Anyone try Brembo "Low-Met" Pads for AutoX or track use?

I’m wondering if anyone else has tried Brembo “Low – Met” brake pads? 

See the link below about their specs: Brembo Low-Met Pads

It says:

“carefully selecting materials for our Low-Met brake pads, we’ve built a friction compound that can handle high temperatures without sacrificing performance.Brembo Low-Met pads can sustain up to 750 °F/400 °C without experiencing brake fade. That makes them the perfect pad for those who enjoy a more dynamic drive with frequent bursts of heavy braking.”

Is an upper temp range of 750 degrees “enough” for Autocross and Light track use?

I’m not intending to track the car outright for HPDE, but in the next year I want to take a half day car control class with an instructor, and I do want to get out and do more spirited mountain driving in the NE Georgia mountains.  It’s not like going out and doing the Trail of the Dragon every weekend, but some of them are pretty challenging. 

My car is a 2016 Chevy SS and it comes with OEM Brembo 4 piston calipers all around.  I’ve read the OEM pads came with Ferodo compound which many people said were excellent and could hold up to 2-3 track days.  They were marked “Ferodo HP1000+”. 

These “Low-Met” pads don’t have the same markings, and Brembo wouldn’t confirm to me that it’s the same compound, which is why I’m hoping someone can chime in about their own experience with these pads.


 

I've used hawk pads on track and here are some numbers for their optimal ranges (not max ranges)

Hawk DTC60 - 700-1100 F optimal temperature range
Hawk HP+ - 300-600 F optimal temperature range

I've used both on track in fairly light cars (Integra, Miata) with no problems. The Hawk HP+ seems to have a similar temperature range to those Brembos that you posted, so it might be fine depending on your car and driving. The Chevy SS seems like a significantly heavier car so YMMV.

RyanGreener (Forum Supporter) said:

I've used hawk pads on track and here are some numbers for their optimal ranges (not max ranges)

Hawk DTC60 - 700-1100 F optimal temperature range
Hawk HP+ - 300-600 F optimal temperature range

I've used both on track in fairly light cars (Integra, Miata) with no problems. The Hawk HP+ seems to have a similar temperature range to those Brembos that you posted, so it might be fine depending on your car and driving. The Chevy SS seems like a significantly heavier car so YMMV.

Thanks, that's a good frame of reference for temperature ranges.

Yes, the SS is definitely heavier, comes in at about 4,000 lbs.

Bumping this one last time before I probably pull the trigger on these later today.

I feel like I've done an exhaustive amount of research now and I'm leaning towards them because I'm seeing some more helpful info.  DOT Friction ratings for these are "GF" which probably mean a bit better cold bite and decent higher temp range.  A full on "track pad" is usually a GG or HH rating for a dedicated track pad.  

Ferodo HP1000/ Brembo FM1000s appear to be the the standard compound supplied by Ferodo for Brembo's aftermarket GT "Big Brake kits", and people compared them favorably to Ferodo DS2500 pads.  DS2500 pads are "FF" friction rated, so in theory these "Low Met" pads are grading out similarly to DS2500 pads. 

I still feel like this gives me some confidence in these, and hope that maybe they are similar to the well regarded Ferodo compound.  

If anyone has some first hand experience with the "Low Met" pads I'd love to hear from you.

750* is enough for autocross but not anywhere near enough for that heavy of a car on a real track. So it's up to what you want to do with it. But there's really no such thing as an "everything" pad anyway so this is probably a decent choice for your intended use, just know that you'll need to swap to something better if you do ever want to do track driving.

dps214 said:

750* is enough for autocross but not anywhere near enough for that heavy of a car on a real track. So it's up to what you want to do with it. But there's really no such thing as an "everything" pad anyway so this is probably a decent choice for your intended use, just know that you'll need to swap to something better if you do ever want to do track driving.

Yeah, I'm finding more and more that such an "all - purpose pad" doesn't exist.

I guess at this point I'm hoping it's better than stock for some mountain drives and infrequent auto-crossing, and if I decide to do a real HPDE day I'll have to invest in a true track pad for that purpose.

^ For that they should be fine. Obviously keeping fluid in good contion and getting air to the rotor/caliper/pad area is also very important to get the most out of the pad. 

Contradiction said:

dps214 said:

750* is enough for autocross but not anywhere near enough for that heavy of a car on a real track. So it's up to what you want to do with it. But there's really no such thing as an "everything" pad anyway so this is probably a decent choice for your intended use, just know that you'll need to swap to something better if you do ever want to do track driving.

Yeah, I'm finding more and more that such an "all - purpose pad" doesn't exist.

I guess at this point I'm hoping it's better than stock for some mount drives and infrequent auto-crossing, and if I decide to do a real HPDE day I'll have to invest in a true track pad for that purpose.

You'd be surprised by how much ducting air to the brakes helps. 

A buddy went through this with his street driven vintage race car; tried all manner of pads and finally built some ducts...........problems solved. Note he was required to use the standard calipers per the rule set.