Megane brake pads - opinions?

[Danith]

Yes, ANOTHER question on pads.

My requirements aren't so straight cut though. It's an everyday car, commuter, weekend blaster, etc. BUT I'd really like to take it on a track day or two this year and don't want to have to compromise so much or end up in a tyre wall.

So, R26 - currently on HC discs, M1144 pads, braided lines and as far as I know, OEM fluid. I've been buying the parts in bits as it's been an expensive few months! So I have 2 litres of ATE Typ 200, some new Brembo HC plain discs and a caliper seal refurb kit (and spare calipers just in case of any issues)

Pads then - been asking a lot of questions on the FB groups and still haven't decided on a particular set. Here's what I think so far:

Mintex M1144 - cheap, decent cold bite, low dust, don't handle heat very well, won't be up to it on track

DS2500 - common choice on a lot of other cars, but seem to fade quite easiliy on the megs

DS3000 - same price as DS2500 but will kill my discs and no good for an everyday car - poor cold bite

DS 1.11 - sounds like a winner but don't fancy spending £200 on a car that's 90% every day sat on the commute

CL RC5+ - sounds a good choice for me at the moment, decent if managed on track - just not sure if they'll squeal too much everyday on the road

Performance Friction Z rated - low dust, good cold bite, £100, last long, just may fade a bit on track

Cartbotech XP8 - not really looked into them, sound expensive and overkill


My main priorities are - good cold bite but able to be relatively reliable on track. Low(ish) dust and minimal squeal

I know I'm asking too much to be best for both worlds - I'm swaying towards PF Z at the mo or CL5+

In terms of track day hero status, I'm a relative newbie. Only done 4 (in my civic) but I'm an annual visitor to the ring (cliche of all petrolhead cliches)

Another option is to swap pads out - but then there's the suggestion that you'd need to swap pads AND discs (road pads bedded into one set of discs and track pads for another?). Which is not something I can be bothered with for just a couple of track days.

Thanks

 

[bloke]

M1155? off top of my head about £110 for the brembo.

 

[Danith]

Hmmm the mintex are quite squeaky ive heard

 

[bloke]

fitted loads of 1144 and apart from my own ones not found them to be a noisy pad. only fitted few sets of 1155 and they don't seem to be that bad in the scheme of things, not enough to be embarrassed driving around town.

 

[ForceIndia]

I used ds2500 daily, and at Spa. Never had any fade issues.

 

[Danith]

fitted loads of 1144 and apart from my own ones not found them to be a noisy pad. only fitted few sets of 1155 and they don't seem to be that bad in the scheme of things, not enough to be embarrassed driving around town.

Got the M1144 in now. They are squeaking but think it's more because of a small lip developing on the disc.

 

[Danith]

I used ds2500 daily, and at Spa. Never had any fade issues.

Yeah, had them on my civic, they were alright. People's reviews on the meganes though is that they're good but not great as easy to get them to fade

 

[JB21]

OE for road and some proper track pads for hooning off road. No need to worry about changing discs as long as both sets of pads have been bedded in properly and the discs have too. I swapped and changed all last year from road to track pads all coupled to the same HC discs, zero issues.

No point burning through track pads for road use as its money wasted unless you drive like a total bellend on the road, and I know you don't. You can always sell on the Track pads as well if they're not being used...

 

[Danith]

OE for road and some proper track pads hooning off road. No need to worry about changing discs as long as both sets of pads have been bedded in properly and the discs have too. I swapped and changed all last year from road to track pads all coupled to the same HC discs, zero issues.

Yeah but cba buying another set of discs as well.

Been looking at options all weekend now and looks like I'm going to get the pf z rated and motul rbf600

 

[ForceIndia]

Yeah, had them on my civic, they were alright. People's reviews on the meganes though is that they're good but not great as easy to get them to fade

If you clownshoe it and stamp on the brakes line you're qualifying for the Belgian gp, they're right. Normal track use with a bit of mechanical sympathy, they're good. But the 2 pad solution above is undoubtedly better.

 

[JB21]

Yeah but cba buying another set of discs as well.

Been looking at options all weekend now and looks like I'm going to get the pf z rated and motul rbf600

You'll only need one set mate.

 

[Danith]

If you clownshoe it and stamp on the brakes line you're qualifying for the Belgian gp, they're right. Normal track use with a bit of mechanical sympathy, they're good. But the 2 pad solution above is undoubtedly better.

I don't do enough track days in the meg to justify it. Just fancy taking it out on one and seeing how it fares in comparison to my honda and don't want to die

 

[Danith]

You'll only need one set mate.

So just swap pads out and use same discs?

 

[JB21]

So just swap pads out and use same discs?

Definitely, as above mate I've coupled 5 different sets of pads to my HC discs 3 sets of road and 2 sets of track and the HC discs are still within tolerance, and I'm seriously heavy on the brakes...

 

[Danith]

Thats not so bad then. Think I'll go pf z rated as they were decent on my E36 328, good cold bite and sod all dust. If i need something more hardcore for track ill chop em out

 

[Knuckles]

Are the meganes much heavier than mk3 Clios? I've not had ds2500s fade on me yet with hc discs and ate supergold.

I'm in a similar situation to you in that the car is a daily driver and occasional track car.

Although you may be more experienced than me or harder on brakes than me on track.

 

[Danith]

Are the meganes much heavier than mk3 Clios? I've not had ds2500s fade on me yet with hc discs and ate supergold.

I'm in a similar situation to you in that the car is a daily driver and occasional track car.

Although you may be more experienced than me or harder on brakes than me on track.

