After reading through this entire thread multiple times, talking with some racers, and reading lots of other reviews, I decided to try the Ferodo DS2500. Supposedly more disc friendly than other street / light race pads, with a nice linear feel, and an excellent reputation on heavier cars like ours. I don't know how that will pan out, but if they are nicer to the discs than the EBC Yellowstuff or Hawk HP 5.0 I was also looking at, the longer disk life will be worth the higher cost. And they are still way cheaper than real race pads.
Doing the installation, there were three surprises:
- The pads DO support the brake wear sensors.
- The pads do not have the 'horns' that the OEM and most others have.
- There is no chamfer on the pads.
This is a picture of the front and back of the Front OEM pads that I pulled out, and the DS2500 pads. You can see the lack of horns, and the flat edges. I considered filing the edges to ease them a bit, but decided against it. The pads do have a backing plate, but not the extra silver shim plate the OEM's have. (I labeled the original pads with their location in case I put them back.)
This is a picture of the Back pads, OEM and Ferodo. Same details as the fronts, just smaller.
This is a picture of the brake wear sensor installed in the back pad. I was pleasantly surprised that the sensors fit since more than one post said they didn't, and another poster had StopTech pads that didn't support them. But, they fit perfectly. In fact, when I put them on the front I couldn't get it to fit, and was thinking I was just lucky on the back. But no, I was trying to put the sensor in backwards (DOH!), and it was correctly keeping me from doing that. Turned it around the correct way and it snapped right in like it was OEM.
Here is a picture of the pads installed in the front caliper. You can see they fit perfectly without the horns on them. I'm speculating that Ferodo left them off to improve cooling. But it could just be cost saving also. Not sure if the lack of horns made it easier or harder to install. You have to pay more attention that the pins are correctly threading the holes, and the spring clip makes that a bit harder. On the other hand, you have great visibility in to see what's going on and line things up. You can also see the front wear sensor installed on the far pad.
Install tips:
A tip I gleaned from another forum was really useful. If you put a catch bottle on, and crack the bleeder open, it's super easy to push the pads and cylinders back with your fingers. Makes it real easy to get the clearance you need to slide the old pads out and the new pads in.
These are the first Brembo style brakes I've done, and I was concerned about using a punch to push the pins out. Thought about buying the Racing Brake tool, but it seemed pricey. I decided to buy a set of 'Roll Pin Starter Punch' instead. Worked perfectly. There are several sets on Amazon in the >$10 range, designed for gun-smithing (and often referred to as an AR-15 set.) I bought the set from Squirrel Daddy, $7 shipped. For the price, I thought it was worth a chance. They turned out to be exquisite little tools. Any of the three small punches work perfectly. The barrel fits in the caliper with just the right clearance, and the hole centers on the retention pins perfectly. The big punch is a bit small to drive the pin back in. Works, but isn't big enough. Will need to research that a bit more.
Initial impressions:
I bedded the brakes with the Ferodo recommended procedure. Went well, but the burnt brake fumes are particularly vile and long lived. Hope that fades.
I have been pleasantly surprised by how quiet they are. As quiet as the OEM pads. I did use some high-temp brake grease on the back of the pads, and the edge of the back plate. Not the gooey anti-squeal gel, but just a light touch of grease. (Another tip from a different forum.) We'll see if they stay quiet.
So far I've only driven them around town. The lack of bite when cold is a bit annoying. I understand that is to be expected with pads like these. They work and stop the car easily enough, but they are really dead. And they come up to a usable temperature by the time I'm out of my neighborhood. Once they have a few stops in they work well. But for driving around town the OEM pads are way more consistent, with a bit more initial bite even when warm. It will take constant effort to stay on top of the changing feel of the Ferodo pads as they warm up. At this point, I'm thinking I might put the OEM pads back in when the winter tires go back on.
Then again, as they break in, they could get a lot better. Or I might just get used to them. Once I have some track time on them I'll report back how they work for their intended purpose.
OEM thoughts:
I'm amazed at the condition of the OEM pads. These have 25K miles on them, and two HPDE days, and they barely look worn. With Motul RBF600 they held up fairly well at the second HPDE day. I could feel them fading, but they still stopped well from 90mph speeds. If I didn't have some bigger track days (BIR) planned this summer, I probably would have kept them. And as I said, way more consistent driving around town.
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