Brake Bias - Pads

[T11MNM]

Hi,
 
I\'m looking at replacing the current pads on my RX7. In the past i\'ve always run an upgraded front pad and a good quality OE pad on the rear. Mainly because most of the braking power goes to the front of the car.
 
Can i do the same on the RX?
 
Thanks
 
Tim

[David Nock (RIP)]

Funnily enough our FB gets through rear pads a lot faster than fronts. At 50,300 miles, the fronts are the originals, just coming due for change, whilst just started on 3rd rear set.
Its rear wheel drive as you know, but so is the FD.

[lockwood77]

Clive normally advises people to uprate the rear pads at the same time as the fronts (assuming you\'re not replacing with OEM pads) as the ABS has been known to play up when the front brakes with better efficiency than the rear!

[FD3SNuttah]

Tim,  no problems doing this... and i have done the same for every car i have owned too.  The bias isnt upset an the ABS works fine as it did with standard pads. You will find that the ABS on the FD isnt overly keen on saving you, it lets you lock for a brief second before it takes over.

[Mazdarotaryparts]

Clive normally advises people to uprate the rear pads at the same time as the fronts (assuming you\'re not replacing with OEM pads) as the ABS has been known to play up when the front brakes with better efficiency than the rear!

Something like 8 years ago I put Hawk HP plus onto the front of my FD and quite frankly found it dangerous under hard braking because the tyres were chattering on the ABS (in the dry) this taught me that with an FD for fast road you need to at least upgrade with a comparable pad on the back.

Taking this further we then found that on the Track an FD using a standard style brake system actually benefits from a bit more brake on the back using a soft pad in comparison to the front and now over the last 6 years many owners have commented that giving an FD a bit more bite at the back improves the overall braking tremendously

At the end of the day it depends how hard you drive your car but personally if you are not going to drive the car hard enough to achieve what I have explained above I feel your safer just replacing with O.E. pads because at least you keep the brake balance how Mazda intended and not increase the stopping percentage at just one end of the car without taking the other end into account !.