Just as the title states, for a street/strip car which would be better and why? What are the advantages and disadvantages between the 2? I will be using stock rotors, calipers, and aluminum drums if it matters.

 

well the ceramic do not create black dust that builds up on the wheels. This is the main plus and selling point for ceramic pads. However I haven't ran them, ceramic in general as a material will disipate heat very quickly, they use ceramic tiles as heat shilds on the shuttle. They also use ceramic rotors in some race classes. But I would say the performance would be about the same as carbon/metallic based pads when running stock rotors but without the dust. The only problem I can see with them is ceramic can fracture with vibration, but then so do metallic pads. But they are made to keep your wheels looking new. The getting slotted/cross drilled rotors would be a better solution for street use to help stopping power. I wouldn't use them on the rear drums since the drum traps most of the dust. I haven't seen a stoping distance comparance, has anyone?

 

I don't know does this answer to question about ceramic brake pads but i give you what i have read:
In one Finnish magazine they tested trans am GTA with kevlar brake pads and found that stopping force had increased so much that it was even hard to brake with out locking wheels. Tests were performed on normal streets so thats maybe the reason why they locked wheels (streets- dust and dirt on the surface (small amounts, you don't see it but you know it's there) - no optium grip). The car they used had 4 wheel disks and they measured increased braking force with g-tech or similar equipment.
So yes, kevlar pads increase braking force. tested brake pads were EBC "green stuff" pads and soon as i get rear disks i will invest to these parts´!

 

as far as i know, they don't make a ceramic brake shoe.

but indeed, the ceramic brake pads reduce brake dust significantly. i'm curious to try a set of our ceramix (i work at napa) brake pads when i do a c4 front brake swap on my coupe.

 

They will help stopping distance, but only marginally without the right compliments (oversized/slotted rotor, upgraded calipers etc)

 

Carbon/Ceramic brake pads are the way to go for a vehicle of this weight and mild to heavy street use. They are low dust (like everyone has stated) and are easy on the rotors (they bed easily) and do not require warmup time like Carbon/Kevlar (semi race, and harder on rotors) and Carbon/Carbon pads do full race (need to be properly bedded and run at high heat temp constantly to work properly)

Metalic pads are basic everyday budget brake pads that wear long, but groove rotors over time.

 

so you guys are saying ceramic is actually better that metallic? Besides the dust issue which sounds nice, which would stop better with everything else being equal?

 

for what its worth... one of my shops uses nothing but the ceramix pads for his customers....

my final word on them won't come until i actually use a set when i do the c4 brake kit.

 

Wow, thanks for the info guys. I dunno why, but I had always thought metallic was the better for performance, but I learn something new every day. Looks like the ceramic is a pretty viable option for me now.

I was looking at these. What do you guys think?

http://www.bendixbrakes.com/sell/ct3.pdf

 

I was going to get a set of these bosch ceramic fronts:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...tem=2444304344

says 1989-1992 FIREBIRD ALL W/ 2 PISTON CALIPER W REAR DISC.

i've got all discs, not sure about the "2 piston caliper", these should work, right?

 

I plan on picking up a set of raybestos ceramic pads next time I need new brake pads. I put the 1le brakes on the front and have the pbr discs in the rear. I spent tons of time refinishing my aluminum rims to make them all nice and pretty. I plan on trying the ceramic pads without even worrying about the performance difference. I'm running stock pads right now, and I have to constantly clean my front rims due to the continuous buildup of the damn brake dust! I think this problem alone makes it worth purchasing ceramic pads if you have a nice set of wheels that you'd like to keep looking nice!