Looking to buy some pads that are better than the junk I have on now (don't ask).

I'm ideally looking for something that is:

-average to below average dusting
-average to below average noise
-above average performance (particularly fade)
-don't need to be warmed up to work as I expect in the middle of the winter on a -22F day I'll die.

Some that have been suggested: Monroe Ceramics, EBC Green, Wagner Thermoquiets, Satisfied Pro Ceramic

Any other suggestions? Nissan OEM is an option, not completely sure where they fall in the grand scheme of aftermarket brakes.

This would be for daily and 'spirited' driving, no autocross etc.

Thanks,

 

I just bought a set of front rotors (just blanks) and Akebono Pro ACT Ultra-premium Bake Pads (front and rear) and rear rotors from autopartwarehouse.com and partsgeek.com and I only spent about $200 for everthing!! The pad are ceramic (less brake dust than racer pads). I guess it all depends on if you have a commuter or a racer.

I live in WI, so it does get a little cold here too. If you replace your pads and rotors at the same time (highly suggested..IMHO), you will get the the best seating of the pads to the rotors. Be sure to bed the pads...I believe there is a How to already written in another section of the forum.

If you are planning on doing-it-yourself, be sure to clean and grease the caliper pins too!! I had one pin which was frozen. This causes all havoc on not getting the grip required for maxium braking performance.

 

Ummmmm not true. Have your factory dicsc ground at the local autoparts place. Usually around 10 bucks each or so.
I agree 100% with the bedding statement though.

Also, stay the hell away from prb axxis anything. Worst dusting pads I have EVER run.

Currently I have the ebc green stuff and they are really not that bad. Factory seemed to dust the least amount from what I can recall. Can't comment on the akebono or whatever.

 

The main reason why I say replace rotors is because they are relatively cheap and if there are grooves in them, like mine; I just wanted the assurance of new parts. Granted, you can get bad-new rotors which would be a You can get them resurfaced, but if you are already deep into changing the pads, you might as well change the rotors while you are at it.

 

I ran Hawk HPS on my Civic SI in rural PA for awhile. Worked great. Can't say it ever got colder than 10 degrees F.

 

OEM pads. Best of all your criterion. Usually the better stoppin pads have hi dust and the quietest ones usual don't stop as well as the high dust

OEM

 

Yeah I'm actually going to replace all 4 rotors, all pads, and the two rear calipers (in January one of the pins was seized on the rear caliper, I sanded it smooth, regreased it, and it ended up seizing again I think as I can hear it grinding nicely, so I'm just going to replace them both). Has anyone used Satisfied Pro Ceramics? I haven't read a bad word about them while searching the web, whereas the comments on the Monroe's are luke warm, and the Wagners people seem to enjoy the low dust and quiet, but not so much the stopping power.

I am considering OEM as well, as in addition to what B_Eaze said, it also gives me a 'factory' baseline to compare future pads to.

 

I have been running the Akebonos Ceramics now for about 4,000 miles and I like them so far. I wanted to install my new brakes a few months before the snow starts to fly. I wanted to be sure I had the brake pads well seated before then. Since having a MT, I can slow down with the clutch and downshift and not have to completely depend on the brakes to do everything....yes, some of you may say " you're going to wear out your clutch faster", but I feel it is much safer to do this than slide out of control with just braking on slippery WI roads.

I did completely clean out my caliper pins and they so far seem to be activating as new....like I say, so far....I spent close to 2 hours per front caliper pin sets. If any of the pins seize, I will just need to break down and pick up some new calipers

 

go to brakeperformance.com... have yet to find a better overall site for anything related to brakes.... especially the prices

 

The mistake i made is the one pin was pitted and I likely didn't smooth it down enough even though I regreased it.

 

I have to disagree on prices, they have no name SS brake lines for $193 vs Stillens site $119. Pads are $30-45 which is a bit more than Autozon and I would think they have same quality as duralast and such. Also Autozone gives LT warranty so you can just bring in you old pads when they're done

 

Do you think there's any truth to the comments that 'if a pad has a lifetime warranty that's because it's wearing out your rotor instead of itself'? or do you think it's just a marketing scheme to get people back in the store?

Also what is the best place for genuine nissan pads, I know my local dealers will try to rape me.

 

Dave B
Courtesyparts.com
everythingnissan.com

Dave B usually beats the others prices by a few bucks

As for autozone pads, they wear normally but once they need to be changed you buy a new set, install them and return the old worn set for a refund. Essentially, you only pay for them once. But they aren't the highest quality and make a good amount of dust, actually a lot of dust

 

You shouldn't really worry about brakes as much as tires for winter driving. Spent 7 yrs in buffalo covering news. Most people had an extra set of wheels w. winter tires on them. ( all 4, perferably ).

 

I plan to do that as well, my concern was just that if I got pads that were even slightly 'performance', I was worried they would need to be warmed up to be really effective, which might translate into needing to be warm to be effective all all when the temps are below zero F.

 

Well I ended up getting rotors locally, satisfied pro ceramic pads from tirerack.com, calipers from autopartsway.ca, and some ATE Super Blue from Amazon.com, I'll report back in a couple of months after using them all Thanks everyone for your input.