Subarussian

Just had the 15k mile service and the dealer said that the front pads are low and won't make the next service

He quoted £140ish included VAT and fitting for a pair of Subaru standard pads. Aouch! Is this the going rate for these things?

I would appreciate some advice. I just want to get good quality pads at a reasonable price, keeping all other parts standard.

My concern is that performance pads (mintex, EBC, etc) are harder than std pads and therefore will kill the discs (= more cost!).

My car is a std UK MY00, no track, fast road.

THANKS!

Big Bear

Subarussian
I have had 1144's and I took them out after about 1000 miles , they were crap after 20 miles of spirited backlane driving they were almost on fire . The EBC greens I liked , they took along time to bed in , but once they did they were excellent (only got them to fade once and that was with about 2mm of pad left , at an airfield day) . If you intend to do track days then the EBC's won't last as they are a very soft pad . I got through 1/2 a set of pads in a day at abingdon .
I now have AP kit and these also have 1144 pads supplied as standard , I'm changing these for DS2000's soon . these also might be worth considering .
Dave

GaryC

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:<HR>Originally posted by Subarussian:
<B>Just had the 15k mile service and the dealer said that the front pads are low and won't make the next service

He quoted £140ish included VAT and fitting for a pair of Subaru standard pads. Aouch! Is this the going rate for these things?

I would appreciate some advice. I just want to get good quality pads at a reasonable price, keeping all other parts standard.

My concern is that performance pads (mintex, EBC, etc) are harder than std pads and therefore will kill the discs (= more cost!).

My car is a std UK MY00, no track, fast road.

THANKS![/quote]

Mintex 1155s (c£60) will probably crack the discs, but 1144s shouldn't.

Even better, go for the EBC Green Stuff (c£50) not as high spec as the 1155s, but still better than standard, and alledgedly dust free!

Hoppy

Subarussian, £140 sounds a lot for standard pads but, coincidentally, is the normal cost of a set of Prodrive uprated pads. Are you sure this isn't what you've been quoted for? These are Ferodo DS2000 and are widely regarded as an excellent fast road/track pad. I've used them in the past and am hoping to get a new set for my AP 4-pots. Top notch.

The problem is that the pads will keep working long after the standard discs have given up. As you get used to the extra performance from the pads and start working them, it won't be long before the discs warp. This is why Prodrive supply an uprated disc to go with them. About £500 I believe, all in. Warranty 100% intact.

The EBC discs with Greenstuff pads are often recommended as a similar upgrade (contact Tyres Northampton) and costs under £300. Not tried them myself, though.

Hoppy

RichieC

I would recommend 1155 Mintex. The 1144 is designed as a fast road pad, and is easily cooked after that "spirited drive". 1155 are a good compromise between fast road and competition. They are decent from cold arent bad to bed in and dont squeek much (depends on what discs you have though).

Ive used 1166 in the past and 1177 and they are a nightmare to bed in. They dont work at all from cold and squel like a bugger. Stop like nothing else though but would probably crack road discs in time.

Regards

Richie

Puff The Magic Wagon!

iTrader: (2)

Hoppy

I've had the Brembo conversion & 'cos I needed new pads thought I'd to a cost comparison (wife not know re Brembos ). £167 for Standard MY99 4 pots & £125 for what Pete provides

Overpriced dealer strikes again

Subarussian

Cheers for replies guys.

Hoppy - The dealer quoted £90ish for the pads plus VAT plus fitting, total £140. So no, unfortunately they weren't offering me the Prodrive ones

How are 1144s and EBC Greens different from standard pads? Are they harder? Will they kill the disks quicker than std?

Where can I get the std pads for a reasonable price from?

Thanks for the info!

Big Bear

EBC greens are advertised as kind to discs(made of soft material) . Mintex pads are generally harder than standard and do tend to wear the discs quicker .

Kempo

Subarussian
I changed to the EBC greenstuff pads first and this weekend fitted the EBC Diamond groove disks. I am still bedding in the pads to the new disks and you can see where the pad has not yet started taking the annodised coating off in a couple of places (shouldn't be long though ) and all I can say is whoooaa.

I know there have been a couple of threads on the bb where the ebc combo has been doubted but already I think it is awesome and that's without any real stick!

Various places quote the EBC at around £70 per disk and £50 for the pad set, though I got my disks from Totton Motor factors (Southampton) for £105 total.

For the pads I paid £55 from an EBC supplier - they were really easy to fit, rally car design etc etc (about 45 minutes).

The disks were a little trickier, (ie cracking the MY95 rusty caliper bolts) but still took only 1hr 15 mins.

Cost all in, £160 whereas last year I had the rear ones done by a local garage with scooby oem parts for £210!

Worth phoning round if you go for the EBCs.

YOUNG GED

Hi

I have just tried a set of EBC greenstuff on my 95my and found them to be very bad!!!
They seemed to give no feel at all and this is after several thousand miles.They did work slightly better when given some stick but still didn't feel as good as worn out OE stuff I had before.I'm not alone in disliking them as I've spoken to several others who tried them and gave up like myself.
I've now got some std Ferodo pads in until I decide what to get and after one week of bedding in these feel stronger than the EBC'S
ever did.

But as you can see from above some people love em so as they say you pays your money and yeh make your choice.

Chris

Subarussian

Thanks for the info! Not very clear cut though

Having re-read this and other threads my thinking is as follows:

- I don't want to change the std disks and want them to last as long as possible
- I will probably not do any track days
- I found a "special deal" on the std Subaru pads but even that is about £95 (incl. VAT) - sounds expensive compared to aftermarket pads (but I guess this is the only option that gives peace of mind re: disk life and warranty, or is it?)
- I don't want the brakes to squeal too much

So based on your experience what's my best option?

