Just wanted to ask what you guys recommend as the best brake pads for your Magna... As i need to get my rotors machined i should replace the pads whils't i'm at it...

What happened to you're rotors that you need to get them machined?


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I am getting some brake pulsating when i slow down. Not bad but more annoying.

Yeah, I get that a bit. It seems to come and go though. It isn't particularly bad and doesn't seem to effect braking at all. I didn't notice it on the way to work today after some heavy braking action at the track day yesterday though. Maybe it's glazing??


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I notice mine everyday especially when pulling up at the lights... It seems to grab, let go, grab, let go etc so it's not a smooth braking feeling. Nothing serious just slighlty warped rotors which i heard can happen when driving through puddles with hot rotors...

Bump!

i am interested to know what the best brake pads are too! i dunno, so i wont vote.

Can't recomend Bendix Ultimates enough. They are great. Never warp your discs no matter how hard you push them. No doubt there is better but they are great and feel like standard brakes except they bite better and never fade under most driving conditions.
Some pads change the braking feel of your car in big ways which people dont like.

You can overheat them and get them to fade like a standard pad but you have to be doing some very serious braking which most people would never do unless racing their cars, but you can do that to any pad avaliable in Magna's.

Two negatives i have found (only minor).

1. Make a mess of your rims with black brake dust.
2. They eat discs quicker than standard pads but its a small trade off for good brakes. Discs arent expensive these days anyway.

have been running EBC Greenstuff on front rotors for the last 2 weeks. note they only make them for the front twin pots I think.

so far here is what i've found:

- they need 5+ medium brakings to warm up. until then, they are a bit squealy, don't stop too good, and feel woody.

- little dust (only need a clean now after 2 weeks).

- once warm, you can feel them become soft, pedal feel becomes excellent, and they bite very hard.

so, if you can put up with having to warm them up they are awesome pads. :cool:

Mmm - no votes on Bendix Metal King.........

Ive just stuck a set of Lucas pads in mine and they work a treat, stop very well but are a little dusry.. not very dear either...

Mmm - no votes on Bendix Metal King.........
Are you planning on towing a caravan or doing lot's of *heavy* stop starting. These are really heavy duty brakes.

I'm gonna tryout Lucas pads on recommendation from my mechanic who's a Bendix dealer!

A mate tried metal kings and his experience sounds familiar to jowet's with his Greenstuff. He found that they didnt work that well when cold and really had to hammer the pedal. He got rid of them because he felt uncomfortable driving the car when the brakes were cold.

I personally like bendix advance, moderatly priced and bite very well. I've used them on all my cars and will be putting them on the VRX when its time for a change. The only problem I noticed like all aftermarket pads is brake dust, and lots of it. But as long as you clean your wheels regularly then its all good.

Are you planning on towing a caravan or doing lot's of *heavy* stop starting. These are really heavy duty brakes.

I'm gonna tryout Lucas pads on recommendation from my mechanic who's a Bendix dealer!

Nope - No towing for me but i like to stop hard (or would like to if the need arises) but would like pads that mean that i don't have to put my foot through the floor to stop.

There seems to be varying opinions across most of the brands plastered over the internet and although Bendix Ultimates seem the go i have been told that they eat through your rotors and the pads themselves i can't find for under $170.00 for the front. Apparantly they dont make Ultimates for the rear so very strange!

Hey there Ralliart 410.
I was at Repco the other day and got a quote for Ultimates for my KH wagon.
Fronts $131
Rears $103

That was before any discounts which some people on here seem to be able to get.

I'm not sure what the brake setup is in the Ralliarts in the rear if it is different than standard.

the brakes on my magna have sucked ever since i bough the car no matter what i do.

Got bendix ultimate pads and DBA slotted rotors on the front, still ****.
got rear discs machined and ultimate pads on the rear, still ****. squeakier than ever in fact.

i give up

If that set up you have Tim E isnt good enough then you must be doing some serious work with your brakes.
I and i'm sure others would recomend a brake upgrade to something like the AWD brake setup.

Can't recomend Bendix Ultimates enough. They are great. Never warp your discs no matter how hard you push them. No doubt there is better but they are great and feel like standard brakes except they bite better and never fade under most driving conditions.
Some pads change the braking feel of your car in big ways which people dont like.

You can overheat them and get them to fade like a standard pad but you have to be doing some very serious braking which most people would never do unless racing their cars, but you can do that to any pad avaliable in Magna's.

Two negatives i have found (only minor).

1. Make a mess of your rims with black brake dust.
2. They eat discs quicker than standard pads but its a small trade off for good brakes. Discs arent expensive these days anyway.
These are great pads!! Although I have found under extreme braking/racing conditions they do get a bit of wobble in them.. Not much..

