Hey

anyone have experience with the A pad by wilwood? i have my first track day coming on monday.... do i need to bed them in before i head to the track? or can i just swap em right there? they are still very new fyi

thanks!!!

 

anyone? todd from TCE perhaps??? i need to know before i head to the track on monday!

 

Bed time on those pads amounts to the 'out lap'. lol

Be very carefull with those pads. They are one of the most aggressive pads in the industry. These pads will do things for torque you won't believe. But they also eat rotors quickly. To get the most out of them with the least wear you'll need to keep them very hot.

 

I concur with Todd. Boy did they stop the car. Boy did they eat through my rotors.

 

What I find interesting in pad selection with customers is the desire to 'buy up' to the race pads way more often than one should.

There's a mentality (and marketing) that forces guys (mostly) to buy anything that says "race" on it. What many don't understand is that real race pads (not those sometimes marketed as such) are soooo far beyond what the average user needs it's a foolish purchase. "I want the best race pads you have for my track day." Only to have the phone ring on Monday; "My gas slots are gone and the cars covered in caked on brake dust."

Keep in mind that a good brake kit has increased the effectiveness of the whole system. Many folks don't need the mega pad for what they think is open track racing. Following an instructor is NOT open track use. Autocross is NOT open track use etc.etc.

If your track days include glowing orange rotors all day long you are a candidate for A, B, H and others. If not you'll propbably do fine on E or BP10 compound. Or maybe the newer BP20. All are low to mid torque, modest temp range pads.

I say "start on the known pad and work up." Don't buy the race pad until you know you need them and can justify the wear.

 

SAGE ADVICE from someone else who has gone that route

 

I'm with Todd on this one. I do one DE a month. I tried the 'swap to a race pad' at the track and while they stopped a bit better, the rotor wear just wasn't worth it. I now use BP10s street and track and get a new set when they wear past the bottom of the gas slot (the groove in the center of the pad, not the rotor gas slot). I am getting about 3 two-day DE's plus the street driving in between on a set of pads. And at $70 for a set, I consider this a bargain. I can still out brake about anybody with the BP10, even when I get them really hot and I have never experienced fade.

 

I run D pads in the Pikes Peak car. They are an awesome autocross pad as well. Low temp, medium torque application. Modest wear and if you push them over the limit they recover well. (I've been known to smoke them)

 

Are the BP10's the same as the polymatrix? How do they compare to Ferodo 2500's?

 

well.. consider i've manage to fade even ferodo DS2500s.... i'd imagine the A pad would be a nice candidate for a step up... (i manage to crack the backing plate on the 2500 too! just fyi, im not gonna run the A pads on the street.. most likely ill run them only on the way home.... if from what todd said i should just do them on my off laps...

worse situation is that i need to get brake fluid.... im still running normal ATE Dot 3 fluid! (cuze it was winter when my bbk went in... didnt bother to put in motul again)... and tomorrow is sunday! dam... seems like my track day on monday maybe out of the question now.....

 

The Polymatrix line includes A,B,C,D,E,J,H,Q and T compounds. (wheww!) Not all compounds are available for all model Wilwood calipers. And some compounds are available for competitor calipers also so call if you need info.

The latest pads in service have not been given the 'poly' term and are simply referred to as BP10 and BP20. I list all of these but the 20 on my pad page under the products tab. At the bottom is the list of what pad is offered for most of my common applications.

Slowly the D,E,Q,and T pads are being phased out in favor of a more streamlined offering. These will/are being replaced by the 10 and 20 compounds.

How they compare to Ferrodos I'm not 100% certain. We'd need the Cf and temp data in a clearer form than Ferrodo offers it. I don't have notes on the 2500s so I can't say what is close. You may however find that 2500 can be had for one or both of the Wilwood caliper set ups if that's your flavor. The FSL caliper on my 13" kits uses the most popular pad plate ever produced in the caliper industry- 7420 but is modified slightly for the single bridge bolt rather than the cotter pin of old. Many change this with a hack saw and a file if they cannot get the newer design. (see HB101 from Hawk for example of plate difference)

 

kyriian, did you run the A pads? If so, what did you think?

 

The A pads are awesome... but, as everyone has said, they EAT ROTORS!!!

 

They're not so bad...
Just run them at about 1200* and you'll be fine! lol

 

didnt get to try em.... the coming saturday ill know....