Hi, Anyone know of an if an aftermarket low dust or dust free brake pad is available yet for the front brakes?

 

Try some Mintex Red box. The guys on the VW forums swear by them.

 

I would love to have low dust brake pads, since it has become a daily ritual to clean the dust of my wheels each day. I am curious about using other than factory pads in regards to braking performance. Stock RX-8s stop shorter than just about everything in their class, I would not want to sacrifice stopping ability. Does anyone have any information on low dust pads with performance comparisons?

 

A good friend is a friction (ie brakes) engineer at a tier 1 supplier and this is the scoop he gave me. There are two broad catagories of brake pads on the market: US spec and European spec. Because of the higher speeds of EU roads, European drivers insist on the highest levels of braking performance. This means the OEMs use high friction brake pads that stop great, squeal and groan on occasion, and create lots of brake dust. Brake dust means the pads are working!

US (North American, actually) pads are designed for the preferences of US drivers, which are quiet operation and low amounts of brake dust. To get these traits, the pads must be both lower friction and be made of a softer compound. Low friction equals less brake dust, and softer compounds equate to quiet operation. Unfortunately, both of those things also equate to longer stopping distances!

Unfortunately, you can't have it both ways (yet). The Friction community is expecting things to migrate to what they are calling a Mid-Atlantic pad i.e. a brake pad that offers the braking power demanded by the Europeans and the low dust qualties demanded by the Americans. That could be another decade out.

So, yes, if you switch to a lower dust pad you will lose braking performance and stopping distances will increase.

 

If they are available for the RX8, I would suggest Bendix TitaniuMetallic pads.

http://www.bendixbrakes.com/sell/titaniu-metallic.pdf

I changed out the stock Ford pads on the SVT to these pads and they are unbelievable!!! Great stopping power and (virtually) no dust!! :D

Regards, Art

 

I just wax my wheels, takes 2 seconds to wipe of the dust with a towel. If i wanted clean, quiet brakes I would have bought a Camry.