Hi there.

Have a v6 and replaced the front discs with Ferodo DS discs. HUGE DIFFERENCE!! Well worth the money.

Are currently using Ferodo Premier pads. Have a little brake squeal at crawling speed but nothing major.

 

Which discs are you going to get? My Tarox Sport Japan slotted rotors (don't know what pads - am guessing Tarox/RedDot) are quite a bit better braking combo on my V6 than standard discs and DS2500s on my JTD. The V6 has braided hoses though, so maybe that might be why it seems to have more bite.

I would advise using those pads that Trailbraker trialled for Ned, Performance Friction is their name I think. TB said they were as good as DS2500s but more streetable.

 

I use Ferodo DS Performance pads on my 156 and I found them to be a substantial improvement from the OEM pads. The old pads did work ok but they did not inspire confidence whereas the DS pads do.

A cheap and worthwhile upgrade

 

I use Ferodo DS Performance pads on my 156 and I found them to be a substantial improvement from the OEM pads.

Are you using then with standard or performance discs?

 

Standard disks, the originals were in good condition and so far brake fade is hard to achieve. I drive a lot in the Lake District and they still work well when braking on very steep inclines. Therefore I have not felt the need to change the disks

I suspect the disks and pads might not be great for use on a track but for road driving they provide confidence and a better feel compared to the original setup

 

Thanks for that mate. I think I'm going to go with a similar set up.

 

I am using Tarox disks with DS2500's, Castrol SRF Fluid and Braided lines...Brakes are great for such a heavy car...

We sell a lot of Performance friction pads and disks while i have not tried them in the GTA i have used them in an Evo and found them to be very good but very very squealy even with shims and chamfered edges on the pads when used with std disks.However they perform perfectly when used with PF's own disks

 

Hi Phil,

I'm guessing that it is the perfromance friction PFC01 race pads that you are referring to as squeely? These are the more extreme race oriented PF pads.

I tried the Performance Friction Z-rated carbon metallics which are 100% silent on my car!
As quiet as oem if not quieter, but brake better than DS2500 and stonkingly good cold performance.

BTW I posted a review plus telemetry comparing vs DS2500's on this thread:

http://www.alfaowner.com/Forum/alfa.../alfa-gta-and-gt/100479-review-of-performance-friction-pads-with-telemetry.html

Cheers,
TB

We sell a lot of Performance friction pads and disks while i have not tried them in the GTA i have used them in an Evo and found them to be very good but very very squealy even with shims and chamfered edges on the pads when used with std disks.However they perform perfectly when used with PF's own disks

 

I forgot to mention squealing, I did read on this forum that some people had this problem but (from memory) they were using uprated disks. Someone suggested using Ceratec to coat the back of the pads, I had some squeal for the first few miles but thats all.

My biggest concern was how these pads worked from cold, I have rather horrible memories of using upgraded pads from 20+ years ago where they only worked when very hot. No such problems with the DS, they worked just as well as standard pads in sub zero temperatures

 

It could have been me who suggested using Ceratec.

 

This is the stuff made by Mintex is it? Non-metallic lubricant for brakes and other things ...

According to one web site, you shouldn't use metallic greases ie copperslip on anti-lock brakes ... bet most people here do!

Not expensive. I've found it for £2.49 a tube on camskill so might give it a go as my pads are squeaking again ....

 

In which case thanks, it was a great suggestion

 

I had DS Performance pads fitted to replace the original equipment items, staying with the standard disks at last service nearly one year ago (very professionally carried out by BMC) & have to say have been fairly disappointed that there was no significant improvement. The brakes still seem to lack real bite when you need to stop very quickly, may be marginally better at slowing from higher speeds !! Whether matching up with new disks would have made a more noticeable difference ?? (existing disks are in good condition).

 

Oh.

 

I have a set of Brembo slotted discs and pads (Ferrodo** made for brembo) on the front of my 147 2.0 TS and they are really excellent. However there is sometimes a very slight squeal when finally comming to a stop at slow speeds. But for the feel and the braking I would rather have the slow 'squeal'. The standard brakes on my 147 were effectively dead and lifeless with poor feel and inadequate braking

NB the cost of the Bembos and pads were the same as just a front set of OEM Alfa Romeo discs Talk about over priced factory parts.....