Ha not guilty mate. Im a track noob. I'm just old. Apparently so yeah the megs arent racing the Ds2500

The oem brakes have a good bite but they do feel spongey later on.

 

[Knuckles]

Ha not guilty mate. Im a track noob. I'm just old. Apparently so yeah the megs arent racing the Ds2500

The oem brakes have a good bite but they do feel spongey later on.

I had an awful experience on oem pads at oulton, I was getting such bad judder I could barely get the car into gear.

Fitted the ds2500s and was stomping on them all day at Blyton, Anglesey and oulton(before the breakdown).

I wonder what's so different between the clios and megs, same brakes, similar hubs and similar sized cars.

 

[Danith]

They'd probably be ok to be honest. Just going off what other megane owners have said - I remember them being a lot more screechy than my PF Z as well tho. Really hate brake squeal when driving round town!

 

[Knuckles]

They'd probably be ok to be honest. Just going off what other megane owners have said - I remember them being a lot more screechy than my PF Z as well tho. Really hate brake squeal when driving round town!

Oh I'm not arguing sorry, if Meg owners have experience of them not working then fair enough. But I can't get my head around how they're fine on mine but not megs... And 182s it seems.

People hate them on mk2s too lol.

/shitdriver

 

[Danith]

People cream all over them on the EP3 pages - well they used to, seems like track pads are much more common place these days

 

[Knuckles]

I'm aware they're not the best on the market, but they bang on for what I need at the moment. They're Not squeaky, don't fade and bite from cold... And seem to last a while too

 

[car.crash]

I had oe pads on a meg 225. They were awful.

I fitted rc5+ and they were a huge improvement but the dust ruined my wheels.
I'd find a alternative personally.

 

[Danith]

I had oe pads on a meg 225. They were awful.

I fitted rc5+ and they were a huge improvement but the dust ruined my wheels.
I'd find a alternative personally.

Thats convinced me then. It was between the pf z and cl5+

 

[car.crash]

The dust built up a thick crust layer and I had a coating underneath to prevent it.
Had to use acid on them to clean it off and took half a day.
I'm sure if you clean the car weekly it won't be a problem. I'm not that guy.

 

[elcie]

Ds1.11 like you said, sounds like a winner, I love them, yes they are expensive but I can't falt them and should you really buy cheaper brakes just because they are cheaper

Also where did you buy your seal kit from? Thanks

 

[car.crash]

Ds1.11 is what I should have got.

 

[Danith]

Ds1.11 like you said, sounds like a winner, I love them, yes they are expensive but I can't falt them and should you really buy cheaper brakes just because they are cheaper

Also where did you buy your seal kit from? Thanks

Just off ebay mate, I think ECP sell them too. I got the kit for £28 with the bleed nipples as some kits just sell the seals.

 

[Danith]

DS1.11 are raved about on the meg pages but for a car that spends most of the time sat on the M60 commute its way too overkill.

 

[T.Trophy]

I tried quite a few sets on both mine and my little bro's R26s. OE, HC and AP 2 piece discs. PF, DS2500, DS3000, DS 1.11 and DS Uno. The best combo were HC discs with DS3000 pads, admittedly I could destroy a set of pads on a trackday if pushing on, but for feel and consistency they were the best combo by far. Uno's lasted longer.

 

[Danith]

I tried quite a few sets on both mine and my little bro's R26s. OE, HC and AP 2 piece discs. PF, DS2500, DS3000, DS 1.11 and DS Uno. The best combo were HC discs with DS3000 pads, admittedly I could destroy a set of pads on a trackday if pushing on, but for feel and consistency they were the best combo by far. Uno's lasted longer.

90% road use tho the ds3000 will leave chunks on the disc and arent great cold though

 

[T.Trophy]

I didn't find any contamination on the discs with the ds3000s. But the DS2500s were awful for it on the AP 2 piece.

 

[charltjr]

Sorry to resurrect this one, but I'm pad shopping for the 200 and considering the DS 1.11, but they're listed as not for road use. Is that just a regulatory thing?

Currenly running DS2500's and while I've had no issues with fade I'd like something that doesn't give so much disc transfer for my next set of pads. Low dust would be good too, not so bothered about squeal as it's not a daily, so the 1.11 seem to fit the bill.

 

[Ol’ Tarby]

Sorry to resurrect this one, but I'm pad shopping for the 200 and considering the DS 1.11, but they're listed as not for road use. Is that just a regulatory thing?

Currenly running DS2500's and while I've had no issues with fade I'd like something that doesn't give so much disc transfer for my next set of pads. Low dust would be good too, not so bothered about squeal as it's not a daily, so the 1.11 seem to fit the bill.

I've just fitted DS1.11 to mine. Give me a week and I'll let you know how they are. Got Anglesey next Sunday

 

[Danith]

All the reviews I've heard for Ds1.11 are very good. Dont think there will be a problem. Bit overkill for me at £200 tho

 

[charltjr]

Yeah they're not cheap... Man maths tells me they're "only" £60 more expensive than the DS2500's and that's not a huge amount more expensive. But then, man maths is b****cks

 

[George@RTR_Parts]

I run the DS1.11 on track and rate them highly, they last well and are kind on discs. Don't be put off by their initial price as over their life are similar/better VFM over other options , that wear quicker and can wear discs quickly

If you want a set , let me know @charltjr

 

[Sash]

I've got Brembo HC discs and DS2500's with SuperGold fluid on my Megane which has seen 30k of use last year which included 7 track days, fast road and motorway.

I haven't experienced any fade yet and still got plenty of meat left on the pads. They squeak a bit but that's just because where they've got hot the lubrication has melted away.