Confused about front and rear brake pads

[crash32]

Hey guys after my post and doing research I have decided to purchase PFC08 pads for my M3 along with Castrol srf fluid for it's first track day.
I am a bit confused as when I googled these pads for my car I had to go to the third page of results to find rear pads. 95% of the stuff that they sell are front pads. After doing some research I have found that some people just focus on the front braking system. Should I get pfc08 pads for the front and rear or just the front? Sorry for the dumb question, but I wanted clarification before placing the order.
Also, seems like the price that I am finding for the front pads are around $230. What is the best place to order them from price wise?
Thanks guys!

[dparm]

Originally Posted by crash32

Hey guys after my post and doing research I have decided to purchase PFC08 pads for my M3 along with Castrol srf fluid for it's first track day.
I am a bit confused as when I googled these pads for my car I had to go to the third page of results to find rear pads. 95% of the stuff that they sell are front pads. After doing some research I have found that some people just focus on the front braking system. Should I get pfc08 pads for the front and rear or just the front? Sorry for the dumb question, but I wanted clarification before placing the order.
Also, seems like the price that I am finding for the front pads are around $230. What is the best place to order them from price wise?
Thanks guys!

The front brakes are doing much more work than the fronts. I don't know how the proportioning valve is set for the M3, but it's typically 70% front / 30% rear. At low speed and around town, your rear brakes might not even be stopping you at all.

I assume you are going to swap the PFC08 pads for track days and run a mild street pad? If so, just put the same compound street pad on the rear. It should be sufficient for the track. Many of us take that route.

There's nothing wrong with running PFC08 in the rear, but if you are swapping pads at the track it will just take longer for a very marginal improvement. I certainly wouldn't want a more aggressive pad in the rear than the front. (in other words, don't just run PFC08 in the rear all the time but swap fronts out for track use)

I always order from Zeckhausen. Decent prices and outstanding customer service. They know their stuff so don't hesitate to ask for help. Track pads are going to be pricey but you'll get what you pay for.

[crash32]

Thanks a ton for your input. Is it ok if I order new OEM pads for the rear instead of mild street pads (whatever that might be)? Just to clarify... I should be good ordering the pfc08 for the front pads and oem for the rears? Sorry, but when you said mild street pads I was not sure if the oem pads fell under this category.

[dbyrd]

Originally Posted by crash32

Thanks a ton for your input. Is it ok if I order new OEM pads for the rear instead of mild street pads (whatever that might be)? Just to clarify... I should be good ordering the pfc08 for the front pads and oem for the rears? Sorry, but when you said mild street pads I was not sure if the oem pads fell under this category.

Get the Stoptech Street pads for the rear and leave 'em in until you're running in the advanced run group. You should be able find them for around $70.

[///Mobbin]

^+1

And actually Stoptech Street Performance pads are now sold as "Stoptech Sport" pads, so you should get those.

Stoptech Brake Pads

[dparm]

The StopTech pads should be fine in the rear. They're dirt cheap and should last pretty much forever. A slight step up would be the Ferodo DS2500, but they're way more expensive.

[crash32]

Perfect, will look into those now. As far as the Stoptech street pads go..... Are they quiet on the street just like the oem ones?

[dbyrd]

Originally Posted by crash32

Perfect, will look into those now. As far as the Stoptech street pads go..... Are they quiet on the street just like the oem ones?

They are completely quiet with a little less bite. They will not leave pad deposits on your rotors like the OEM pads will. The DS2500 are great, too, but they may squeal and are more pricey.

[///Mobbin]

Originally Posted by crash32

Perfect, will look into those now. As far as the Stoptech street pads go..... Are they quiet on the street just like the oem ones?

Perfectly quiet.

[tadmcmichael]

Originally Posted by crash32

Hey guys after my post and doing research I have decided to purchase PFC08 pads for my M3 along with Castrol srf fluid for it's first track day.
I am a bit confused as when I googled these pads for my car I had to go to the third page of results to find rear pads. 95% of the stuff that they sell are front pads. After doing some research I have found that some people just focus on the front braking system. Should I get pfc08 pads for the front and rear or just the front? Sorry for the dumb question, but I wanted clarification before placing the order.
Also, seems like the price that I am finding for the front pads are around $230. What is the best place to order them from price wise?
Thanks guys!

I ran the PFC08s front and OEM rears with good results a few weeks ago. However, once worn I will be switching the rears to the Street Performance pads from Stoptech that everyone else mentioned.

[dparm]

Originally Posted by crash32

Perfect, will look into those now. As far as the Stoptech street pads go..... Are they quiet on the street just like the oem ones?

Yes, they are the same noise level as OEM.

The DS2500 didn't squeal on my last car, it had more of a grinding/crunching noise when really cold. Still tolerable and barely noticeable over standard road noise/stereo.

[crash32]

If the Stoptech street pads have less bite than the oem pads then why are you guys using them for the rears? Is it a cost issue?
Do they have a much longer life than the oem pads with the cost of wee bit less performance?

[tadmcmichael]

Originally Posted by crash32

If the Stoptech street pads have less bite than the oem pads then why are you guys using them for the rears? Is it a cost issue?
Do they have a much longer life than the oem pads with the cost of wee bit less performance?

OEM pads are known for leaving deposits. Not as big an issue on the rear, but I would still feel better with the Stoptechs.

