I almost rather clean the dust, I miss the hand of God feel the brakes on the SDL provide.(SD seems to have very hard pads, no dust at all!) If you don't have your seatbelt on your going for a ride.:D

I was going to ask about ceramic brake pads and then found this thread. I was surprised to read that the ceramic pads don't seem to brake as well (quickly) as other kinds.
Some of the Ferraris and other cars like that have ceramics, so I assumed they were the state of the art. Of course, THEIR ceramics may be a lot different than the ones we're talking about here. I should hope they are if the price quoted for the brake job on an Enzo was correct!

The ceramic brakes on Ferrari, Porsche, etc are TOTALLY different. Those use ceramic ROTORS with special pads. The rotors are typically thousands of dollars each, and I'm sure the pads aren't cheap either. The ceramic brakes for these cars can be a $10-$20k option (the prices are coming down, but they still ain't cheap.)

The ceramic pads mentioned in this thread for Mercedes are just a different type of pad compound, used with plain steel (stock) rotors. I haven't tried any yet. I still like the Porterfield R4-S pads. My front pads have nearly zero wear, and haven't worn the rotors either. The rear pads dust more, and are wearing much faster, which is bizarre. I'll ask Porterfield about that when I order my next set of rear pads.

:wacko:

AFAIK ceramic brakes on say a Ferrari or a 911 need to heat up as well. You have to run them a bit and get some heat in them before they stop well. Some sport bikes use them at well and I think the first couple stops are a bit scary until they get some heat in them.

i noticed that the pads on my SD stop much better when warmed up.
not trying to jack the thread,but...
both my front calipers are leking at the pistons and i plan on doing a rebuild"meaning that im going to dao new calipers and new rotors" should i also do the wheel bearings while im in there?

Thankis. I knew there was a difference, just didn't know what.

Correction to my 3 - 11 - 2007 post. It was 3 feet not 3 inches. Regardless, the kids are already sprinting out from between parked cars.
Bob