Brake Pads Users Ratings Guide

[siamak]

Can anyone compare QFM HPX vs EBC Redstuff?

Im looking for low dust, low fade, low rotor wear and minimal noise.

Price difference between the two does not bother me.

[gslrallysport]

You're comparing two completely different pads... The Redstuff (or QFM A1RM) are a high performance street and light track cross over pad. Something you can get away with if you're prepared to run slightly higher rotor wear on the street, and slightly less life than a dedicated track pad on the track. Though the A1RM is a decent step above Redstuff, being closer to something like a Ferodo DS2500.

The HPX (or EBC Green) are just a high performance street pads, and not something you'd get away with doing track work on.

"low dust, low fade, low rotor wear and minimal noise

Since asbestos was banned you're not going to get all that, the closest you get will be:

HPX - low dust, low fade [on the street], low rotor wear and minimal noise.

A1RM - [relatively*] low dust, low fade, [relatively*] low rotor wear and minimal noise.

Redstuff - low dust, low fade [on the street, not so flash when pushed on the track], [relatively*]low rotor wear and minimal noise

If you don't do any track work, stick to the HPX and spend the extra money on fluid, which is where your first weakness will be.

* Relative for the performance, not relative to a normal street pad.

[BeEnAr]

Well I been on EBC Redstuff for 2 years and 70,000km now and they still have plenty of pad left, rotors also have no lip on them. Running the stock 32 Vspec2 Brembo's so when I got the pads it was redstuff or cheaper brand, I went with the reds as they were the new ceramic kevlar blend compound and much better than the old compound they had for the reds.

Dust is not too bad but the best thing is it's not black, it's a sort of whitish grey colour and because it has no metal in the compound at all, the dust wipes off with a wet sponge, no cleaners needed (I use wet microfibre and a spray bottle of water)

They are used daily as the GTR is my daily drive and that drive consists of 115km return trip. Never been on track so can't rate them on that but at the GOR cruise they bit hard all day and didn't fade once, I was very pleased.

+1 for redstuff

[08r3308]

when i took my front QFM HPX off less than 5000k there was a chunk of pad missing right in middle of pad?

could this be the culprit on front pad noise i was experiencing?

[Peter89]

when i took my front QFM HPX off less than 5000k there was a chunk of pad missing right in middle of pad?

could this be the culprit on front pad noise i was experiencing?

probably. post up a pic.

[Will's Performance Centre]

I drive a VY2 Commodore ute.

The Front brake on my ute are R32 GTR calipers, with PBR Performance pads, with 330mm x 32mm DBA4000 Wiper Slot HSV performance brake (2 pots) replacement rotors with custom made 20mm thick brackets.

The pads worked really well.

Pros:

Worked well cold.

Quiet.

No brake shudder

Couldn't make them fade (hard stops from 200km/h+ were never a problem).

After 10,000 kms brake rotors had almost no were (still well over 31mm)

Cons:

Lots of brake dust

Lasted 10,000 kms of street driving before hitting wear indicators. Not always driven hard.

$190 pads didnt last long.

Would buy them again.

Will.

[siksII]

I had settled on Ferodo DS2500 on the road and occasional track work. The DS2500s are ok on the track but not ideal for a full weight R33 gts-t with standard brakes so I recently tried out a set of Hawk DTC-60 (front) and HT-10 (rear).

These pads are track only, they are not desgined to be used on the road at all.

Compared to a normal road/track pad like the DS2500 the Hawks were a massive step up. They never felt like they would overheat and take some serious getting used to if you are going to take advantage of them. They provide more friction than any other pad I have had on my car.

With the 2500s you need to give the pedal a reasonably heavy squeeze to slow down and as they gradually overheat you need to press harder and harder (plus they start wearing excessively by this time too) The positive of this is that you dont need too much skill to modulate the brakes since there is such a large range of pressure before lock up.

With the Hawks they were consistenty super aggressive the whole time I used them. It felt like you barely brush the pedal to brake hard and to keep them on the edge of lockup takes a lot more skill since they have so much bite. Flat spot risk is much higher with these pads - its so easy to lock up wheels when compared to using a regular street/track pad.

Pad wear was low.

They perform well when on the road however you would never want to use them since:

-Every time you brake it sounds like you are belt sanding your disks

-The squeal is crazy

-Your disks will wear out in no time. I have a friend who ran HT-10s on the road and they destroyed his new disks in around 4000kms.

In summary, these pads are great but I need more track time before being able to take advantage of their performance. Im a pretty bad at braking at the best of times and these pads made it more obvious. Use with caution

[Russco]

I recently tried out a set of Hawk DTC-60 (front) and HT-10 (rear).

Running the same combo here but on a full weight R32 GTST - once you get use to the modulation they are brilliant, much better than anything else I've tried (paid $423 for f&r landed from the states so they're well priced to boot). I'm surprised how little front rotor wear I had from the DTC-60's and how well they worked from dead cold. Apart from the track, I only get squeal when they are luke warm. I can't get this combo to fade + they were real easy to bed in.

[matty hall]

Bendix ultimate worked a treat, used to have ferodos ( would not recomend )

[Curmi]

i brought a1rm pads off gslrallysport great guy, fast postage and great pads went to the track on weekend and was a massive difference thanks heaps and recommend them..cheers again

[SevPP]

Race brakes RB74. Very good crossover pad. On a car with good power and undersize brakes they performed as well as could be expected.

Hawks as above. Very good again. No fade at all. Over an hour on the track non stop. Ended up cracking the disks before the pads gave up.

QFM Comp 9. Worked extremely well on the track. Continuously stopped. Couldn't lock up with full slicks but they never faded. Seem pretty hard on discs. Not the best pad without heat as I found at deca.

