Brakes for a daily
 

First of all, I feel like this is more of a M.net question but when I search there I end up reading comparions of which brakes look cuter, which wasn't exactly what I was going for.... so I came back over here.

My car has 130k on it, I got it with 105k and it had what appeared to be the original pads on it. I changed them out with the cheapest local parts store brakes I could find and went on my way. The cheapo pads are squeeling a bit now and I'm looking to do something a little bit better.

Is there a good way to know when the rotors should be changed? Should I go ahead and do them now or check their thickness? Any recomendations for a pad/rotor for a daily that sees some spirited driving and an occasional uncompetitive autocross?

Rotors are like 25 a piece, I say just change em out.
Hawk HPS or HP+ for pads maybe.

Surface/change rotors when you change rotor compounds, or when they hit minimum thickness, or when they develop thermal cracks. HP+s are my street pad favorite.

I just bought some hawk HP ceramics for my MINI. They are said to have good bite while being low noise /dust. I would have gone for the HPS but I really really don't feel like having any dust (factory bmw pads are a nightmare).

From what I read go with the hawk pads as mentioned above. Ill let you know how I like mine after I install them.

I've run HPS and HP+. Both squealed like whores and dusted like whoa. I'd not run those for street brakes. The dust is corrosive if it gets wet. Not wonderful for the street.

Axxis Ultimates dist like mad, but at least they're quiet. But they dust like MAD. Some folks call them Dustimates.

Porterfields R4S chew up rotors, but they don't dust quite as much as Ults or Hawks.

I LOVE Mintex red box for the street. Zero dust yet the pad has bite and it's pretty quiet. I tried convenient Raybestos pads and they are terrible, with so little bite they're dangerous.

Are you sure you're not thinking of the Blues?

I've never run HPS on my Miata, but I've got them on my Audi right now and there's zero noise, very little dust, and no corrosion evident in a moderately rainy winter.

--Ian

I ran Porterfield R4S on my Talon and loved them. A little rough on rotors but worth the extra bite and heat resistance.

I have EBC Green's on my Miata because they were on it when I bought it. I have no complaints thus far, but really have not abused them for any extended period of time.

I ran EBC green on a previous car and they worked well, low dust / noise.

I'm running unknown pads on the miata right now because they don't dust much, are decent bite wise and are silent. They were new when I got the car and are the same as what that dealer puts on the other cars he sells (BMW/Merc).

PBR pads were terrible in my experience, REALLY fast wear, decent bite but holy dust!

With stock hardware the car likes to front lock pretty intensely, generally the RF is first. ABS or not, that just covers up the issue at first.

Try low bite front pads like a ceramic with high bite sport rear pads.

Also make sure the calipers are well bled, lubed, the rears adjusted and so forth.

The rotors are likely okay, you can check thickness to spec.

hawks hps or hp+

Watching this thread. I've got porterfield r4s on the car now and they are just as noisy and dusty as the carbotech xp12's they replaced for the off season. Worse yet the cold bite sucks. Sad when a track pad is better on the street than a supposed street pad.

Options are a little more limited for me now that I've got the Wilwoods up front and rx7 calipers in the rear.

Noise and dust are my top priorities for a street pad. Try a ceramic?

Interesting, I had the exact opposite observations. I tried XP8s but they were too noisy for street use. Also, I had to make damn sure to keep a good coat of wax on the car because the dust was really a problem. I have found the R4S to be much quieter and less dusty. The R4S only make noise when the slider pins need to be lubed (at least in my experience).