> When I answered this thread I assumed all were talking about Kevlar pads. I
> was not aware that there are non Kevlar "green pads".
"EBC Greenstuff" is a brand name for a particular pad formulation. You can read
more about it on EBC's website at
http://www.ebcbrakes.com/Automotive.html
Of course there are also copies that call themselves simply "green stuff" ...
who knows that they put in their brake pads ? (Ever wonder what the NHL does
with all those worn out hockey pucks ?)
"Kevlar" is a registered trademark of the DuPont corporation, for a very strong
plastic fiber. You can read more about it at
http://www.dupont.com/kevlar/whatiskevlar.html
IOW, although "greenstuff" pads are presumably made with the equivalent of
Kevlar (I couldn't find any place on the EBC website that said so, however); not
all "Kevlar" pads are "greenstuff". Nor are all "Kevlar" pads the same.
> I have Kevlars on my
> 6 and cannot justify the difference in cost. Of course, I do not rally the
> car for 1500 miles, nor do I descend 8,000 ft.
And I think that's it in a nutshell. If you don't drive your car unusually
hard, then the stock brakes are likely to be entirely adequate.
FWIW, I've found a great deal of variation in "stock" brake pads. The original,
asbestos-based pads work quite well, IMO. But many of the non-asbestos pads
available today don't work as well (Again, IMO).
Something to consider : Before you go modifying something as important as
brakes, you should know exactly what area you want to improve for your driving
style. There are many different aspects to brake performance, including
lifetime, coefficient of friction at both hot and cold temperatures, freedom
from "pad fade", noise level, how fast they wear out the rotors, and so on. The
factory chose a compromise between these various characteristics that they
thought would suit the greatest number of people. If you want something
different, better think about what that is, and then look for the components
that will give you that.
Another thing to keep in mind, people almost always compare the way their brakes
were before, with the way they were after working on them. If the previous pads
were oil-soaked, or had been overheated, or even were just badly glazed, then
anything is going to seem wonderful by comparison.
Randall
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