[siksII]

Running the same combo here but on a full weight R32 GTST - once you get use to the modulation they are brilliant, much better than anything else I've tried (paid $423 for f&r landed from the states so they're well priced to boot). I'm surprised how little front rotor wear I had from the DTC-60's and how well they worked from dead cold. Apart from the track, I only get squeal when they are luke warm. I can't get this combo to fade + they were real easy to bed in.

After changing back to my street DS2500s im missing the Hawk DTCs, wish I had an free supply of rotors so I could use a race pad all the time. The 2500s feel so weak in comparison, and they are a good pad!

[666DAN]

Had Bendix Ultimate, didn't like them one bit. Now I've got Hawk HP+ pads on front, they do grip well when cold They were a little squeeky brand new, now well used they don't make a peep and stop the car dead

Thought I have now warped the left hand rotor pretty badly from using the brake to their full potential!

Edited June 9, 2010 by 666DAN

[UW8NCY]

used ebc green stuff rubbish

ultimates are good for the street but very dusty i found

going to try those qfm pads from what ive been hearing are pretty good

[WhO]

Pads i've used on my old r32 gtr (non brembo):

Bendix Ultimate: Used on the track (mallala) only as a last resort after other pad failure. Reasonable pad wear, half a day of racing left more than half the pad left (around 30 laps) however after 4 or 5 hard laps fade definitely starts to creep in, Good solid bite and pedal feel but definitely need to get heavy on that brake pedal from high speed after a few laps. Overall very happy with them for a entry level pad, noisy after track work though.

QFM A1RM: Used on the track (mallala) unfortunately these pads only lasted half a day before they failed. Somehow managed to wear them to nearly the backing plates in far less than half the time ultimates last. Pedal feel is good early as is power however i felt they lacked bite and faded much quicker and suddenly than ultimates + they gave me a surprise when they rapidly faded from high speed sending me to the kitty litter. Pedal effort required was also higher than the ultimates. Hate to rock the boat as everybody seems to love them but i wouldn't go near them again (though its entirely possible i got a bad set)

Pads used on my old GTI-R

Standard Nissan: Street use only, Quiet, smooth and stop well untill pushed hard. I guess its to be expected!

EBC Green: Street use only, Not bad more fade resistant than standard nissan pads but lack bite, not a fan.

Race Brakes RB74: Street use only. Loved them, bit harsh on rotors but even when they were glowing pedal feel was always fantastic and i never managed to get them to fade. Pads lasted an above average time however rotors definitely payed the price here. Bite from dead cold not great but a couple stops and your good to go. Dust was pretty bad too

[gslrallysport]

QFM A1RM: faded much quicker and suddenly than ultimates

Race Brakes RB74: never managed to get them to fade.

Interesting. These are [virtually] the same pad (QFM make the RB74), yet two very different reports. Take everything with a grain of salt, as this is a perfect example of there being far too many variables to make direct comparisons between pads... I'm also fairly worried that you managed to get the A1RM to fade before Ultimates. There's not really any comparison between the two of them! Either they weren't bedded in properly, or you may have just got a 1 off pad pad.

FWIW, latest feedback on the A1RM from abroad:

UPDATE: Took these out at Sandown... no brake fade what so ever! the pads / fluid held out really well, and was still pulling up the car after a whole day of hard braking both in the wet and dry! Totally impressed by these pads and I highly recommend them!

http://www.supraforums.com.au/forum/showpo...mp;postcount=27

[WhO]

Interesting. These are [virtually] the same pad (QFM make the RB74), yet two very different reports. Take everything with a grain of salt, as this is a perfect example of there being far too many variables to make direct comparisons between pads... I'm also fairly worried that you managed to get the A1RM to fade before Ultimates. There's not really any comparison between the two of them! Either they weren't bedded in properly, or you may have just got a 1 off pad pad.

As i mentioned the RB74 pads were used in different conditions and on a different vehicle which definitely would have influenced the result. In that case they (RB74) were being used for very aggressive street driving vs track which i have no doubt would make a world of difference. I am surprised that they're basically the same pad as the A1RM because i honestly did like the RB74's a lot!

Regarding my experience with the A1RM pads i used them in the morning sessions then the ultimates in the afternoon, very similar conditions. The A1RM pads were definitely bedded in well, in contrast the Ultimates weren't bedded in almost at all (bar pretty much the warmup lap). As i said not trying to rock the boat as there are plenty of very happy people out there, just sharing my experience. I gues like anything its entirely possible i got a 1 off bad pad as can happen with anything.

Now i think of it, maybe i just have bad luck with pads! Years ago i had a set of brand new ferodo pads (cant remember exactly what) where the bonding material failed on a pad during moderate road use leading to the pad disintegrating, nearly needed a new pair of underpants! Bedded in as per instructions, needless to say repco and ferodo were very apologetic!

[Brandon]

Just fitted the Nismo R-tune in the front and so far so good. No squeal and brakes well.

[rondofj]

hi dudes, which pad should I go with for my R34GT-T (front pads only) for street use only - gets pushed hard occassionally and thats it, want to get real good value for money - QFM sounds good - I live in Parra NSW, any places you guys would recommend for service and/or parts? And which stores I can buy them from - are the Bendix Premium oads from super cheap auto at $72 OK? thanks for the help - RON .. PS - dunno where to get the QFM pads from..

[gslrallysport]

. PS - dunno where to get the QFM pads from..

Hi mate,

We're the largest stockist of QFM Performance Pads in Australia, give us a bell on 1300 884 836, or email sales at gslrallysport dot com

Or PM me here! Street use only, go the QFM HPX, which are a Bendix Ultimate equivalent performance wise. $79 per axle set front or rear.

Regards,

Greg