Where do you guys buy brakes?

Self-explanatory...

I was taking a pre-Dragon inspection of my car yesterday night, writing my budget, drinking a beer, etc...

And found that my rear brakes have held up just fine. (Not surprisingly.)

My fronts.... i need new rotors, and while i don't NEED new pads (only about 5000 miles on them) i would like to move up a little bit while i'm in there.

The sticker: While i realize that performance brakes aren't (and probably shouldn't) be cheap, why the parts are literally 3x more expensive for a 92 celica vs. a 93 Escort are beyond me.

So, for the following three things, where do you guys typically find yourself going to for the best prices/service?

1) Rotors. Nothing fancy, just no cheap chinese-ready-to-crack dealies.

2) Pads. Nothing crazy, not looking to spend $200 just on an axle set of pads, i've had EBC Yellowstuffs in the past, and i was really happy with them. I realize that you guys tend not to like them because they don't seem to hold up to extended track days and all that, but that's not in this car's immediate future.

3) High temp brake fluid.

Who is your vendor of choice? Both in website and brands for the items i'm looking for.

Thanks!

I got the ones on my bimmer from perlicanparts..

I have gotten hawk HPS pads from tirerack

mad_machine wrote: I got the ones on my bimmer from perlicanparts.. I have gotten hawk HPS pads from tirerack

Nifty site... i guess i should have specified it was for my Camr-COUGH-Celica...

yesyes.. I know. That is why I specified where I got my hawk pads from.

I tend to get a lot of stuff from zeckhausen.com They are a Stoptech distributor and carry their cheaper option from Centric. The Centric rotors are very very nice and are plated so they don't rust out and are typically the same cost as the brembo blanks if not cheaper for some cars.

Another favorite is c2racers.com when I was local to them

I still don't know of a good place to get brake fluid online. Typically the shipping is more expensive than the fluid. I try to find a competitively priced local shop for that.

my car has brembo rotors, carbotech bobcat brake pads, and napa brake fluid, and it seems to work pretty well.

I get rotors from NAPA and Hawk brake pads from race Shopper .com

I use Brembo blank rotors (tirerack is good for these)

Hawk HPS pads are nice for street/light performance use on a budget (tire rack or bestbrakes)

Ate brake fluid

mad_machine wrote: yesyes.. I know. That is why I specified where I got my hawk pads from.

I'm just teasing, i appreciate it. I guess i never realized how cheap HPS pads were relatively.

I buy mine locally.... www.performancedrivenllc.com Local guys, running an honest shop and good prices. Can't always compete with teh online stuff at times, but it's usually within a few dollars. I'd rather keep the local guy in business.

Gearhead_42 wrote: I use Brembo blank rotors (tirerack is good for these) Hawk HPS pads are nice for street/light performance use on a budget (tire rack or bestbrakes) Ate brake fluid

Will the HPS pads hold up to autocross... and the toughie: Will they hold up to 4 runs up and down Deal's Gap at an cough "spirited" pace? Last year i got fluid fade with the Yellowstuffs, and i plan on remedying that aspect, but i'd be a little disappointed to go back this year and find that my pads aren't up to it. 318 hard turns in 11 miles, it's at least 15 minutes of hard gas/brake/gas/brake/gas/brake etc... 318 times in quick succession with what feels like 2 seconds per cycle.

I bought Brembo blank rotors from TireRack on a regular basis until I found that Autozone's crap Duralast rotors are about the same quality and half the price.

I've given up on Greenstuffs, OE, and cheapo pads. Not sure where I'm going from here.

Bobzilla wrote: I buy mine locally.... www.performancedrivenllc.com Local guys, running an honest shop and good prices. Can't always compete with teh online stuff at times, but it's usually within a few dollars. I'd rather keep the local guy in business.

I have a buddy that works there at their shop, i guess i didn't realize everything that they did. I'll have to give him a call and see what he can get me. They're doing a cage for me this summer.

Ah... yes. Dave does MAGNIFICENT work... I saw his recent CRX Bolt in roll cage. Looked amazing. Dave is also my co-driver for the coming year in the Swift and we'll likely be installing a roll cage in it for the harnesses as well.

Bobzilla wrote: Ah... yes. Dave does MAGNIFICENT work... I saw his recent CRX Bolt in roll cage. Looked amazing. Dave is also my co-driver for the coming year in the Swift and we'll likely be installing a roll cage in it for the harnesses as well.

Yeah, i know The Mondays. One of them has their car up in reader's rides here. It's the white 4-door neon with the SRT4 swap. The one that i know better has a 10 second 2-door 1g ACR. He's the one that works there. They both have amazing cages in their cars done there.

