Ferodo Brake Pads For Sport Package
 

I was just Googling some stuff and ran accross these. Brake pads are on my list for the "recommended" upgrades needed to do the occasional track day as has been discussed on the forums.

I had Brembo GT BBK on my Supra and G35 and both used Ferodo pads. I used them for daily use and about 2-3 track days a year on both cars. They were always great in terms of performance at track days. They never faded or had any issues. On the street they never squeeled or were unusually dusty. I'll have to go back and see what series they were but I just wanted to throw this out there so others would know they were an option. One of my buddies is an engineer at Brembo USA and it's what he recomended for me all the time (for my type of use).

I ran accross them here: ***EDIT*** the site will not let me link the shop but here is the verbage

bad link foo

Ya the forums inserted the link with a bunch of asterisks....

It was on a site called Outperformanceshop.com

DS2500's are NOT track worthy pads.

DS3000's are alright, but they overheat too.

Was a vendor here at one time.

^ Thats where I got my coilovers, from Dan.

So I asked my friend and the Ferodo's that come on in the Brembo kits have a compound proprietary to Brembo....

The Ferodo DS2500 is the same compound that is shipped in Brembo Big Brake Kits. Ferodo makes it for Brembo as a private label, and Brembo calls it the FM1000. There's a lot of debate about this on various forums, but it is the same. Brembo reps will tell you otherwise, because they charge a lot more $ for their version of the pad and want you buying from them!

J Ritt has never held a set of FM1000's and a set of DS2500's side by side.
You can physically see distinct differences in the make up of the compounds...and anyone who has gone a step further and driven with both compounds will also tell you they are definitely different.

The rumors about them being the same compound is due to the fact that when an FM1000 is not available from Brembo for a rear application, we have recommended DS2500 as having similar characteristics for people trying to run matched compounds front and rear.

Here's one of the conversations Jeff is referring to from a BMW forum...
http://www.m3forum.net/m3forum/showthread.php?t=266101&highlight=brembo+Ferodo+DS 2500+FM1000

If you don't want to read the whole thread...this post gives you the just of it...
BMW M3 Forum.com (E30 M3 | E36 M3 | E46 M3 | E92 M3) - View Single Post - Street Pad = FM1000 or Jurid

Not to show anyone up, but the friend I mentioned is a personal friend of mine. He is also the Cheif Engineer at Brembo USA and has no reason to lie to me. If he says it's different I believe him.

Also RCZ is saying in his opinion the 2500 Isn't that great on the track. I probably don't push as hard, but on lapping days at both Button Willow and CA Speedway I never had a single brake issue with the pads I ran that came with the Brembo kit. They were awesome.

Does Ferodo have brake pads for the rears for Akebono Sport calipers. I got the Brembo upgrade coming in and would like to match the pads for front and rear.

I'm kinda surprised this is a subject of discussion still. IMO If you are going to track the car, get Carbotechs; they are much better and competitively priced. Use the stock brake pads on the street so you aren't squeeling and dusting all the time.

My last reply was in reference to the pads that come on Brembo GT kits, not Ferodo pads for stock calipers.

Yes, Ferodo DS2500 and DS3000 are available front and rear for the Akebono calipers. I'll put the part numbers up on Monday when I'm back in the office.

This is the key point. Neither DS2500 or FM1000 is a great track pad. Both are street/track pads. They would be fine for a lighter, less powerful car on the track. The 370Z is not that. It is heavy-ish and high HP. (I consider anything over 3000lbs. heavy, and over 300hp high hp). I'd recommed a full-blown race pad if you want to go fast with the 370Z on the track, particularly if you're using R compound tires. Hybrid street/track pads are a compromise.

Come on Gary, you know better than that.:shakes head:

On top is the DS2500 for the Nissan GT-R. On bottom is the Brembo FM1000 that fits the Brembo Mono6 caliper. You can see a few extra specs of copper in the DS2500 on these particular pads (and a few larger chunks of bat wing, eye of newt, or whatever it is on the FM1000's), but it's obvious that the overall texture and composition is the same. You're always going to see some variance between pad batches (and even pads within the same set)...they'll never look exactly the same. If I dug through our warehouse, I'm certain I could pull one of each compound out that looked completely identical.

As a point of reference, I threw a third pad into the mix just to show what a truly different compound would look like (CL Brakes sintered pad).

I'm not going to argue this point any further though. Both compounds are a good street/track compound, but neither is a great full out race pad on a heavy, high hp car...regardless of whether it's on a BBK or the OEM Akebono's. Customers can choose what they want, who to believe, etc. I'll give my pad recommendations based on their needs and situation. :tiphat:

As a final note, I gave them the taste test as well...the Ferodo's definitely taste almost exactly the same.:yum:

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