** supposedly DS2500

 

I was running Tarox Corsa pads on stock discs and braided lines on my 147, and it improved braking feel and efficiency over the previously soft and spongy setup. Unfortunately, the hard pads cut into the discs and it squealed a lot at low speeds. I recently put in Tarox G88 front discs and it's made a tremendous difference - braking is even sharper and feels meatier, while it rarely squeals.

 

I rarely get much squeal from my DS2500 pads but they are fitted to Brembo calipers so the piston action is different to standard single piston calipers so this might be why.

You can get anti squeal shims which are basically a thin piece of metal which goes between the piston and the pad - dont know how well these would work on single piston calipers

And of course you should replace the brake fluid with a good quality Dot4

 

General brake squeal can be cured by shims or coppaslip etc but specific problems with the DS2500 with squeal and poor low speed rapid stops are most likely caused by the pads needing to be bedded in properly. I say this because I suffered it myself from time to time and because it happens on all marques of car.
Bed them in as recommended when you first get them and they shoudl be fine. The problem is that people do that then drive 'normally' for 5K miles. These are performance pads and need some harsh and hot stops from time to time to keep them at their best.
I personally never found a better pad for cold temp effectiveness, lack of brake fade and all-round excellent progressive feel.
Oh - and I had braided lines too, I really think they help with the 'feel'.

 

Stick with the DS2500 Roswell.

The Red Dot fast road pads are good and better than OEM. So maybe they would be a good idea.

Not as good as Ferodo DS though.

 

Well I've been running on them for the past 6 months and they are good. I've cooked them a couple of times though after some enthusiastic driving.

Like I said. Ferodo!

 

Kind of different here but I have Brembo drillied discs and EBC greens all round, never squeals, always stops with good force, never fails and the ABS hardly ever has to kick in (unless i go over a wet grate or something!!).

ps I have coppergrease on mine and haven't noticed any problems....

 

I'm running DS2500's. I think a modicum of pedal finesse is required but they really are worth the money. They have soo much more bite and thermal capacity.

 

Yep, I am with Black Diamond cross drilled discs. They have now done 30k and are going strong. Plenty of wear still on them, probably because I never actually slow down!

 

Roswell, I tried the DSPerfs as a streetable road pad recently, they were pretty good, and a big improvement over OEM.
I even tried them on a track day not expecting them to be great but they were actually suprisingly non crap and WAY better than oem.

DS2500's do brake harder for track use than DSPerfs as you would expect - about 12% difference in braking effort as I remember from telemetry.

Honestly though the Z-rated performance friction would stomp all over the DS-Perfs though, maybe get a price from Ned or demon tweeks ?

 

...Honestly though the Z-rated performance friction would stomp all over the DS-Perfs though, maybe get a price from Ned?

Would they be suitable for normal day to day driving including city centre stop/start and sub zero temperatures

 

Absolutely, I have done 2 thousand normal road miles with the Z-rated now, and lots of rush hour stuff unfortunately!

Cold perfromance in cold conditions was petter than DS-Perf, way better than DS-2500, and way way way way better than DS3000 :lol:
Also better than oem..


I haven't tried them in seriousy artic conditions mind but certainly sub zero over the winter.

 

I think I'll be going with Performance Friction for my next set of fast road pads.. I think I mentioned these earlier on in the thread

 

Just for the record I only tried them with cross-drilled AD discs, but I'm sure they would be fine with oem ones too..
No harm getting a mild disc upgrade too though.

 

No harm getting a mild disc upgrade too though.

I fancy some Brembo discs but they seem very expensive.

 

I won't be taking this car on the track.

 

the u don't need performance discs....i'm not being patronising or sarcastoic but....apart from looking nice performance discs aren't much use for normal everyday driving, they're a lot noisier and the initial bite isn't just as sharp (IMO). they're good if stopping from high speeds though....

 

If brake fade is not likely to be an issue I would consider staying with the OE disks