Best brake pads for street driving

[Spoolin18]

Heres the deal, its time to change my factory brake pads as they are worn. I'm looking to get some input on which brand would be best and the pros and cons of each. Its an 07 pontiac g6 sedan btw. I'm hoping for some shorter & smoother braking distance aswell as long life of the pads.

My choices are;

1.) EBC redstuff ceramic or ebc greenstuff brakes.
2.) Hawk performance pads
3.) Stoptech performance pads
4.) Ac/Delco oem originals.

I'm also looking at changing the rotors to a vented/drilled rotor. Are these realy worth the extra cost?

Which pad is better, organic/ceramic/kevlar?

Thanks!

 

[GST_20G]

Man if i were you, i'd keep it cheap and simple. Get the rotors turned, and get some factory pads, or maybe some wagner from the neighborhood parts store. They usually have a lifetime warranty. It will probably stop a lot better than it is now, and be smoother than you remember. I'm assuming this is just a daily BTW.

 

[Spoolin18]

Man if i were you, i'd keep it cheap and simple. Get the rotors turned, and get some factory pads, or maybe some wagner from the neighborhood parts store. They usually have a lifetime warranty. It will probably stop a lot better than it is now, and be smoother than you remember. I'm assuming this is just a daily BTW.

Its a dd but I want to get more out of it especialy in the brake and luxury departments but if there isn't much of a difference than I'd just keep it simple. BTW, I know its not a luxury car per-say...but its mine.

 

[ktgurl87]

Man if i were you, i'd keep it cheap and simple. Get the rotors turned, and get some factory pads, or maybe some wagner from the neighborhood parts store. They usually have a lifetime warranty. It will probably stop a lot better than it is now, and be smoother than you remember. I'm assuming this is just a daily BTW.

Get everything as cheap as possible... great idea... if you don't want to stop. I'm all for trying to be as frugal as possible when I can... but I don't think I would skimp on brakes. I work at Advance.. and we sell Wagners. They are awesome brake pads... but the lifetime warranty is for MANUFACTURER'S DEFECTS. Normal wear and tear is not covered on ANY brake warranty. Wtf would be the point? You buy one set from me and never have to pay for another? Where's the business sense in that?

OP... Out of the 4 choices you posted, I would probably go with the AC (OEM) pads. As far as rotors, from what I've read on here, drilled AND slotted aren't as sturdy as a rotor would be if it only had one of the two done. For normal DD'ing, you probably don't need them. There wouldn't be a great deal of benefit for you other than they look cool. But it is totally up to you.

 

[my dreamt dsm]

Brands Autozone carry works great for me! Never had a problem or know anyone one who did!

 

[9!'clipseDOHC]

I just installed the Hawk HPS pads on my 1g just last week. I'm very happy with them and they are pretty affordable. I got mine from Summit Racing. Summit also carries the EBC Greenstuff but they are a bit more expensive. My first autocross event is in 2 weeks so I'll let you know how they do there.

 

[Tyeler18]

Hawks are relatively cheaper for their qualtiy. I however used the wearever silvers from advance all race season last year. They didn't hold up to autox real long, but for street driving they great. They still look brand new wear-wise, but they are kind of heavy on the brake dust.

As far as drilled/slotted/dimpled/whatever, they're not worth it unless you're doing some very serious road course. Your stopping power is actually worse then blanks because of the fact that you have less surface area for the pads to grip. The only benefit to them is that they stay cooler in heavy braking (ie road course). If/when they warp though you need new rotors as you cannot machine them.

 

[Project91Tsi]

I work at Advance.. and we sell Wagners. They are awesome brake pads... but the lifetime warranty is for MANUFACTURER'S DEFECTS. Normal wear and tear is not covered on ANY brake warranty. Wtf would be the point? You buy one set from me and never have to pay for another? Where's the business sense in that?

Check the SOP for what is excluded under our warranty coverage. They have removed the "normal wear" from our exclusions. AAP is not willing to jeopardize a customer over a warranty on brake pads. What would your GM or DL do?

