GaryC

Anyone tried Kevlar pads?

Supposed to be very good - operate up to 600 degrees, mintex like stopping power, but as kevlar - no dust!!!

Keen to know what they are like on the road

Tim Bomford

I have a set of EBC Green-stuff pads on my R19 16V,I think these are supposed to contain kevlar. You stamp on the pedal and can stand it up on it's bonnet! They are not dust free. The wheels get dirtier than ever before! They are excellent at stopping though.
Tim

leaskc

A friend of mine (on the BBS as Campbell) was talking about this to me earlier today... apparently early Lotus Elises were shipped with Aluminium Metal Matrix discs which minimised brake dust.

I think he said there was some kind of manufacturing problem and ultimately the Lotus went back to cast iron discs (with resultant increase in weight - a concern on an Elise!)

I'll point him at this thread and see if he has any further info...

Cameron

Campbell

Rumour has it that Brembo are now manufacturing said Aluminium Metal Matrix Compound (MMC) brake discs, having taken over the rights to the product from Lanxide Corp of America.

No official news yet of the parts being available through Lotus for retro-fit, but it may just be a matter of time. I believe one can order the brakes through independent vendors, however.

I think certain Porsches are now running MMC brakes, so maybe also only a matter of time before discs are available to fit other makes?

Aly brakes run at massively lower temperatures than cast iron, do not give off dust, and do not need replaced over the life of the car. The pad material transfers onto the disk as the pad wears, so the brakes actually get better as they get older :-) The main problem suffered by early Elises was the lack of stopping power the first time you apply the brakes in very wet conditions. The water penetrates the pad a little, and needs "boiled out" before bite returns. Second dab on the pedal normally restored the usual braking action, but by that time many motorway tailgaters had already changed their underwear at least once ! Various deflectors were designed, but I believe work is currently underway to develop a more water-resistant pad compound.

You'll get more on this topic with a post to alt.cars.lotus. Don't let on you're Scoob drivers, like ;-)

Campbell