Datsun Roadster Forum-311s.org

I'm seeking advice on front brake pads for street use with a stock system.

I found a couple of options for pads: organic or semi-metallic. My understanding is that although the organic pads may wear faster, they would wear the rotors less. Given that a set of pads is $20 and a pair of rotors is $300 I am leaning towards organics.

Some part numbers:
Organic: BECK/ARNLEY Part # 0820225
Semi Metallic: CENTRIC Part # 10200230

What are some of you using? Thanks.

semi-metallic will bite better and resist fading better. I think they are noisier and dustier, too. For my Roadster, I prefer stock as long as stock stops the car.

You ever going to the track? What fluid are you running? Stainless lines?

Others will chime in, but metallic pads will also fade less in hard repeated braking vs organic.

Garm wrote:You ever going to the track? What fluid are you running? Stainless lines?

Don't expect to go to the track, but do drive in the mtns.
Fluid = Castrol LMA Dot 4
Stainless Lines = yes

I know they are a lot more money, but true high performance pads are worth the extra.
They can increase you braking power by 20-40%.
The pedal pressure is so high on a roadster IMHO they are a worth the extra.

I think KFP has both gold and Blue compounds (Average coefficient of friction .470 and .490)
About $150

fj20spl311 wrote:I know they are a lot more money, but true high performance pads are worth the extra.
They can increase you braking power by 20-40%.
The pedal pressure is so high on a roadster IMHO they are a worth the extra.

any recommendation, and are they too hard for street use? Last set of race pads I had wouldn't stop worth a damn until they were warm, but that was many years ago.

EBC Green Stuff Brake Pads - DP2120 seem to match the roadster application, MGA XK etc
I used them on my pickup, huge improvement when towing and in general.

reminds me of the other day,,cruising along about 35, seen some kid thinkin about crossin the double yellow in front of me,,,,he hesitated,,,then shot in front of me like WTF!!!!!! I had to slam the pedal hard. dodged a bullet there. "missed him by that much"
my thoughts were 'the car looks farther away than it really is', and Wills post about 'good stock roadster brakes will lock up the front tires'. didnt lockem up, but they did what I wanted them to do.
running the old old pads from 1985, and new dot 4.
all is well.

My gold 69 2000 still has the pads I got it with from Mark, probably installed in the early 80's. Never got around to changing them, they worked OK, including a few panic stops.

It's been my theory for a while people misjudge the distance while looking at an oncoming Roadster. It's small, so it looks far away. First noticed this driving a Jeep CJ at night, headlights 3 ft apart, looks far away too.

The KFPs blue compounds are the ones you want. They are a carbon kevlar compound however they wear well, and stop VERY well. They dust a fair amount, sometimes they squeal, but they always stop well. Part # is KFP23 then specify either the gold or blue compound. The gold compound is a full track pad, but its fine around town. Ice cold they stop about like crappy stock pads, and warm, holy crap. The cost with shipping is about $110. The direct line to KFP is 330 453 9757.

I've run semi-metalics in the past. BIG mistake. How good were they? Well, after 3 laps at Thunderhill I had 0 brakes till they cooled off. Then I'd get 3 laps again. Still, they didn't last the full 3 laps it was more like 2.25 before braking was seriously compromised and I continued around in a rather unsafe fashion just so I could get something out of the day. In all honesty, I'd guess I drive harder on the street now than I did at the track back then. (Experience goes a long way ) I use a heck of a lot less brake on the track than I used to.

As far as stock roadster stopping power, I'm 99% sure my car will out stop my M3 pretty easily. It requires more leg strength, but it feels better and stops on a dime.

Will

Im with Dave on the Green Stuff pads. I have them on my MX 5 and they dont dust.....4 wheel disc brakes. But it will stop on a dime and give 10 cents change.

Rich

I guess it depends how aggressive you drive. I found it easy to fade the front stock brakes with my "normal" driving habits. This is why I made the leap to the MKlotz Volvo / Altima vented rotor mod. The car has the green stuff rear brake shoes and stock Volvo pads on the front. I can easily lock the brakes with a great deal of control.

I've got the EBC green on both my '95 Mustang and my '98 Mark VIII. I really like the fact that, as advertised, the pads give you immediate grip when cold...very reassuring when just leaving the house or when traffic suddenly slows on the freeway. I can say that those green pads surely grip more than the stock ones, but they do dust more as well. Course, the stockers did not have as much grip so more dusting is worth it to me...especially for that instant grab feeling.

I would be curious to try the other brand one of the previous posters mentioned though, on the Roadster.

spyder wrote:I guess it depends how aggressive you drive. I found it easy to fade the front stock brakes with my "normal" driving habits. This is why I made the leap to the MKlotz Volvo / Altima vented rotor mod. The car has the green stuff rear brake shoes and stock Volvo pads on the front. I can easily lock the brakes with a great deal of control.

I'll check the measurements on the Green Stuff. for the 1000-1500 miles a year I drive, I can live with the dust. Polished Libres clean easilly.

I have all the parts for the Volvo conversion with stock Datsun solid rotors, If I do it, I'm going Altima vented. If anyone wants the setup, $125.00 + shipping, 2 loaded rebuilt calipers and the aluminum manifolds, the last set he made I think.

Can you run the green stuff pads, and or the KFP with the stock rear brake compound? Can you get matching material for the rears? Would that not affect the front to rear braking ratio?

Hopefully, someone who has the "better grip fronts with the stock rears" will chime in, but I can tell you that in general, improving braking in the front only can actually reduce the available traction in the rear due to increased weight transfer when compared to stock. Therefore, the rear brakes might come closer to locking up if more G's are generated during braking. I suppose that was your concern/question.

However, I recently attended a "Safe Driving" school where we were requied to activate the ABS to learn how to manuever during a panic situation, but I had my Mustang with me, which does not have ABS. So, I found out that with my EBC fronts and stock rears, I still couldn't lock up the rear discs, but could and did lock the fronts. Seems to me the factories built-in a brake bias design that would unsure the rears don't come close to locking up as easy as the fronts...a rather wide safety margin, IMV.