93celicaGT2 wrote: Will the HPS pads hold up to autocross... and the toughie: Will they hold up to 4 runs up and down Deal's Gap at an _cough_ "spirited" pace? Last year i got fluid fade with the Yellowstuffs, and i plan on remedying that aspect, but i'd be a little disappointed to go back this year and find that my pads aren't up to it. 318 hard turns in 11 miles, it's at least 15 minutes of hard gas/brake/gas/brake/gas/brake etc... 318 times in quick succession with what feels like 2 seconds per cycle.

Drive within the limits of your equipment. I messed around down there in my P5 for a whole weekend on autozone cheapie pads. Yeah, they were gone (and really stinky) at the end of each run but came back in the time it took to turn around somewhere. You really shouldn't be driving hard enough there to have the brakes go away completely. It is a heavily policed public road after all...

Also, if you're getting fluid fade (as in pedal to the floor) you need better fluid, not better pads.

skruffy wrote:

93celicaGT2 wrote: Will the HPS pads hold up to autocross... and the toughie: Will they hold up to 4 runs up and down Deal's Gap at an _cough_ "spirited" pace? Last year i got fluid fade with the Yellowstuffs, and i plan on remedying that aspect, but i'd be a little disappointed to go back this year and find that my pads aren't up to it. 318 hard turns in 11 miles, it's at least 15 minutes of hard gas/brake/gas/brake/gas/brake etc... 318 times in quick succession with what feels like 2 seconds per cycle.

Drive within the limits of your equipment. I messed around down there in my P5 for a whole weekend on autozone cheapie pads. Yeah, they were gone (and really stinky) at the end of each run but came back in the time it took to turn around somewhere. You really shouldn't be driving hard enough there to have the brakes go away completely. It is a heavily policed public road after all... Also, if you're getting fluid fade (as in pedal to the floor) you need better fluid, not better pads.

They didn't go away completely... just got a longer pedal throw by quite a bit. Wasn't to the floor yet. Better fluid is on my shopping list. I was on gross cheap autocrap fluid last year, which wasn't my brightest idea.

I guess i should rephrase my question: Are the HPS pads comparable to the Yellowstuffs?

I've been down there a few times... luckily my car is slow enough to keep me from blatantly ridiculous situations. It's a perfectly entertaining road to try to stay at the 30mph speed limit anyways, but a lot of brake work is involved.

I'm not like the stereotypical (and rightly so from what i've seen) S2000 guy that likes to see how many times they can crack triple digits on that road. I don't feel like killing anyone. The bikers scare me enough as it is.

I ran US 52 through West Virginia from the Ohio line all the way down to Virginia state line, about 170 miles, with about 80 of it like TotD. Did those on Hawk HPS and oreilly parts rotors in a 2800lb car with 9.9" rotors and rear drums. Never felt an ounce of fade the entire trip.

Bobzilla wrote: I ran US 52 through West Virginia from the Ohio line all the way down to Virginia state line, about 170 miles, with about 80 of it like TotD. Did those on Hawk HPS and oreilly parts rotors in a 2800lb car with 9.9" rotors and rear drums. Never felt an ounce of fade the entire trip.

Well THAT'S reassuring.... I'm looking at a 2400lb car with larger rotors and rear discs. Cool. The HPS are about $40 cheaper than the Yellowstuffs, so that makes me happy. Maybe i can put that $40 towards some SWEET lug nuts.

NAPA rotors.

^^^ Werd

17 bucks a pop for the MR2 fronts.

I buy ATE by the case when I go to a shop that carries it. That way, I've got lots. I also sell it to friends that want it at a decent price (my price plus a buck for my time and gas). Speaking of which, I need to get a case soon (the gold, IIRC, should have lots of blue).

Cheap AutoZone/Napa rotors make great heat sinks.

But I go with good pads and good fluid. Hawk/Porterfield and Redline/Royal Purple.

Cheap parts store rotors all around. Cheap pads in the back and something fancier from Tire Rack on the front. Hawk HPS if I can get them, but Hawk doesn't make pads for the 99 LS400 brakes on my SC400.

NAPA has a lifetime warranty on rotors, and I believe that includes Brembo rotors for my RX-7. If that's true, I fully intend on abusing it.

Haven't got pads yet, but I'm going with Hawks. They'll either be from Tire Rack or PepBoys, depending on which one is cheaper.

I live 30 minutes from HMS Motorsports, so I get my ATE brake fluid from them.