[dparm]

Originally Posted by crash32

If the Stoptech street pads have less bite than the oem pads then why are you guys using them for the rears? Is it a cost issue?
Do they have a much longer life than the oem pads with the cost of wee bit less performance?

Just because the initial bite is lower doesn't make them lower performance.

The argument would be that too much initial bite makes pedal modulation/brake feel poor. It might impress people because the car feels like it's stopping faster, but I would much rather have linear response.

[crash32]

dparm, that makes sense. Thanks for explaining

[silvergray545]

If you've never driven on PFC 08s before, please be aware that the cold bite is very weak. I would say the initial cold bite on my street pads is more aggressive than the 08s. When you get on track, be sure to get some heat into the brakes before trying to dive into the corners.

[SYT_Shadow]

I've tried using different pads front and rear. I do not recommend it.

I was running PFC12 (equivalent of PFC08) front and PFC Z rated (similar to Stoptech street) in the rear. The bias was clearly off, which is inevitable. It's a compromise solution, but like others say, at the track many make compromises
I ended up complaining about the braking performance of my car to the vendor and upon checking I realized I had mistakenly put the PFCZ pads in the rear instead of the PFC12s!


Before I had a bbk I'd swap all 4 brakes to PFC08. It's a pain to do but it provides the best performance. If I had a month between track days I'd swap them, if not I'd just use them on the street.

There is plenty of bite in those pads for street use but they are noisy when coming to a full stop.

[DB]

Originally Posted by SYT_Shadow

I've tried using different pads front and rear. I do not recommend it.

Before I had a bbk I'd swap all 4 brakes to PFC08. It's a pain to do but it provides the best performance.

There is plenty of bite in those pads for street use but they are noise when coming to a full stop.

Agreed and same here. I certainly didn't think my car felt right with less aggressive pads in the rear than the front...seemed to have too much front brake bias and made the rear feel light when braking hard. Two things fixed that for me: 1) using same pads front and rear (I think Turner may even recommend a slightly higher bite pad in the rear...at least I think they did with Pagids...but I don't remember for sure), and 2) a stiffer suspension set up that took away some of the dive under hard braking.

[jphughan]

I ran PFC 08 in front and StopTech in the rear on track for years without any issue, and I fully admit I did that rather than PFC 08 all around so that I'd only have to swap pads in my front BBK rather than also dealing with the rear where the whole caliper has to be removed. So OP if you're up for swapping all around, full PFC 08 would indeed be superior, but it's not completely necessary IMHO. But get rid of OEM or you'll mess up your rotors with OEM pad deposits. That issue which didn't go away for a month after a track weekend, so I took it to the dealer, who goodwilled replacement pads and rotors, but I knew they wouldn't keep doing that, which is what prompted me to get StopTech pads in the first place. I initially ran those all-around on track until I reached the advanced groups, which is when I got the 08s.

Good note about the 08s not being great cold. They're not terrifying, but they definitely lack some bite. The StopTechs on the other hand work just like OEM on the road in all respects and resist fade and risk of uneven pad deposits much better than OEM on track. They don't last quite as long, but they're inexpensive.

Another option that may be available in E9x M3 sizes is PFC 11 all around. I'm consistently reading that they're almost completely silent on the road, work fairly well cold, don't dust more than typical street pads, are friendlier on rotors than 08s (which are fairly hard on rotors in exchange for long pad life, especially drilled rotors), last nearly as long, and bite a bit harder. Lots of Porsche track rats seem to run them all around full-time as a result.

[silvergray545]

Originally Posted by DB

Agreed and same here. I certainly didn't think my car felt right with less aggressive pads in the rear than the front...seemed to have too much front brake bias and made the rear feel light when braking hard. Two things fixed that for me: 1) using same pads front and rear (I think Turner may even recommend a slightly higher bite pad in the rear...at least I think they did with Pagids...but I don't remember for sure), and 2) a stiffer suspension set up that took away some of the dive under hard braking.

I agree. You are almost altering the brake bias. You essentially are stopping the car with mostly the front brakes. Run the same pads on all four corners. And for those of you saying the rear brakes don't do much, I can try to dig up a picture of my REAR pads that were starting to crumble after one day on a previous car.

Brakes are never something you should cheap out on. Forget the entire performance benefit. The safety issue is what you should be concerned with. You need to make sure you can slow your car down safely. Any type of street pads does not belong on the track.

[SYT_Shadow]

Originally Posted by jphughan

Another option that may be available in E9x M3 sizes is PFC 11 all around. I'm consistently reading that they're almost completely silent on the road, work fairly well cold, don't dust more than typical street pads, are friendlier on rotors than 08s (which are fairly hard on rotors in exchange for long pad life, especially drilled rotors), last nearly as long, and bite a bit harder. Lots of Porsche track rats seem to run them all around full-time as a result.

Wow, this really surprises me. The PFC11 is a racier compound than the PFC08/12 which makes plenty of noise on the street. I'm surprised it makes less noise!

[jphughan]

Originally Posted by SYT_Shadow

Wow, this really surprises me. The PFC11 is a racier compound than the PFC08/12 which makes plenty of noise on the street. I'm surprised it makes less noise!

Surprises me too, but although I haven't run them myself, that's what I'm consistently reading. Technology improvements, I guess!