iggy_Type_R]

Just checked with RaceBrakes in Melbourne, and they have a few sets of front RB74s for the Brembos for $181.00

Bloody good value in my books!!!

 

[Ztrack]

I'm using Endless NA-R pads at the moment and these babies pull up hard on the track and street, no squeel or fade, good for 0 - 600C, not cheap though and they still dust but not as bad as the OEM pads.

Cheers, :cheers:

 

[mr rizk]

Used the EBC Greenstuff on my WRX and hated them

 

[The Z]

Well, thanks guys but there's obviously a lot of different views/opinions out there. So far I've gleened...based on my frequent cleaning, how bad are the standards?...Some have had good, some bad, experiences with Greenstuff pads, same for Hawks, there's some others in there for good measure, and I'm not a great deal closer to a decision.

Still, don't get me wrong I really appreciate your input guys. :doh:

Oh, and I just realised I hate AntonioB 'cause he's had better cars than I'll ever have! :yourock:

Anyway, Iggy Type R is somewhat right in that I do wash my car regularly but I also worry that, on the odd occasion I can't wash my car on the weekend, I do worry about the damage the dust is doing to the wheels. (Past experience.) So it is not just that I spent $7k on wheels and tyres and they look dirty the day after I wasked them!

Soooo, I'm going to go the Greenstuff pads and will detail exactly how they go with everyday driving as there's no track work with mine.

Thanks guys, I really like getting your input.