Street Car / Occasional HPDE Usage Pads / Rotors?

[wake74]

Between Pelican, AutohausAZ, and RockAuto, there are hundreds of combinations of inexpensive pads and rotors. The brakes on my recently acquired 318ti have clearly not been replaced in ages, so a complete over-haul is required. I have already acquired calipers and brackets from a E36 328i, so I can put vented rotors on the front to replace the current ones.

For a daily driver car, that may see 2-3 weekends a year of HDPE (if it goes beyond that I'll get a set of track pads and swap before each weekend), what would people recommend for reasonably priced combinations? Or does it not really matter on a daily driver on a 318ti?

Thanks!

Glenn

[teen ti]

Ive got stoptech street performance pads and zimmerman rotors which I've found works very well for DD and occasional track duty

[spidertri]

The vented rotors are a must for the track, so good choice there. Stoptech street performance or PFC Z are the pads I'd use for dual duty. I run cheapie centric rotors and haven't had any problems with them but Zimmermans are a nice choice too.

Of course there's the obligatory, "nothing beats dedicated track pads/rotors" sentiment. I think it also applies if you're in a higher run group and you are pushing the car harder. It would be good to have more capable brakes.

[wake74]

Thanks for the comments so far. I'm sure if I start tracking it, I'll head down that slippery slope at some point. I've done a couple of seasons racing an FF, so I suspect the braking / cornering of my 318ti may be a "bit" different.

[raamaudio]

I have had all sorts of track only, street/track, etc cars and many BBKs, stock upgrades, etc, over the years.

I am going to run Bolo Rotors, highly recommended low cost rotors sold to me by Ireland Engineering, I was going to run cryo treated Powerslots but they said I would be happy with the Bolo ones.

328i front calipers, stock rears, rebuilt, SS lines, good fluid.

Hawk HP Plus pads all around.

I should be fine on this very moderate cost setup and it was worked out due to running 15" track wheels for better gearing, 17' for street.

If I need more brake up front I will look into a custom Wilwood setup which has been done before, so I can keep the 15" wheels.

[M-technik-3]

I run a lemons 318is with a S52 and we run stock rotor's and upgraded parts. We get three races out of stock front rotors.

[raamaudio]

Often times BBKs are highly overated, many just do not need them and I am one that has done it all just about, owned most top brands, ran stocks, moderate upgrades to stock, etc.....

I had a very fast, fast enough I passed a full race STI on slicks when I was no street tires, Forester XT, fast enough the head instructor at the track came down from the tower to check out the car and it blew him away I was on street tires...I went from stock with pads, to ducts, to STI Brembos to Stoptechs to finally not crack rotors, etc.........

I have ran faster laps in a Scion TC, took second in a national TT race I would of won if not for blowing it up on a bad tune, on stock brakes with just ducts, good rotors and pads and never a brake issue.

If a 318i/S52 can run stock brakes, then so can you. A very low cost upgrade is 328i front brakes if you need a bit more or like to pound the brakes at the last moment like I do but keep trying to change my ways....even the 328i brakes might not take it in a full street car with a fully sorted out S52(schrick cams, injectors, CAI, 3.5maf, silicone elbow, M50 manifold, headers, exhaust, tune....)

[M-technik-3]

We run a pfc pads and they are predictable. We are trying to come up with some super cheap chinese coil over system for our car now. We need to loose the body roll.

[raamaudio]

PFC is a great pad company indeed. I am trying the HP Plus as lower cost, hope they work out. I have had very very good luck with Carbotech on several cars, they have made me custom pads and shipped the same day so I had them on time for an event, quite a bit more costly than the HP Plus so going that way for now.

[M-technik-3]

We blew through the HP's, tried them first but moved to the PFC's for wear and predictability.

[raamaudio]

HP Plus works pretty well for street, solo and track but a bit dirty, I just wanted to try them, got a set of rears on the way for $60 and a set of fronts I am waiting to make a deal on, cheap as well

I do not think I ever tried a combo pad in PFC, I will have to see what they offer if the HP Plus does not work out.

Carbotechs were great all around but did squeal at times but the dust does not eat wheel finishes as some pads do.

[M-technik-3]

us in red at Monticello Motor Club.

[1996 328ti]

I don't bother swapping track/street pads.
I leave track pads on all the time.
Carbotech XP10 front, XP8 rear.

If you are going to swap pads I think an important thing is to find track and street pads with a similar compound.
One cause of pad deposits can be created by different pad compounds on the rotor.

Or ideally a dedicated set of rotors for track and street.

[raamaudio]

I have used Carbotech pads on several cars with great success. They have made me custom pads and shipped the next day after calling them when I had an event coming up and a brake change I had to do at the last minute.

XP10 and 8 were the ones I used on at least 2 of the vehicles and never changed them. They can make some noise, are a bit dusty but not hard to clean up, none corrosive, etc...but they work great for track, solo and street.

I only drove to the track and back so not used much for street so no idea how long they would last and they are a bit more costly than some options.

I also had them pre bed the pads, not to my rotors but on their machine, it made it possible to not have to do the major bed in process normally required which can be a royal pain in the arse if no good place to do it, back roads at the track are usually frowned upon, on track with other cars about, not so cool..........back roads where you live may not be an option.

I am going to try some HP Plus pads for the first set, if not up to snuff then I will be calling Carbotech directly.

[raamaudio]

Other than that, I have to agree, swapping rotors and pads is the way to go if you mostly drive on the street probably the best option there is.