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Brake Pads - Type Approvals and "Not For Road Us"


Wile E. Coyote

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With many owners in the same boat as me  (wanting high performance braking but to keep the car’s braking system legal) I’ve done some research into the key issues and acceptable brake pad options.  

 

Please note: the information below is shared in good faith with no guarantee of current accuracy or comprehensiveness.  If in any doubt about a pad's suitability for your vehicle consult an expert (which, for the avoidance of doubt, I am not!)!

 

 

Background

Most owners looking at braking will have seen a bewildering array of pads including:

  • Conventional road pads
  • Fast road/track day pads
  • Pads marked as “not for road use” or similar.

 

It transpires that some of this is driven by some “helpful” standardisation regulations devised to ensure that aftermarket braking products perform similarly to those supplied as original equipment.

 

The regulatory bit... 

The United Nations “Uniform provisions concerning the approval of replacement brake lining assemblies, drum brake linings and discs and drums for powerdriven vehicles and their trailers” – better known by its document reference number, ECE R90 – is designed to ensure that braking systems perform as expected, even when parts are replaced.

This involves vehicle manufacturers putting cars through a complex type approval process as follows:

 

3. Application for approval

3.1. The application for approval of a vehicle type with regard to braking shall be submitted by the vehicle manufacturer or by his duly accredited representative.

3.2. It shall be accompanied by the under-mentioned documents in triplicate and by the following particulars:

3.2.1. A description of the vehicle type with regard to the items specified in paragraph 2.2. above. The numbers and/or symbols identifying the vehicle type and the engine type shall be specified;

3.2.2. A list of the components, duly identified, constituting the braking equipment;

3.2.3. A diagram of assembled braking equipment and an indication of the position of its components on the vehicle;

3.2.4. Detailed drawings of each component to enable it to be easily located and identified.

3.3. A vehicle, representative of the vehicle type to be approved, shall be submitted to the Technical Service conducting the approval tests. http://www.unece.org...WP29-78-r2e.pdf

 

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Wow, great post, thank you!

As a side note, I use the DS1.11s up front and they have been excellent on track, they do need a bit if heat though (or the mindset that the first few applications will need a bit more braking effort for safe road use).

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Many many thanks for your time and effort.

Very valuable, and thankfully confirms I'm OK with my choice for road.

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Great work Chris, I know just how long it's taken to get this far and the work and perseverance required.

 

Very well done.

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No problem chaps.  Hopefully it will come in useful for other members (albeit a shame that many of TMD's products remain a grey area).

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Excellent, many thanks Chris.

 

It may also be worth contacting Alan at Questmead. In my opinion Alan is one of the most knowledgeable people around for brake pads. Look his number up on google. They are in Rochdale (or near as they may have moved).

 

By the way, when I was talking to him about pads for the Elise, he suggested Mintex 1144 over the Pagid as it was 90% as good for 50% of the price. He would not be wrong had he told me Pagids are the best and taken twice as much money from me.

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Thanks for the suggestion, Norman.

 

Based on your prior recommendations, Alan would normally be on my list to call but for this research I wanted info direct from the manufacturer (so that, if I had a bump and got into difficulties with insurance, there wasn't going to be a risk that the manufacturer would turn round and say their distributor got it wrong/wasn't authorised to make such statements).

 

Real shame as I've used Mintex on other cars with good results, and Pagid have a good reputation, but their lack of response to an entirely reasonable question means they won't be getting my business.  Feel much more comfortable spending my money on, for example, Ferodo products where they genuinely couldn't have been more helpful...

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An excellent post and clearly a lot of work has gone in to getting the answers. Should this be moved to FAQ?

Jen

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Indeed it should. Your wish is my command!  ;) 

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An excellent post and clearly a lot of work has gone in to getting the answers. Should this be moved to FAQ?

Jen

 

Good point Jen, I've moved it now, but I've left a link in Tech Talk that will guide people over here to the FAQ

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Very helpful and comprehensive. Well done. However, who knows what make Westfield stock and supply?

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Great bit of research

It's a real shame about 1144 no comment status :(

Maybe you should email them a link to this thread so they can see what a no comment status can do to your credibility in the eyes of there costumers

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Wile, just to clarify, I wasn't suggesting Alan could provide an answer only that he seems to know all there is about pad material.

 

Interesting how he started the business. He went to the Indianapolis 500 and got to talking to the pit crews. As he was in the brake business he looked at their pad material and thought it was one step up from compressed straw. Next year he took so track pads with him and sole them to some of the pits. They couldn't believe the power of the brakes and in fact, one of his customers won the race.

 

He then built a big mail order business to the States racers and has never looked back.

 

And to top it off, he's a nice chap.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Couldn't agree more about Alan at Questmead, he really knows his stuff. Put some 1144s on my westy last week much better feel and performance. Like you say Questmead are a genuine company and won't sell you something you don't need. They supply loads of race/ rally teams and the results prove their knowledge.

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