C230 Mulac

Anyone had experience with these Brembo ceramic pads? http://www.tirerack.com/brakes/brake...05&autoModClar=

Looks like they showed up on Tire Rack fairly recently. I currently have the Akebono ceramic pads and am happy with them, but I am going on a trip 5/10 into the mountains to do some hard driving on the switchbacks and want to get something more performance oriented to help with brake fade. 2 years ago, I took a trip with my C230 and had the Akebono pads and Disc Italia rotors and at one point after a few hours during the day, I floored it down a straightaway and was slowing down from around 100mph to stop at a pull off and rest with my buddies and I was freaking out b/c there was almost no brake power from the overheating.

I know that EBC yellows are good since they are for the track, but I also hear EBC reds are good if you mostly use the car for the street and not so much the track. I want to replace at least the fronts before the trip b/c I'm afraid of the same problem happening this year with the C55 and these Brembos could be a viable option and are cheaper than the EBC pads.

Sorry if this has been discussed, but I've been searching the forum all morning for anyone using these Brembo pads and could not find anything other than people that use the Brembo big brake kit. These are for the stock calipers.

Input is greatly appreciated!

Viper98912

Interesting find, hadn't seen those before. I also run Akebonos for the street and love them, but definitely would not take them on a track day or hard mountain run.

firstshadow

Have you been running upgraded brake fluid? Once the fluid overheats, all the pad/rotor performance goes out the window.

I have used ebc red and yellow pads, not too impressed with how they hold up.

C230 Mulac

I have not been running upgraded brake fluid, may have to try that out. I haven't had this issue with my C55 yet, it only happened that one time on a hard mountain run with my C230. The C55 does have the larger 4 piston brakes too though, not sure if that would help at all. Other than the brake fluid, I'm worried about when the pads heat up so much that they glaze over.

As far as EBC red and yellow, when you say they don't hold up, are you referring to durability or performance, or both?

Thanks for the advice.

firstshadow

I would say both. They start crumbling/chipping and falling apart, and also the rate of brake dust goes up. Stopping distance, not sure. They don't feel as good compared to when they were fresh out of box.

C230 Mulac

Well that really sucks...I don't want something that will fall apart so easily.

Maybe I'll just go out on a whim and get the Brembos and write a review for you guys a bit later. Brembo has a solid reputation so they should be good. Other ones I may look at are the Disc Italia. I know the Disc Italia rotors were awesome on my C230, so I'm thinking the pads will be the same.

firstshadow

We've got some porterfield pads on our C63 and they're absolutely wicked, I'll probably spring for those next brake change! A bit pricey but definitely worth it.