StopTech Street Performance brake pad review

Ok so I looked up in the "Reviews->Brakes->Pads" and did not see a review on "StopTech Street Performance brake pads".

 

Does anyone here run with them on their LGT? and if so ...

 

Let's heard your thoughts, concerns and comments about the pads.

I run Stoptech pads and so far I have been enjoying them...beware they are a little on the dusty side and must be "bedded in" when installed. I can't really give details as I have no performance moss or do any heavy braking but they have been great in just everyday driving.

Bumping this up to the top. About to purchase these by recc of m sprank along with centric rotors for the front (running stock rotors and a ceramic pad in the back until time to upgrade). Additional reviews?

I have them on my LGT and I like them so far. they will get dusty if you dont wash every week or so but inital bite is nice and they are great. for the price ($65 shipped) IMO they cant be beat.

I have the Stoptech's on my Brembo setup & I like them so far. They are much better than the Hawks with about the same amount of dust. I actually prefer the Axxis Ultimates for great initial bite but got tired of the huge amount of dust. I think the Stoptech's are an ideal balance of initial bite & reduced dust level.

See my post in an earlier thread:

<snip>

 

I'd also skip the StopTech Street Performance pads. I never used them on my LGT, but they are decidedly inferior in every way to stock STI pads. The StopTech pads did dust a lot less, but they were noisier, performed worse, and felt worse.

 

That said I'm sure the StopTech's are better than the OEM LGT pads, which were horrible. Absolutely horrible. I think you can find better aftermarket pads than the StopTech's however. And yes, good pads dust. That's just how it is in my experience.

I like the StopTech pads a lot so far. Yes dustier than stock, but that seems to come with the territory. Very good initial bite. They always seem to work well and don't require heating up like a lot of other pads. For a daily driver like mine (where temperatures swing about 100 degrees winter - summer) I am very happy with them.

Does anyone experience steering wheel shaking under heavy braking with these pads and stock rotors and calipers?

is the shake coming from the steering wheel or the brake pedal? If it is coming from the steering wheel, more than likely your rotors are warped. I have that going on with my car as we speak. The rotors that are on it are crap. They are ebay special slotted rotors that were on the car when I bought it. I would replace the rotors and pads and that should cure your problem. I just ordered brembo slotted and cross drilled rotors and I have the stoptech ceramic pads going on them. This is what you need to try. Take your hands off the steering wheel when you brake and see if your car pulls to one side or the other. If it pulls hard, the piston on your caliper is bad. If theres not pull, your calipers are fine. If the shake is coming from the brake petal, it means the problem is with your rear pads or rotors. Hope that helps.

It has been talked about a lot, the warped rotors are caused by the pad not being able to shed dust. The guy's here convinced me to switch to Hawk HPS pads. Since then the problem has not returned.

Thanks for input. I'll try changing pads first if it helps. If not, I guess starting a piggy bank for upgrading rotors and pads.

is the shake coming from the steering wheel or the brake pedal? If it is coming from the steering wheel, more than likely your rotors are warped. I have that going on with my car as we speak. The rotors that are on it are crap. They are ebay special slotted rotors that were on the car when I bought it. I would replace the rotors and pads and that should cure your problem. I just ordered brembo slotted and cross drilled rotors and I have the stoptech ceramic pads going on them. This is what you need to try. Take your hands off the steering wheel when you brake and see if your car pulls to one side or the other. If it pulls hard, the piston on your caliper is bad. If theres not pull, your calipers are fine. If the shake is coming from the brake petal, it means the problem is with your rear pads or rotors. Hope that helps.

You realize there is no such thing as a "warped" rotor, right? Rotors don't warp, it's a build up of debris/brake dust on the rotors that causes the pad to not sit flat on the rotor and alters the rotor's thickness at various points, which causes the steering wheel wobble. You can even read it from StopTech, not just from me: http://www.stoptech.com/tech_info/wp_warped_brakedisk.shtml

I run the stoptech pads F&R with Centric premiums, stainless lines and ATE TYP200 fluid. Great brakes for DD duties. Great bite and I'd imagine minimal fade with spirited runs, though I haven't tested that yet.

 

I also run the same pad on my Z32, F&R without issues. Yes, they are dusty. I have never used a good pad that wasn't dusty. They are not noisy, and they stop good.

The StopTechs crapped all over my rotors too. Had horrible vibrating when braking and have since switched to HPS. No problems since.

The StopTechs crapped all over my rotors too. Had horrible vibrating when braking and have since switched to HPS. No problems since.

 

Slotted rotors or plain finish?

The cryo treated Centric Premiums.

 

I tried several times to "scrub" them and even pulled them and lightly sanded and put a clean finish on the pads. Helped but got bad again right away. Did the same light sanding when switch pads and have since been good.

Interesting

I've been running the StopTech brakes now for daily and track use with no issues on my Brembo setup. But as everyone else mentioned, they dust a lot! However, they wear much better than any other brake pad I've used at the track, so that is a big plus.

You realize there is no such thing as a "warped" rotor, right? Rotors don't warp, it's a build up of debris/brake dust on the rotors that causes the pad to not sit flat on the rotor and alters the rotor's thickness at various points, which causes the steering wheel wobble. You can even read it from StopTech, not just from me: http://www.stoptech.com/tech_info/wp_warped_brakedisk.shtml

 

this is absolutely not true at all. have you ever put a used rotor on a brake lathe and seen the gap between the rotor and the cutting bit fluctuate? have you ever hooked a dial indicator up to a rotor and spin it and see the amount of runout? rotors can definitely become warped.

this is absolutely not true at all. have you ever put a used rotor on a brake lathe and seen the gap between the rotor and the cutting bit fluctuate? have you ever hooked a dial indicator up to a rotor and spin it and see the amount of runout? rotors can definitely become warped.

 

I understand what you're saying, but that gap is caused by deposits on the rotor (read: friction material). It's not the physical warping of the metal. I've been through it twice on the LGT with factory pads. I guess StopTech is wrong too? Did you even take a minute to read?

I understand what you're saying, but that gap is caused by deposits on the rotor (read: friction material). It's not the physical warping of the metal

 

Bingo. If you actually did a material analysis on the material removed by turning a rotor, you'll see it's not iron, but pad material.

still after reading that im not fully convinced that rotors dont become warped due to over heating.

still after reading that im not fully convinced that rotors dont become warped due to over heating.

 

If the rotor became "warped" due to over heating you would never feel it if your caliper slides were working correctly. If the rotor were warped, the caliper would just move with the rotor having now perceptible problem.

 

However with the thickness variation causing the problem, the piston is forced back into caliper, and that is what you feel as a vibration.

even if the slides were working perfectly, theres no possible way they could keep up with the rotation of the rotor. and the variation in the thickness pushing the piston back in is not even plausible. to push the piston back in the caliper it would have to overcome the force applied by the fluid which is very difficult.

If the rotor thickness variation does not push the piston back into the bore, then explain to me why the brake pedal vibrates upon front wheel thickness variation or as you like to call it warpage.

 

As for the slides, that is one of the advantages of a floating caliper design such as that on our cars.