Ok since I decided to trust my friend's judgement on what brakes i should get I decided i would just post a warning on here to anyone looking to buy brakes. DO NOT TRY wagner thermoquiet brakes on the rx8! I should have done my research on my own and I wouldnt be dealing with this. They are REALLY REALLY loud and produce the MOST brake dust i have ever seen. My rims are literally black within a few days. I plan on buying some hawk ceramic pads ASAP after reading alot about them on here. I just thought i would post this on here in case someone was debating on buying these brakes! Of course this is based on my own personal experience and is my opinion!

 

hawks are a good brand I was going to try them but got ebc red stuff just to try something different. hawks hps dust like crazy on my other car

 

I planned on just gettin the regular ceramic hawks. I was happy with the mazda stock pads though so im debating on just getting those. I never had that much dust and no noise at all with the stocks but i read that alot of people seem to have problems with their stocks?

 

I wouldn't use Fred Flinstone brakes either.

There hard on your feet!

 

Raybestos has always been good to me until now. I put Raybestos Ceramic pads on the front of my car after the Axxis Ultimates wore out. The Axxis pads stopped very well, but dusted to the extreme. The Raybestos pads don't dust. But when I hit the brakes, it seems like it takes a second before they bite. I would rather deal with the dust.

 

I didn't have much dust with my stock pads, but I attribute that more to my typical style of engine braking. I did however have considerable squeal.

With Hark Performance Ceramic still minimal brake dust and now near silent operation.

Hawk HPS would bite a little better for Xcross tho'.

btw: the Hawk Ceramic not biting as hard is actually by design to work better with the ABS, which is more of a street GT consideration.

 

IMO. THe HPS are garbage, used them on three different cars. THey don't work in the rain either. First application is always scary with those pads, yuck

 

Carbotech makes some great pads, reasonable prices too. I run xp10s up front and the xp8s in the rear. The 10s squeak a lot when cold and do dust, but not horrible. Plus its not corrosive dust so you don't have to worry about washing it off the same day.

One thing that surprised me was the amount on the pads, they are really thick. You get a lot of pad for your money and they wear very nicely.

They have a really good selection for a range of driving habits.

 

Does anyone make sintered brake pads for the RX-8? I've not been able to find any; but that seems to be the best bet for the features and tradeoffs combination I'm looking for. Besides, it would be amusing to me to have brake pads similar to what Caroll Shelby used in the old GT350.

 

I ruined 7 different set of rims with the Carbotech dust, they are corrosive!

 

^ I haven't seen any damage so far. No pitting or anything. But I do wax the rims. So maybe that's whats doing it. Their new pads specifically state its non corrosive. To what, who knows?

 

2 sets of RX-8 wheels
2 sets of C6 wheels
3 sets of 350z wheels

All pitted. Combined I think I am on set #11

 

^^^

Strange.....I've ran Carbotechs on my S2000, Miata, and now my RX8. I haven't had any issues with the dust being corrosive.

My S2000 was on a set of 17x9 Volk CE28Ns and prior to that was on the OEM 17" AP2 V.1 wheels.

My Miata was originally on a set of Rota RBs and afterwards on a set of 15x8 RS Watanabes.

My RX8 is on OEM wheels at the moment.


I do use Wheel Wax when I wash my car as well. So that COULD be the reason why it hasn't pitted of anything. But I've been doing that regardless of my pads for all of my cars in the past.

 

Ive ran the basic ceramic pads from autozone and have never had any issues whatsoever. 32 bucks a box. I dont track my car or anything.... Never seemed to find a reason to upgrade from those, is it really worth it?

 

I run these in the rear, no issues. Hawks FTW!

 

I am running Hawk HPS right now.

They are a tad better than the OEM pads. Nothing remarkable. Good enough for street. WIll be buying something with more bite next time though.

 

The pad thickness should be the same regardless of brand

 

Did you bed them properly? Before they are bedded they are crap. Afterwards I've found them to be amazing, road or on the track.

Tires have a lot more to do with braking performance anyway, lest we forget...