E30 Track capable pads

[AntonyG 0]

Hey guys & girls,

Im going to taupo in a few weeks with my dirty30 325i.

Any of you E30 owners or race series guys have

any advice on pads to use on the track?? I dont want to waste

my hard earned coin so some advice on what REALLY works

would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks heaps,

Antz

[cainchapman 0]

Mintex 1166 work well on the 540

http://www.racebrakes.co.nz/

They have a new 1177 compound too.

[Gus 5]

good condition OEM stock pads and discs. make sure your brake ducting is hooked up.

stock stuff in good nick is pretty much more than adequate on a stock 325...i ran mostly stock and it worked really well. i wouldnt bother with race brakes stuff, its good but quite expensive (when compared to upgrading to wilwoods, which is a better option)

[cainchapman 0]

Gus has obviously been smoking camel dung for his birthday.

A decent set of pads are far better than the pagid's that come on the car.

As to Wilwood, no doubt a better set up. But rotors, calipers, pads, fitting and compliance costs come nowhere near, just fitting better pads.

[Gus 5]

true, race brakes full set of discs, pads and fluid is well over a grand...the willwood full setup prob costs another 5-700 INStalled...which for how much your getting is good. Better race pads on the front arent a bad idea, I have just found the stock stuff to work fine (including puke)

[Silver Fox 43]

Yeah, I'm with you Gus, we have race pads on one car and std BMW on the other, both E30 318's, and don't feel a lot of difference to be honest. Maybe to do with the cars being reasonably light, and having pretty efficient brakes anyway?

[AntonyG 0]

True.. so no ones recommending the EBC pads??

So genuine BMW 325i pads are the way to go?

Willwoods??? Pfft to that, its a stock M20. Not that

powerful

If genuine pads work at Pukie im sure they will be sweet at

Taupo as I thought Pukie was hard on brakes?

Thanks guys, I'll grab some genuine pads on Monday.

Its got near new Lucas pads in there at the moment,

I suppose their probably rubbish?

[Gus 5]

Puke is hard on pads..my setup was new pads/discs/stainless lines, slotted front discs and fresh fluid. you should do fine with new BMW pads, most aftermarket stuff tends to be crap

[Silver Fox 43]

We have red ebc's in one car, but at 4 x the cost, they don't seem that much better? In saying that, they do stop the car slightly better I think, but hard to really measure.

[Andrew 30]

I agree with the others - stock car, stock brakes.

RE the race pads - they just last longer and don't seem to fade is all I've noticed.

[AntonyG 0]

they just last longer and don't seem to fade is all I've noticed.

Thats what im worried about, but I will grab some genuine

pads and see what happens.

Cheers people

[lidistick 70]

Yep, I had stock pads on my E36 328i and the first thing that failed was the fluid. So go and change the fluid first and take it from there.

I was itchy and did the whole lot.

Now all she does is squeal like a virgin.

:0

[AntonyG 0]

Awesome! I change all my fluids except coolant every 6 months so its

pretty fresh. Cheers

[cainchapman 0]

If you are going to track the car regularly. You should go for the braided brake lines.

Not have taken a little, light-weight car to the track. The Race pads have never faded on me, unlike the OEM pads. The OEM ones are fine if you are only doing 5 odd laps at a time.

I have Brembo vented slotted rotors on the rear, and I wouldn't do that again. The standard car rotors are excellent.

I don't remember my Mintex pads being significantly more expensive than the OEM ones. But they have lasted me nearly 4 years of road driving and the odd track day.

You should be considering "return on investment", not cost.

Edited July 7, 2007 by Cain

[bimmerbaz 1]

For what its worth i have run Hawke pads front and rear with new genuine discs. This stops the best i have ever had and no brake fade after a days testing at Puke. You pay for what you get. Why go cheap on brakes when you nedd to stop in a hurry you want to relay on what you got.