Lucas/TRW Brake Pads

I have just finished testing the Lucas/TRW brake pads on my Soarer.

The car is a UZZ30 with TT callipers and D.B.A. slotted rotors.

There has been a fair bit of discussion locally about brake pads, the Lucas/TRW pads have had a few mentions, as they claim 650 degrees temperature handling. Research on the Internet found that they are baked at 650 degrees, but no mention of the temperature capability in actual use. In fact they are claimed to be an OEM replacement, and European law states that OEM replacement pads must be within 15% of the original pad's characteristics.

Accordingly we just wrote these off as an OEM replacement when what we were really looking for was a good track pad.

However, with a track day fast approaching, and no time to get my hands on Ferodo DS2500's that I have used very happily in the past, I took a punt and called to find out if they were in stock. Yep, direct fit available over the counter for TT calliper front and rear. At the shop, they stressed over and over the need for running these pads in before any serious track work.

The price was AU$100 - fronts, and AU$88 - rears, marginally cheaper than OEM pads, so I figured I had little to lose as the OEM pads had totally faded on lap 4 the previous time at the track.

They fitted straight in, even have an anti-squeal shim attached to the back. While I was at it, I fitted my track wheels as I was getting a more aggressive track day alignment done that week also, and they wanted to do the alignment with the wheels I would be using.

Mindful of the recommended running in, I spent a bit of time each night touring through the hills at a brisk but not excessive pace, allowing the pads to go through heat/cool cycles in the cold night air. Having the track tyres on actually meant I didn't need to use the brakes often, first time I had done the hills on these tyres, my only previous drive with them had been on the track. The Toyo Proxies have a soothing mild whine on the road, and approaching any corner I could just spin the steering wheel and the car would go straight around the corner with no complaints, so I actually had to work at using the brakes at times, running up some speed on the straight bits, then dumping on the brakes more then I needed just to give them some use.

I managed about 500k doing this, excellent therapy in itself. Picture it, cruising the hills late at night, no traffic, the burble of the V8, whine of the tyres, then just taking any corner at any reasonable speed with no fuss. Yeahhhh... Nice....

Initial reaction, these pads have a lot of bite. Just a light touch and you knock the top speed off straight away. That's a very comforting feeling, and builds confidence in the brakes and the car.

It didn't seem to matter how hot I managed to get them, or how cold, that bite was always there, no hint of fade either. Likewise, going to work in the mornings, right from out of the drive way these pads had bite.

The real test was to be the track. On the day, there were way too many cars circulating, with traffic jams and confusion due to the mix of performance capabilities, and driver skills and courtesy. So for the first session, I was mainly feeling my way, not wanting to discover fade at the wrong time. The previous track day, the OEM pads had totally faded all of a sudden on the back straight pulling down from 180 kph to about 40 kph for the hairpin. No warning. The previous tight corner had been fine. No real problem, just keep the car straight and visit the paddock until the speed has washed off, then back onto the track and take it easy for a while to let things cool. They faded again a few laps later when I tested them on a different straight, fortunately I managed to avoid the sand traps that had bogged another Soarer on a different day out.

I didn't want this to happen with a gaggle of cars in front of me however, so there was only the occasional chance to really press them hard, and the OEM's would have handled that OK too.

The next session was also a traffic jam, and was in fact cut short after Frank wrote off his Soarer into the side wall, so at the end of the day, the pads hadn't been fully tested.

As the weather has been cold and wet, I couldn't be bothered changing my wheels back, so a couple of us organised to go back to the track again. Mindful of the junk that has been coming out when I flush the brakes, I had the callipers overhauled on the Friday and took pics of the pads looking pretty thick and healthy.

Saturday came, and they had decided to make it a cars only day, so it was 30 minutes on then 30 minutes off, plenty of time to cook brakes, and not so much time for cooling. We usually manage a full day including an hours drive each way to the track on a full tank of petrol, but these 30 minute sessions meant much higher consumption, so I only did 4 or 5.

The pads handled it well, they didn't totally give up like the OEM's, but they did get a bit weaker as they got hot. I ended up using two feet on the brake pedal, though I didn't get to having to pull really hard on the steering wheel. Consider the pressure they were under - two feet's worth squashing them against the rotor, and 1600 Kg not wanting to lose 180 kph of speed, that is a LOT of energy to be dissipated.

At the end of the day, I noticed a ping, ping, ping while reversing into the shed to load my junk back into the boot. Further inspection the next day revealed that the pads had worn to the extent that the wear indicators were pinging on the slots in the rotors. Yep, they had totally worn. Nearly all in one day.

But, they didn't give up!

I fitted the OEM's back on this morning, and straight away I notice the lack of bite, makes it feel like the car really doesn't want to stop.

Conclusion: I will be buying these pads again, hopefully tomorrow if I get time. They are lovely to drive on for street and spirited hills driving, but without the sheer stopping power of e.g. the Ferodo DS2500's for heavy track use.

I will keep trying different track pads, but keep these for daily use and emergency replacements on the track.

Things to keep in mind here, my local track - Mallala, is the hardest track in Australia on brakes. We normally do either 3 lap sprints which the OEM's would have probably survived, or 15 minute sessions. The Lucas pads handled 30 minute sessions pretty well, most importantly the performance didn't markedly deteriorate over the length of the session.

The rotors don't appear to have suffered any wear, which is consistent with the pad having sacrificed itself instead. The cheese grater affect of the slotted rotors would also have contributed to the pad wear.

So if you are still running OEM pads, rush out and get a set of these. You will be very pleasantly surprised at the feel of the car and the added driving confidence you gain from both the feel and the knowledge that these pads won't give up on you with spirited driving is a bonus.

Unless you run very sticky tyres and do track days, these pads would be hard to beat.

13/09/04.