Which pads for Cobra brakes?

[gdmbat85]

So I'm in the middle of piecing together the cobra kit for my project car, and I have everything picked out except brake pads.

For rotors, I went with centric cryo treated high carbon rotors.

The car is an AWD spyder getting a 2.2L motor and will be putting down 5-600hp. It's going to be a purely street/weekend warrior. Being a convertible, I can't really track it, but it might see 1 or 2 spirited mountain runs. But mostly just need to be able to just pull back all that power and weight.

I had the Hawk HPS's, and I liked them as far as brake feel and stopping power, but only when they were heated up a bit. Stopping in the rain was a nightmare, and it may get better or worse with much bigger rotors. Although I doubt I'll be doing much driving in anything other than warm sunny weather, I need something I can count on in case of an emergency.

I was looking at the carbotech bobcat's, porterfield r4-s, and EBC redstuff. I'm also still considering the HPS's since I'm not sure how they'll change with larger brakes. I am leaning towards the r4-s's, but I'm open to other suggestions.

Brake dust I don't really care about since the car will be barely driven and cleaned often. Noise, I'd like to be at least mostly quiet.

Any input from actual users would be appreciated. I'd rather not turn this into a "I heard XXX was good", cause at this point, I've heard everything is good, and sucks. I'd rather hear peoples personal experiences with them.

 

[jdxnc]

I'm running Power Stop Evolution ceramics on mine this year, very happy with them so far, I read quite a few reviews before buying them and everyone seemed to be happy with them. I have no trouble stopping from 100+ mph at our local 1/8th mile track which has a very short decel area(a track pretty much designed for Honda's and 70mph trap speeds ).

Initial breaking is great and I have not noticed any fade, even after 1/4 mile runs.

Picked mine up from Rock Auto for a very reasonable price with the discount code.

 

[ACM]

I have used or driven EBC Green, EBC Red, Hawk HPS, Hawk HP+, R4-S, R4-1 and Carbotech Panther Plus and AX6 on stock 2G AWD brakes. Both Carbotech compounds and the Porterfield R4-1 have been used primarily with race tyres, so I won't bother commenting on them.

I would not revisit HPS or HP+ pads even if they were given free. EBC Green overheated and faded on street tyres, whereas Reds never got up to operating temps, and so were quite unpredictable. R4-S were my choice from that point on when on street tyres, but they suffered the white crumblies when used with race tyres, and they could fade on aggressive mountain trips.

On 'big brake' kits and street tyres - first the AEM f+r kits when they came out and now Evo brakes - I have only used two pads - Porterfield R4-s and Girodisc Magic pads. The R4-S gave their usual excellent performance with the added bonus that they no longer overheated and faded - ever; the added heat sink capacity of the big rotors kept the R4-Ss within their temperature range. The Girodisc Magic pads are quite a disappointment, they dust more than the R4-S and they perform like the Hawk pads I've previously experienced. The only reason I went with the Girodisc pads was that my experience with R4-S pads on Evos is that they squeal horribly almost all the time - something I will not tolerate on a daily driven street car. I will change to either Carbotech AX6s or possibly risk R4-S once the season's over and I have time to breathe again.

Oh, the car is a 2G AWD with a Big28, so it's not making anything like the power you're planning.

 

[silvreclips]

I run Stoptech 309 pads on my cobra setup. I used the same pads on the GSX brake upgrade and had great luck with them during street driving and autox. However dont take these pads on the track. After a few hard laps they faded I wore out the whole pad in an hr on the track. I liked the pads so much I bought them again for these brakes. Highly recommend these. And I have ran HPS, Axxis MM pads, and cheap ceramic pads before these.

 

[gdmbat85]

Thanks for everyone's input. I'm gonna look into the power stop's and the stop tech's. I hear that certain pads and rotors don't get along together so it's nice to hear that stoptech makes a good pad.

I just looked into the powerstop's. Yea, I don't think I'm going to be able to convince myself that I can trust in sub $30 brake pads. Keep the input coming in!

 

[jjw205]

I'm running Power Stop Evolution ceramics on mine this year, very happy with them so far, I read quite a few reviews before buying them and everyone seemed to be happy with them. I have no trouble stopping from 100+ mph at our local 1/8th mile track which has a very short decel area(a track pretty much designed for Honda's and 70mph trap speeds ).

I just looked into the powerstop's. Yea, I don't think I'm going to be able to convince myself that I can trust in sub $30 brake pads. Keep the input coming in!

I know what you mean, I felt the same way. But I tried them out when I switched to my 4 piston front calipers, and they seem to work great. Good bite, no fade. For the price, driving on the street or strip, you can't beat them.