Cheers,

Andrei


[This message has been edited by Subarussian (edited 04 January 2001).]

[This message has been edited by Subarussian (edited 04 January 2001).]

Silver Surfer

Ferodo DS2000, which are available as Prodrive pads from your dealer. Approx £140.

Thats my view anyway, no noise, work from cold, nice initial bite. Not too hard on discs

Andrew Timmins

In Halfords the standard Ferodo pads for the Impreza are only £25.95.

If you aren't doing any track days these will probably be as good as the standard Subaru pad.

Chris (YOUNG GED) are these the ones you have in your car? Are you still pleased with them? And how are you getting along with the Magnex exhaust these days, not too loud I hope.

[This message has been edited by Andrew Timmins (edited 04 January 2001).]

Iain P

Stick to the standard pads in case you get any warranty issues (cracking disks, eg) and fit some smart cooling ducts!!!!

chambjj

What do you want?
If cheap go to Halfords
If piece of mind get the Std.

If the brakes are not good enough, you have not said that you have had any problems, use Prodrive (road use) or Pagid if you think you might venture onto the track.

Simple eh?

GaryC

Go for Mintex 1155 and save almost £100!

Milky

Agreed, go for the Mintex 1155's. Although you might want to consider uprating your discs to Brembo Gp N (Scoobymania) or similar (Scoobysport e.t.c.).

Darren.

Marcusjames

Waldonway Subaru in Kent tried to charge me £178 + VAT for front standard pads last week. Why do the prices fluctuate so much ? Surely there must be a standard dealer price to supply and fit.

JamesS

Go for DS2000 above Mintex - all compounds!!!

I went through about 5-6 sets of disks with Mintex in all the flavours; 1144 ,1155, 1166. Did a couple of track days and trips to Yorkshire in the first year or so of scoobydom. All the Mintex/Disk combo`s(std warrenty, ScoobySport GrpN, Brembo GrpN) suffered from fade(badly), squeel, and disk eating!!!!!!!!

Had Brembo GpN and DS2000 for about 10months now and they are excellent. VERY good fade resistance, no squeel and very good wear rate on pad & disk with one wetter-the-better course in that time.

PS Got Std 2-Pot on a97MY - stuck with this due to Prodrive 16inch wheels. NO brake upgrade fits - Bar new Scoobysport Pagid set???????!!!!!!!

Subarussian

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:<HR>Originally posted by JamesS:
<B>Go for DS2000 ... [/quote]

Spot on James. I am very interested is DS2000s but can't find them anywhere other than at my dealer for an astronomical price (£140 + vat!!!).

Does anyone know the part number or where I can get them from for a more reasonable price?

Cheers!

GF8

I saw a lot of recommendations of brake pads on Mintex, Ferodo & EBC. AP is also producing two pads (0-450, 50-850) for the WRX that are available in our area.

How does the AP compare with the others?

I am using the AP 0-450 on the front but it cause some noise when I press the peddal lightly.

GaryC

DS2000s are only a 'fast road' pad though, hence compare with 1144s and EBC Green Stuff. In that company they are stupidly expensive. If you want to keep std discs, then a fast road pad IS your best option, and 'dust free' EBC green stuff are about the best and cheapest option at c£50. The DS2000s cost £140 each, if you can find the same pad for a Nissan 300ZX, they are identical to the 4-pot Impreza pad, but cost around £35-40!!

If you want to go to a 'competition' spec pad, then you go to the 1155/1166 (£60-70), EBC Red Stuff (£75), Pagids (£130+) etc etc. These are likely to crack standard discs through, so you would need to spend another £100-150 on better discs. If you go this route, it is also worth fitting braided lines and a brake support bracket. But once you start....

Gary (1155s, Bremsport Grooved discs, braided lines, 5.1 fluid, BSB.. )

gareth

Was seriously considering the Prodrive kit - uprated disks and DS2000 pads at approx £500 - for my MY99. It's a lease car and for warranty comfort I don't think I can consider any of the non-Subaru UK parts. Anyway, the weight of opinion on the BBS seems to recommend it.

When I phoned my local dealer to discuss this(Monks Heath) they said that they had this combination in an RB5 demonstrator for a while and couldn't detect any difference in braking! However, they said that the pads aren't much more expensive than the standard items so are worth trying. This is tempting but I'm concerned about the long-term effect on my standard discs if I don't fit the full kit.

My usage is road only and I'm motivated by safety as much as performance. Now I'm a bit confused over whether to bother with the Prodrive kit at all.

Subarussian

Gareth,

Don't know about the Prodrive kit but I do know that the std pads are £90 whereas DS2000 are £140.

Hope this helps.

gareth

Hi

MHM quoted £140+VAT for the front pads, and £70+VAT for the rears.

The disks would be another £280+VAT. Then there's the labour...

So I guess the Ferodo pads are approx. 50% more than the standard ones. It's not a huge amount but I'd like to think I was getting some benefit...

One other thing, do you know if this sort of mod has to be notified to the insurers?

Subarussian

Yes, I remember reading about the insurance issue. You'll need to check with your insurance company - some will charge extra for this mod. The logic is that if you can stop better you will drive faster and brake later = more dangerous, higher probability of an accident...

As far as performance of the brakes (or any other mod) is concerned I always advocate the "try before you buy" approach. Find someone with the mod you are interested in and meet with them. That's why I will not be doing the bump steer mod (scary!!!), but if I get some spare cash will definitely get a set of APs (wicked!!!).

Don't believe the hype! Always make sure that YOU like it!

Good luck with whatever you decide...