Cheapest Track suitable brake pads for a cheap car?

So I bought a "broken" 2008 BMW 335i for $850.  Turned out all it needed was the turbo's replaced (N54 twin turbo), $350 more dollars for a used set and some catless downpipes from ebay, and the car is running great.  Long story short I want to track this baby, but I just can't bring myself to spend 800+ just on brake pads for a car I only spent $1200 on.

In my other track cars I typically run Hawk dtc-70/60, or PFC-08's and like them but they are expensive.  I've also run Hawk HP+ and never had any issues on track, but thinking this car may be both too fast and too heavy for them to handle without melting.

Is there a cheap pad that performs decently and holds up to track use that I don't know about? 

I am aware of, but not comfortable playing the "lifetime warrantee" game from FCP.  I don't care about street use either.  Track only.  (Car is no longer street legal anyway)  

I'm not sure that the fact you only paid $1200 for a 4000 lb dedicated track car with 300+ hp means you shouldn't get good brake pads. I think that means you have a lot of budget left :)

Keith Tanner said:

I'm not sure that the fact you only paid $1200 for a 4000 lb dedicated track car with 300+ hp means you shouldn't get good brake pads. I think that means you have a lot of budget left :)

To be honest, this is exactly the response I expected, but not the one I hoped for.  There has to be something decent that's a little more budget friendly... I mean...right?  I won't be the only one driving this car, but I will likely be the only one paying for consumables, so there's that.  

If what I want doesn't exist, I'll suck it up, but I'd love it if there was an alternative...  How can decent brake pads cost as much as the entire rest of the car!!!

(BTW, I think I can get this pig below 3500 including driver and a cage eventually ;) )

Autozone semi metallics? They have the warranty too. I've heard mixed things and have no personal experience. 

There are places to be cheap. Brakes are not one of them.  

cbaclawski said:

If what I want doesn't exist, I'll suck it up, but I'd love it if there was an alternative...  How can decent brake pads cost as much as the entire rest of the car!!!

Easy. The cost of designing, manufacturing and distributing good brake pads is not affected by how much you paid for a broken 12 year old car. 
 

Whenever I need this sort of info, I look to the Lemon/Chump crowd. They do enduros and are price sensitive. Me, I spend the money because a set of brake pads is cheaper than bodywork :)

I tracked my Fairmont a few times with the factory 10" brakes and adobe pads, and 300 WHP. Then I upgraded to 11" 93 Mustang brakes with PFC Carbon Metallic lads, but then added a hundred horsepower. What I learned is, you can run any brakes, as long as you have some sense, and don't think you need to run the fastest lap time in the world. 
 

The real answer here is run whatever pads you want to put on there, just be prepared to drive around them. 

cbaclawski said:

Is there a cheap pad that performs decently and holds up to track use that I don't know about? 

Yes, but they're a real racing pad.  Raybestos ST43s are $590 for both axles on the 335i and you'll get tired of doing trackdays before they wear out.  They're cheap in the sense that you get a lot of on-track miles per $ spent.

Performance friction carbon metallic street pads should work for track days. Not for racing though, you'll burn up the fronts in a day. But track days aren't racing, yeah right....

We're a bit down on HP and weight compared to you, but also on brake size. We buy semi-metallic pads at O'Reilly's. IIRC the PFC brand. A set lasts about 2 full races or ~30 hours on track. In your car that would be $113.99 for the front pads. At that price, they're almost worth buying to try out. I'd make sure to bed them properly before hand though.

red_stapler said:

cbaclawski said:

Is there a cheap pad that performs decently and holds up to track use that I don't know about? 

Yes, but they're a real racing pad.  Raybestos ST43s are $590 for both axles on the 335i and you'll get tired of doing trackdays before they wear out.  They're cheap in the sense that you get a lot of on-track miles per $ spent.

1000% this. They even work pretty well cold, they're just super noisy.

I'm usually one to cheap out a bit on pads, but I've always been in the situation of "street car that sees occasional track use". And even then I've been at least mildly disappointed with my choice more than once. For a dedicated track car, just do it right the first time and be done with it.

cbaclawski said:

 

So I bought a "broken" 2008 BMW 335i for $850.  Turned out all it needed was the turbo's replaced (N54 twin turbo), $350 more dollars for a used set and some catless downpipes from ebay, and the car is running great.  Long story short I want to track this baby, but I just can't bring myself to spend 800+ just on brake pads for a car I only spent $1200 on.

You bought a $50k car for $1200, this opens your budget up to like $48,000.  Spend the money for decent pads, you earned it.

