I THINK I have a NEW brake pad question

BGTV8

I have the DBA T3 front and rear on my Z34 and have used Endless MX72 and Ferodo DS2500 and not experienced any squeal at all. I also have used (track only) Endless ME20 and DS3000 but you would never use them on the road - they will chew a rotor to bits in <50 klics.

I recently tried Project Mu HC+ and they can be noisy when cold.

I have never worried about dust - I use a pressure washer on the wheels after each track day and once every 3-4 weeks to keep the wheel surface clean

Tyres: I have used Kumho KU36 (just "OK"), Direzza Spec 1 and 2 plus RS3.

All these will heat-cycle out when used as DD tyres (they typically lose grip once more than 60% worn unless retained purely to track work). Seems like after 25-30K klicks, they give up their best grip - KU36 was the worst, Direzza the best. The RS3 gave the best track grip, BUT they are fairly soft and anything more that 5 lap runs on the circuits I use they overheat and give up - just get really soggy. I suspect that if you kept charging, you would absolutely kill the tyre. I reckon that the RS3 is worth a couple of 10ths over the others (especially at really hi-speed circuits like Philip Isalnd), but it is a lot easier to totally kill the tyre. Overdo an RS3 and you'll find chunks of rubber flying off the tread and maybe casing failure - that is what I mean by killing the tyre. I have a pyrometer which I use religiously to make sure that the tyre temps don;t go overboard.

That said, best compromise option IMHO is Direzza Ver 2 of the tyres I have tried.


Fro track work, I now run 18 x 9.5 square track setup +22 at front and +12 at rear with 265/35R18 A048R Yoki at front whilst I wear out the 275/35R18 NT01R that I have on the rear for a year or more. I used to run NT01R on the front as well but as 245/40R18 on an 8.5 wheel. I found I was wearing out two sets of fronts to one set of rears, so I went wider on the front to give more grip and sicne I cannot get Nitto here anymore, went to the A048.

Once the NT01 rear is worn out, I will run Yoki's all round until the stocks are exhausted (been replaced here by the A050, and the local Yoki dealer still has a lot of A048 stock left), as I am too tight to pay over the odds for the DZ03G Dunlop R-Spec - they are the quickest tyre but they are the most expensive R-Spec you can by in Oz.