"Street" car brake reccomendations
 

Looking at brake recommendations for a 150-ish HP street car. Current pads are crappy unknown brand and noisy as hell. I know you track guys love your rotor eating, noisy and dusty brakes.. But for street driving I'm looking for something as quiet as possible while still good enough for spirited driving / mountain runs.. I could deal with "scrubbing" sounds, just not any high pitched squealing.

The car has little vacuum due to the camshafts leading to inconsistent feel, so I'm considering either a booster delete or vac pump at some point.

I'm thinking the FM LBBK may be a good option w/prop valve, but not so sure about the rear or pad selection.

I've got some stoptech sports that I've enjoyed so far. Good stopping power and no squeaks but they are dusty. It's not corrosive to the wheel but if you want to keep you're wheels clean you'll have to wash them often. I've just said fuck it

Cheap and for a street only car I think they do the job well. Haven't had any complaints.

Personally I think the BBK is overkill for a street only car but I don't drive mountains ever.

Sidenote:

"The car has little vacuum due to the camshafts leading to inconsistent feel"

I've done no research on built n/a engines, is this a common thing?

Thanks for the input, but yes, big cams=little vacuum=crappy brake booster function. Common issue on any car with large camshafts, but not many miata guys upgrade cams.

BBK probably is overkill.

I have stoptech sports on my street na Miata. I like them a lot but they are dusty. I would happily recommend them as a good street pad for anyone else looking for pads on a stock ish power Miata since that is the power level I have exerpience with. I am however upgrading my brakes to something bigger because I have plans for more than 200 whp.

Oh right on, thanks!

Less vacuum just means less assistance correct? So you have to press harder to get the same results? Could try something like this https://www.summitracing.com/parts/sum-g1464 if you don't want to basically deal with power brakes or invest in a vacuum pump setup.

BBK are awesome if you're tearing through brake pads. All depends on how hard you drive your car and for how long. Take all of this with a grain of salt, hopefully someone joins in who has a BBK to give their views.

BBK is overkill for a NA street car. 1.8L brakes are more than adequate for street and most track use with the proper pads.

not only less assistance, but inconsistent assistance. That would be the easiest solution.

3rd recommendation for StopTech Sports. Cheap, wear well, no noise, easy on rotors. Dust is the only con, but that's going to be an issue with any performance pad. Stick with stock calipers, no need for anything else unless you really want the bling.

Another option is the Porterfield R-4S pads; not cheap, but work great, quiet, easy on rotors, fairly dust-free, and work for occasional track days. I also second the stock 1.8 brakes for a street car.

I third stock 1.8 brakes on a street car. Maybe even sport brakes if you want to go crazy

Centric rotors are quality and cheap.
pick a set of CERAMIC pads for street use.
Low dust keeps you clean
nice initial low temp bite.
quiet operation.
decent to your rotors.

Don't expect them to put up with hot lapping.

Another happy user of StopTech Sports, especially for the money. I even used them to lap my local, low-speed track to good effect; they really like a bit of heat.

It should be noted that they're sensitive to being bedded in properly and they'll lose their transfer layer if you never run them hard. Put some heat into them from time to time, though, and they'll stay dead quiet with a civilized cold bite that improves as they heat up. I find the dusting to be perfectly acceptable for what the pad is, and it washes off easily.

If you don't have one already, I'd suggest upgrading the master cylinder to 15/16" (and associated booster) on a street car before going to bigger brakes; the improvement in brake feel is appreciated every time I use the brakes. I got mine from a wrecked MSM for well under $100, and aside from tweaking a couple of hard lines under the hood, it's a plug-and-play swap. Just make sure you get the ABS/non-ABS master appropriate to your car and have your vacuum situation sorted, because you'll be more dependent on your booster.

Thanks for the advice guys.

Yet another vote for stoptech sports. Dust like mad, but way quieter than my friend's HP+s and way cheaper. Only mild issue I have had is that the first stop on a cold morning (35f or less) requires pushing a bit harder.

I had them on 1.6 brakes with 100whp lapping Pocono raceway in the double infield setup. No issues at all.

I'll take dust over noise. Wheels will probably get painted black anyhow

Similar question - I see a lot of recommendations for the Stoptech Sports. Has anyone tried these Posi-Quiet pads from Centric? I hear good things and they're half the price.

Does anyone know how they might stand up to about 225 whp? How might they compare to the Stoptechs, say after 3 hrs on mountain roads? Thanks.

I think that going with the less performance-oriented pad from the same brand that produces an affordable, proven product when you know you plan on pushing the pads hard is a bad place to try to save $50.

I currently have a set on my Miata. They are pretty alright, except the initial bite is lacking. It's fine for a daily driver but not the most confidence inspiring when you want to have some fun the twisties.

Awesome, good to know. I’ll order the sports today.

Thos are daily driver pads. Not play pads. I faded mine on a set of S drives with 95whp and about 2min of 8/10ths on a back road.