I was pleased with the Performance Friction Z compound on my E46 M3.  But there is little doubt that the 335 is likely quite a bit faster than the M, and that needs to be accounted for).    Having said that, they were “acceptable” on the track if I managed them.  Upgrading to real track pads was a game changed (I now run PFC 11s on my M2).  

dean1484 said:

There are places to be cheap. Brakes are not one of them. 

Took me more issues than i care to admit to learn this lesson (though obviously I haven't full learned) 

Keith Tanner said:

cbaclawski said:

If what I want doesn't exist, I'll suck it up, but I'd love it if there was an alternative...  How can decent brake pads cost as much as the entire rest of the car!!!

Easy. The cost of designing, manufacturing and distributing good brake pads is not affected by how much you paid for a broken 12 year old car. 
 

Whenever I need this sort of info, I look to the Lemon/Chump crowd. They do enduros and are price sensitive. Me, I spend the money because a set of brake pads is cheaper than bodywork :)

I thought this was the Lemons/Chump crowd, lol.   I get why pads cost what they do, but was hoping there was a suitable option for a little less.  I don't car about Noise/dust/street manners, or even tip of the spear performance, just something that will hold up and be safe.  I'll probably be running 200tw street tires which will probably kick in the abs long before a DTC-70 maxes out bite anyway...

These are likely the cheapest track pad available for that car but they only do fronts and they do not make them in the higher performance "Spec" version which I have for my E28 (which runs E36 M3 pad sizes, I'm still finishing off the Hawk HP+ on there so I haven't tried them yet). 

Powerstop Track Day Pads

Don't forget your discount code if you buy them from Rock Auto

buzzboy said:

We're a bit down on HP and weight compared to you, but also on brake size. We buy semi-metallic pads at O'Reilly's. IIRC the PFC brand. A set lasts about 2 full races or ~30 hours on track. In your car that would be $113.99 for the front pads. At that price, they're almost worth buying to try out. I'd make sure to bed them properly before hand though.

A new O'reilly's just opened near me.  I'll check them out, thanks!

dps214 said:

red_stapler said:

cbaclawski said:

Is there a cheap pad that performs decently and holds up to track use that I don't know about? 

Yes, but they're a real racing pad.  Raybestos ST43s are $590 for both axles on the 335i and you'll get tired of doing trackdays before they wear out.  They're cheap in the sense that you get a lot of on-track miles per $ spent.

1000% this. They even work pretty well cold, they're just super noisy.

I'm usually one to cheap out a bit on pads, but I've always been in the situation of "street car that sees occasional track use". And even then I've been at least mildly disappointed with my choice more than once. For a dedicated track car, just do it right the first time and be done with it.

These seem like the ticket, Thanks so much!

ZOO (Forum Supporter) said:

I was pleased with the Performance Friction Z compound on my E46 M3.  But there is little doubt that the 335 is likely quite a bit faster than the M, and that needs to be accounted for).    Having said that, they were “acceptable” on the track if I managed them.  Upgrading to real track pads was a game changed (I now run PFC 11s on my M2).  

Highly doubt the 335i is faster them the e46 M3.  Heavier, definitely, faster, prob not!!

adam525i (Forum Supporter) said:

These are likely the cheapest track pad available for that car but they only do fronts and they do not make them in the higher performance "Spec" version which I have for my E28 (which runs E36 M3 pad sizes, I'm still finishing off the Hawk HP+ on there so I haven't tried them yet). 

Powerstop Track Day Pads

Don't forget your discount code if you buy them from Rock Auto

Thanks to all for all the replies and suggestions. I'll definitely look in to the powerstops linked above.

Really helps, Seriously, thanks again to all.  My "home" track (CMP) is a known brake eater, and I tend to push pretty hard, so thinking a real race pad is really the only way to go...

BTW - is there a multi-quote function on this forum?  I can't find it and I just flooded this thread with respomses...

Call Porterfield brakes and ask them for a recommendation. They were really helpful when I was looking for pads for my GTI with a Brembo BBK. 

What is Repco called now?  Initials of some sort.  Repco Metal Masters were the go to stuff before you could buy real brakes.  We got thirteen and a half hours in a dead stock Chump Integra.  Fourteen hour race...

PBR.  That's it.

Asked my Lemons contacts which include a Tesla engineer with bmw race experience. Consensus was PFC08. 

We always ran wildwood h pads on the vette for cmp. Usually get a weekentout of the rotors and a season from the pads.