Brake Pads Users Ratings Guide

[djr81]

If you're changing standard Dot 4 before every track day, then that may be enough. Certainly going to a high temp fluid is an advantage, but where fluid looses it's edge, is moisture absorption. 6 month old GP600 may only be as good as brand new Dot 4. It doing that works for you, stick to it.

Just from my experience (& this an observation only) the 600 degree fluid )Motel) that gets flushed out of my calipers/lines comes out black. As in dark as dogs guts black. But even at that I have never managed to boil it. The pads (DS2500) go away before that happens.

Friction levels are pretty useless because there's no standard test for it. Manufacturers just release figures based on the equipment they use. For example Ferodo DS2500 are rated to 0.50 hot, but the majority of anecdotal feedback from that that have ran them back to back against the A1RM is that the A1RM bites harder when hot... Takes friction figures with a grain of salt.

Atleast Ferodo publish a chart. Others like Project Mu only quote a lower & upper friction coefficient. Which is completely useless. But you are right - figures can lie & liers can figure. What a chart will tell you is how consistent the pad friction level is across a given temperature range. Which can tell you an awful lot about a pad.

I am a big fan of the Ferodo pads. But be sure you get the right ones you need. The stuff Repco sells is not the motorsport product & even at that the DS2500 & DS3000 many people use are at the low end of the range.

[frozenpod]

Atleast Ferodo publish a chart. Others like Project Mu only quote a lower & upper friction coefficient. Which is completely useless. But you are right - figures can lie & liers can figure. What a chart will tell you is how consistent the pad friction level is across a given temperature range. Which can tell you an awful lot about a pad.

I am a big fan of the Ferodo pads. But be sure you get the right ones you need. The stuff Repco sells is not the motorsport product & even at that the DS2500 & DS3000 many people use are at the low end of the range.

I agree 110%, I will not buy EBC pads as they provide stuff all information about them and from some personal experience they are not great performance wise dispite there claims. I will only buy pads (I try) that have a graph of friction vs temperature but it appears there is only 2 or 3 manufactures that provide such information one of which has stopped providing this information in recent times.

I am prepaired to give other pads a try pending recomendation based on a reasonably scientific comparision with other pads ie where only the pad was changed and not new rotors or different type and condition/age fluid.

[Rekin]

Fitted brand new QFM A1RM's and brand new RDA Slotted rotors to car.

After 30,000km of daily driving and a handful of motorkhana events (not even one track day) rotors are heavily worn to the point where they need replacing (slots have disappeared)

So much for their low rotor wear claim. Rotors havent even seen 1 brake pad change!

Emailed QFM and no reply

[gslrallysport]

Fitted brand new QFM A1RM's and brand new RDA Slotted rotors to car.

After 30,000km of daily driving and a handful of motorkhana events (not even one track day) rotors are heavily worn to the point where they need replacing (slots have disappeared)

So much for their low rotor wear claim. Rotors havent even seen 1 brake pad change!

Emailed QFM and no reply

Why did you fit A1RM to a car that was going to do 30,000km of daily driving???

The A1RM is a semi-track pad, something you run if you're prepared to accept the fact that rotor wear is a consequence of track type performance. If you weren't going to do any track days, then the HPX (Bendix Ultimate equivalent) would've been the pad to get. 30,000km from a set of track or sprint capable pads is pretty good...

Let us know what QFM say when they get back to you!

[Rekin]

Why did you fit A1RM to a car that was going to do 30,000km of daily driving???

The A1RM is a semi-track pad, something you run if you're prepared to accept the fact that rotor wear is a consequence of track type performance. If you weren't going to do any track days, then the HPX (Bendix Ultimate equivalent) would've been the pad to get. 30,000km from a set of track or sprint capable pads is pretty good...

Let us know what QFM say when they get back to you!

The pads were advertised as a street/track pad with minimal rotor wear. If i was told otherwise, then i wouldnt have purchased them. Even if they are semi-track they shouldnt chew through a whole rotor in daily driving/motorkhana

The pads still have plenty of meat on them after 30,000km. There would have been no issues if the pads wore out but instead the rotors did which is my concern...

No replies from qfm, so time to try out some project mu b-specs

[gslrallysport]

The pads were advertised as a street/track pad with minimal rotor wear. If i was told otherwise, then i wouldnt have purchased them. Even if they are semi-track they shouldnt chew through a whole rotor in daily driving/motorkhana

Not expecting a semi-track pad to chew through a set of rotors in 30,000k's is being a bit naive... Ask some people how long they're getting out of rotors with a set of Project Mu HC+, I think you'll find 30,000km, from a pad that you could've done light track sprints on, is fairly good.

[Carbon 34]

had project MU on the GTT , they made my wheels look shocking, and didnt stop any better then my camry even with new slotted rotors

swapped over to Bendix ceramic with the easy bed in strip, now I can say the thing is 1000 times better. no dust, no squeals, and can peal your skin when you slam on the brakes. made a huge difference on the street and dont cost a mint 60 bucks for fronts, 50 something for rears

[Mr. Untouchable]

I'm running QFM's A1RM's front and rear in my car paired up with slotted RDA rotors.

On the street I find them very good, not much noise unless a flogging is order of the day.

On the track I thought they were fantastic. They bite well, feel very nice and consistant.

They didnt fade on me once.

For what I do, street and track work they are ideal.

And for the price I think are probably the best value/performance items I have bought.

