Hey all. I'm getting ready to replace my brake pads (thinking about Axxis Ultimates or Carbotech Bobcats) and thought it may be a good idea to put a set of the aforementioned (never thought I'd use that in a sentence) pads on the rear, and OEM replacements/AEM pads on the front. Car weighs ~3000lbs w/me in it. 62/38 wt. dist. (according to what I've seen, I haven't weighed it). My front pads currently show much more wear than the rears, proving that the rears for the most part are just along for the ride.
So, will better pads in the rear be helpful?
I was a little worried that if I went with better rear pads, then when I trail brake I won't get the same rotation as I do now.

 

did you read these two articles yet?
http://www.stoptech.com/whitep...e.htm
http://www.stoptech.com/whitep...s.htm

 

IMHO, moving up to a race pad in the rear won't significantly change your brake bias. Race pads won't necessarily stop the rear tires better, but they will resist fade and will perform more predictably under race conditions compared to a street pad. That being said, I currently run OEM honda shoes in my rear drums and I have been very happy with them.

Based on the pads you have mentioned above, you're basically looking at high performance street pads rather than race pads. If that's the case, you might want to upgrade the rears with the front but I wouldn't pour a ton of money into the rears. Your front pads will still do most of the work and will wear out much faster (I'm currently on my third set of front "race" pads and still have the OEM Honda shoes in the rear with plenty of life left).

 

I know many of the E Stock MR2 drivers run aftermarket pads in the rear and OEM in the front (I run Axxis Ultimates all around), and they all say it improves the brake bias.

 

I ran cobalt gt-sports on all 4 corners of my hatchback, gsr brakes and found the rear locking up before the front. This was making my backend squirrley. During sessions i put my axxis ultimates on rear and bias was back to normal. I will personally never run the same pad front/rear again.

 

Having front pads that wear much faster than the rear does NOT mean you have too much front brake bias. So - first, make sure you really do have a problem.

However, if you do have too much bias - you can ABSOLUTELY change bias with pads. I've been doing this for years on my MR2. But be careful - if you mix pads that have different temperature charachterisitics, you may find your bias changes as they heat up.

Currently, I race on Panther Plus (CF .54-.56) up front and Panther XP (CF= .58-.60) in the rear. This works terrific to cure the natural front bias in my MR2. I'm sure you can get similiar results with some combination of stock pads, bobcats, ultimates, and or metalmasters for a street/autox car.

Do what I did. CALL CARBOTECH!! These guys are awesome, and know the brakes they sell. IF you really want to change your bias, ask them for a combo for your car. They sell all aforementioned brake compounds.

 

Tyson: I did read those articles, and the first was what got me thinking about different pads fr/rr. I'm in STS, so a proportioning valve is not in the cards otherwise that would seem the better way to go.
Travis: Sorry, I should've mentioned that I autocross, so fade is less of an issue than if I were racing.
I still have a few days before I order some pads, so I probably will give Carbotech a call.
Jake, does running different pads have any effect when trail braking? Or do you even have to trail brake with a RWD mid engine?
Tahnks for the responses. Any others?

 

With more rear bias, you'll get even more rotation when trailbraking. But no, it isn't really needed with an MR2 - a properly set up MR2 rotates very easily, maybe too easily!

When I autocrossed my MR2, I used Metal Masters up front, and Carbotech Kelated Metallic pads in the rear. This was a few years ago, so Carbotech may have better stuff. But with this combo - the pads worked great cold and increased rear bias nicely.

 

im sorry to be WAY OT. i didnt want to start a thread. but would Ate superbl00 fluid do any good in the clutch resevour? or should i just stick to regular DOT3/4 fluid (or whatever it calls for)

 

It would work there, but I doubt it is needed. I don't think the clutch fuid gets that hot. I think I still have fluid from 1987 in my car and I've never boiled it.

 

It does help alot. I run Hawk blue pads front and rear for now. Till new pads get made. And i can out brake most cars in the class.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Tyson &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">did you read these two articles yet?
http://www.stoptech.com/whitep...e.htm
http://www.stoptech.com/whitep...s.htm</TD></TR></TABLE>


I'm bringing this thread back from the dead . . . .

The first article seems to be the same article (word for word) that's published in the Feb 04 GRM. I was thinking about the article a lot lately. I'm in the market for some new front pads, but was wondering if increasing the front bias with "better" pads might cause the opposite effect.

I currently run OEM front pads and read shoes on a 99 Civic DX coupe. Will adding more braking up from to a car that has rear drums offer too much front bias? Is this necessarily a bad thing in a car that likes to plow through turns (no rear anti-sway bar)???

The two different pads I'm looking at are Cobalt GT-Sport and Axiss Ultimates. This will be for street and HPDE driving, maybe an occasional Auto-X

Any advice will be appreciated.

Steve

 

nobody knows anything about brake bias?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by nonsense &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
I currently run OEM front pads and read shoes on a 99 Civic DX coupe. Will adding more braking up from to a car that has rear drums offer too much front bias? Is this necessarily a bad thing in a car that likes to plow through turns (no rear anti-sway bar)???
Steve</TD></TR></TABLE>
I don't know much about drums v. discs, but don't the drums grab with more force?
Since it turns out (from the above advice) that you can make noticeable changes with pads, I've decided to go with AEM pads up front and Axxis Ultimates in the rear to get the rear pads to do some work.
In your case, I'd guess that you have less front bias than I do, so you might want to pick up some front pads then see how it drives.

As for more front bias being necessarily bad, I think it depends on how you drive. For me, I decided it was necessary because I trail brake a lot, and with such a nose heavy car, more front bias would only be worse.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by travis &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">IMHO, moving up to a race pad in the rear won't significantly change your brake bias. Race pads won't necessarily stop the rear tires better, but they will resist fade and will perform more predictably under race conditions compared to a street pad. That being said, I currently run OEM honda shoes in my rear drums and I have been very happy with them.

</TD></TR></TABLE>

My question would be what rotor temps do the rear pads see vs. the fronts. I'd then pick a pad to work best within these temperature's. Then adjust front to rear bias using the brake pad CF rating.