As for the pads, being that the vehicle is daily driver, I would recommend the quietest brakes, either premiums from your local vendor, or OEM. Hawks, EBC red or green, in my opinion are to noisy for street driving.

On a side note, if you REALLY want your car to stop shorter, invest in some performance tires instead of brakes. They are what is actually sticking to the pavement, the more they grip, the more brake force you can apply without locking up the wheels.

 

[Bud92gsx]

I like ceramic..Have saved my life a few times..They do cause excessive heat, so warped rotors sonner than you want but still, there is no price on safety..

 

[blkgst97]

Hawks are relatively cheaper for their qualtiy. I however used the wearever silvers from advance all race season last year. They didn't hold up to autox real long, but for street driving they great. They still look brand new wear-wise, but they are kind of heavy on the brake dust.

As far as drilled/slotted/dimpled/whatever, they're not worth it unless you're doing some very serious road course. Your stopping power is actually worse then blanks because of the fact that you have less surface area for the pads to grip. The only benefit to them is that they stay cooler in heavy braking (ie road course). If/when they warp though you need new rotors as you cannot machine them.

Slotted rotors are designed to allow built up dust and gases too escape, which actually makes for a better contact patch.

 

[Black Widow97]

Redstuff would be a bit excessive for street, but greenstuff would be a good for street. I used to use greenstuff and loved them.

 

[ktgurl87]

Check the SOP for what is excluded under our warranty coverage. They have removed the "normal wear" from our exclusions. AAP is not willing to jeopardize a customer over a warranty on brake pads. What would your GM or DL do?

Well, considering my GM is a dumbass, your guess would be as good as mine on what he would do.

Put the Wearever Golds on the GST, no noise, hardly any dust. I've got golds on my truck, same thing, no noise, very little dust. I don't remember what pads I put on the GS since it's been a minute since I've done them.

 

[Spoolin18]

Thanks so much guys, I know what to buy now.

 

[b00st3d4g63]

I just went to Mitsubishi and got my brake pads.. I went with power slot rotors though.

 

[sax_man]

I run Hawk HPS's on my DD, and I love em. Quiet, not too much dust, and they work great.

 

[brian9397gsx]

I ran ebc greenstuff 's and loved them night and day compared to the oem's I had before. They never made noise or dusted, had them paired with new oem rotor"s was a great combination.

 

[Boostinsideways]

Hawks are great for a daily.

 

[PurpleHazel]

keep it cheap

Words to live by:
Never skimp on brakes or toilet paper.



We have $12 pads at work. The come in a plain box that says "brakes". I call them the "Die A Firey Death in a Twisted Ball of Metal" brakes.


Agree on the Wagner - should do very nicely.

 

[LiquidX]

I would have suggested either EBC green or Hawk HPS pads.

 

[turbosax2]

I got Hawk HPS pads because they were insanely cheap at Pep-Boys. I guess they would work fine for a DD, but they have very little initial bite, which is annoying to me.

 

[LiquidX]

I got Hawk HPS pads because they were insanely cheap at Pep-Boys. I guess they would work fine for a DD, but they have very little initial bite, which is annoying to me.

You just don't have them worn in with your 10 miles a month

 

[turbosax2]

Har har. The average since they were installed is actually 35 miles/month (only because of the far drive to Philly for the Ridley Creek State Park meet)

 

[PieEyedPiper]

I'm going redstuff.

 

[projekt1]

I just installed some EBC Redstuff pads on my 3KGT calipers on my 1G. They don't feel aggressive at all. Just make sure you "bed" them in properly.

 

[vinnio]

If you're looking for street performance, stay away from ceramic. They are great for your average driver with their low noise and low dust. But they will actually perform worse than a stock, semi-metallic pad. So if you have nice wheels or are just driving like a regular sane person, then you can go ceramic. Otherwise, semi-met all the way.