Are autocross pads easier to fade than OEM pads based on the fact that they generate more heat?

I faded my pads on my 20 min drive home from work today. That has never happened with my OEM pads.

Maybe the pads need some kind of burn in where you have to smoke them at least once before they are good.

The pads are Axxis Ultimates and they were installed 3 or 4 weeks ago.

 

faded - as in more effort to stop, usually from continious stopping from high speeds? Sounds like you have other issues unless you live at the bottom of a really long hill.

 

Did you follow the pad break-in procedure that should have come with the pads? I've heard that this is critical for Axxis Ultimates. (and other hi-po pads) The break-in consists of just what you mentioned: usually about 10-hard stops to get the pads smokin' hot, and then allow them to cool.

Give this StopTech article a read. The topic is "warped brake rotors", but it really talks a lot about pads. Good stuff.

 

did you fade the pads or the fluid?

faded pads will NOT stop...

faded fluid will make the pedal feel like complete mush, but it will, sorta, slow down.


my guess would be fluid. You shouldn't be able to fade oem pads at an autocross, much less pads built for performance on your drive home.

Fluid should be replaced at least every year, and use a good fluid. I like Valvoline's DOT4 stuff. Cheap, available.

 

I just went out and did some hard stops. After 6-7 hard stops from 50-60 mph the pads are SMOKING and have severly decreased stopping power. Pedal isn't mushy at all, just hard. It does have a TINY bit of increased travel though.

Fluid is valvoline and less than a year old, but wasn't changed with the pads. I didn't change the pads or rotors myself. After I got the car back, the next day I noticed the reservoir was overflowing. Maybe some air or water was introduced somehow. I guess I am going to try a flush and then start from there.

 

if you didn't install them are you sure they are the pads you bought? mine got grippier as i was breaking them in though i have hawks.

the initial break-in period is vital to the pads life/effectiveness.

hopefully the flush works

 

break in for my hawks on the protege was....

5 30-0 stops, done gentley
3 stops 50-0, intermediate
2 stops 70-0 HARD

let car sit at least 2 hours. have fun.

 

Just went back out and did a bunch more hard stops. They seem good now. No smoke and no fading. I guess you have to practically catch these things on fire to break them in.

 

There ya go.

It's got to do with transferring brake pad material to the rotor.

Glad to hear they're working now!

 

Yeah, that was it. The rotors and pads are a different color now. I guess 4 weeks of hard street driving and a Sunriders autocross weren't enough to break them in.