My vote is Bendix Ultimates.

If that set up you have Tim E isnt good enough then you must be doing some serious work with your brakes.
I and i'm sure others would recomend a brake upgrade to something like the AWD brake setup.

actually i am pretty careful on my brakes. For example. a "hard" brake from say 80km/h i would do very rarely, but on the odd occasion that i do, massive brake fade, it will shake the **** out of the steering wheel, and it will just feel so bad that i hate having to break hard.

And b4 u ask about suspension, new kings springs and monroe gt gas all round :nuts:

after talking with several mechanics (not auto parts suppliers like Peps, AutoOne etc... no offence of cause, but they just wanna sell you stuff!) i found that most that had used them recommended Lucas (over even best bendix).... siting common reasons such as:

performance (fade, heat etc) as good as any bendix (most compared directly with ultimates),

better compound (Lucas being Euro has had a lot more experience with non-esbestos based pads as they banned it long ago!)

relatively cheap (mine were about $65/pair fitted)

greatly reduced rotor wear as opposed to most other hi-po pads (especially metal based ones: ie metal kings)


I've had mine in for 5000 kms and they have actually reduced some of the pulsing that i've had!

Hey Tim E. That is interesting that you get warped discs with ultimates especially when you say you dont brake that hard. Mal mentioned to me that he had Ultimates with DBA Slotted and they did the same thing being warping the discs. For some reason it looks like Slotted dont like ultimates.

Anyone else got this combo?

I have Ultimates with standard Discs and i have given them a fair work out to the stage of smokeing the pads and the discs are still perfect. Never had any more warping problems with Ultimates on standard Discs.

Wish I had:
<-------

but I don't, currently Front DBA slotted with Metal King Plus, Stock Rear, waiting for the DBA group buy to go through.

Seeing that I have only tried Bendix normal, advanced and currently using Metal King Plus, I'll only review the Metal King.

Positives: 1) De-warps warped rotors :dancin:
2) Good brake pedal feel (firm feel, unlike the soft feel you get from advance pads)
3) Good linear brake feel
4) Haven't yet been able to over heat it through mountain twisties.
5) Med dust, the Pad eats the rotors more than it dusts.
6) No squeal (ATM)
7) good even wear on the rotor <--- subjective and mostly setup related.
8) about $70 for front (trade price)

Negatives: 1) Pads don't perform very well when cold, takes a few light braking to warm it up.
2) More rotor wear than Pad wear <--- I think it's good, keeps the surface clean and smooth
3) .... can't think of any atm.

P.S, steering wheel shudder could be due to DTV or misalignment of front wheels (this assumes you're on a flat and smooth road surface) If you are 100% sure that your wheels are aligned, then you can have more confidence in saying the rotors have DTV, otherwise it's best to align your wheels first. Do it yourself or go to the shop.

Been only using Bendix Advance for years, but might try something else next time.
I prefer them cos they are soft and gives me better braking adjustment. They do stop eventually and never want to lock the wheels - which is good, maintains steering.
B Ultimates dust more, but are otherwise similar to Adv - nice and soft (from Slayer's Magna).
Dunno why would Ulti warp the disc - overheating perhaps?

Sorry to dig this thread from under the graves.

I have a question about where you guys buy EBC greenstuff from? Do I have to get them to order it in?

Oh and another thing, will EBC greenstuff be too hot for normal DBA longlife slotted rotors?

The general infomation I got from http://www.ebcbrakes.co.nz/interchange/ basically any Bendix pad has an equal in EBC, so more or less they should have pads for anything.

Oh I had a look at the temperature range for Greenstuff, it basically same as Ultimates, at around 550 degrees.

Sorry to dig this thread from under the graves.

I have a question about where you guys buy EBC greenstuff from? Do I have to get them to order it in?

Oh and another thing, will EBC greenstuff be too hot for normal DBA longlife slotted rotors?

The general infomation I got from http://www.ebcbrakes.co.nz/interchange/ basically any Bendix pad has an equal in EBC, so more or less they should have pads for anything.

Oh I had a look at the temperature range for Greenstuff, it basically same as Ultimates, at around 550 degrees.


1. any brake shop should be able to get EBC pads for you. mine came within a day, so there are stockpiles lying about in each city.

2. I was told by a few people (RDA and in less words by DBA + my mechanic) that the EBC greenstuff (and the ultimates) tended to warp DBA rotors after some extreme breaking due to the heat. don't know any truth in this but i went with RDA rotors to be safe (they recommend using EBC greenstuff with their rotors :) .)