[Rekin]

Not expecting a semi-track pad to chew through a set of rotors in 30,000k's is being a bit naive... Ask some people how long they're getting out of rotors with a set of Project Mu HC+, I think you'll find 30,000km, from a pad that you could've done light track sprints on, is fairly good.

http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/forums/in...t&p=5022907

interesting to see that someone else has experienced a similar issue to me and your estimate of 25k on new rotors was bloody close to my 30k of use haha

Anyone considering a1rm's just be aware that rotors will need to be replaced after 25-30k (as it happened to me and mentioned 1 month ago in the link)

[badhairdave]

So in summary the 200 you save on pads doesn't quite cover the cost of a pair of new rotors?

Not expecting a semi-track pad to chew through a set of rotors in 30,000k's is being a bit naive... Ask some people how long they're getting out of rotors with a set of Project Mu HC+, I think you'll find 30,000km, from a pad that you could've done light track sprints on, is fairly good.

I lol'd.

You used the same style of argument when you defended them wearing fast.

I also like how you now state the a1rm's are comparable to a HC+, thats a fair step up from a ds2500 equivalent don't you think?

He can ask me how long i've gotten out of HC+'s. 8 track days wore the pads out with minimal wear on the scr pro rotors, a further 8 days on SBS carbon ceramics on the same rotors looks like it has worn them more than the HC+'s did but they are still in good shape.

[ssxRicho]

ive run 3-4 sets of A1RM through my dba4000's and previously 2-3 through the rda fronts (went up a size, thus the dba now).

there is no wear on the rotors yet. similarly, the rear have had 3-4 sets of A1RM and many sets of lucas. no lip yet.

[Rekin]

Sales manager of QFM contacted me. Advised me that the A1RM's, when not up to temperature, are quite aggressive and will wear out the rotors and are dusty. Hence recommended the HPX's for daily as they are less aggressive and not as dusty. Cons are they wont get you far on the track.

[gslrallysport]

Sales manager of QFM contacted me. Advised me that the A1RM's, when not up to temperature, are quite aggressive and will wear out the rotors and are dusty. Hence recommended the HPX's for daily as they are less aggressive and not as dusty. Cons are they wont get you far on the track.

Yep, I'd say that's pretty much on the money. Certainly those that don't use them as a 100% daily pad (including ourselves in the rally car) are going through multiple sets of pads without there being even so much as a lip on the rotor. Unless you're doing track work, as probably Greg (the sales manager) said stick to the HPX, which is still a Bendix Ultimate equivalent in terms of performance, so more than enough for street use, but very low dust and rotor wear.

Having said that I personally would still be very happy with getting 20-25 odd thousand k's from a set of rotors being clamped by semi-track pads, but if wasn't your expectation I can understand your disappointment.

[scandyflick]

currently im running rda slotted rotors all round with gfm a1rm's up front, qfm hpx's out back, and penrite syn 600 fluid. so far so good. front pads have lasted 2 track days (at mallala, which is notoriously hard on brakes), and 5,000ish kays of street driving with more than half of that in the hills. no problems with fade or excessive wear on the rotors, but then im not silly enough to daily a cross over pad.

no problems with squealing.

hpx's have only been in since the last track day. that day i went through a set of oem rear pads, a set of bendix rear pads, and a pair of oem rotors.

mild upgrade for a track day next month in the form of hel braided lines, might pack a set of a1rm's for the rear too.

used to run acre street fighter pads on the front with the rda rotors. great for dailying, and alright for some mildly spirited driving, but when you start pushing them, the turn into complete junk.

[teK--]

Went to Sandown today, running A1RM front and HPX rear, TRW600F fluid, stock discs front and rear.

My tyres are overheating before the brakes. Even then the fluid is overheating before the pads. They are phenomenal I was able to pull up hard after the long straights for 2 hot laps before I had to back off because the tyres were squirming.

Since 90% of my driving is daily, and most of track time is motorkhanas and other relatively low speed work I'm going to change over to HPX some soonish so i don't chew up my rotors so bad. I'll keep the A1RM on the spares shelf for when I do hit the high speed events.

[08r3308]

i been running QFM HPX all round brand new slotted rotors and they are noisy as well , good brake feel but noise kill it .

i have tried everything from bedding in to crc anti squeal stuff you name it , all stock shims are there as well.

will be going bendix or oem soon , i just cant put up with noise .

does anyone know any ratings on bendix pads?

i could not find any on their website

[08r3308]

this morning i had enough of noise and went to repco got bendix general and no more noise

will update and see how i go when they wear in a little more

[scandyflick]

quick update on my qfm pads.

theyre toast. lol.

3rd track day on the fronts (a1rm), first on the rear (hpx).

still running penrite sin 600 fluid, now with hel braided lines.

fronts had about 75% meat left on them at the start of the day, rears only had a few hundred kays on them.

as you can see, theyre pretty toasted.

was harder on my brakes than i ever have been before, and i only suffered a loss of brakes once over the course of the 62 laps i put in.

incredibly happy with the way they performed. i reckon i took the hpx's a little beyond their rated heat range by the end of the day, as they just started delaminating, ill be running a1rm's on the rear next time.

[gslrallysport]

Hi mate,

Great feedback! Can you measure roughly at what thickness the pads started delaminating??? (Anything less than 3mm is fantastic!!)

Regards,

Greg

[scandyflick]

fronts are at about 2mm pad left, so id say it was about 3-4mm that they start delaminating.

rears started crumbling around 30 laps in, with one completely failing within the last 2 laps of the day.