NAPA Adaptive Brake Pads

[mechtech2]

These have been around for a while, but I have never checked them out.

What I have determined is that they have very little dust.
They may or may not squeak - could be installer error.
Oddly, they have different friction ratings for the inner and outer pads in a set.
Thee inners are FF, and the outer are FE.
This translates in to similar [and pretty good] warm braking friction, and oddly less friction in the outer pad when hot.
This scares me off.
I want matched and high friction ratings.
These pads are not really adapting - one side just has less friction when hot.
The quality may be high, but that is not enough for me.

 

[Trav]

You have a point there,nothing adaptive about that.
I just got Bendix CT+3 for the Expedition GG rated and high made in the U.S.A. quality to boot.

 

[defektes]

I got them on sale for the same price as their other set of brakes with the lifetime warranty. Put them on my parents silverado that ate the front brakes up in 52k miles. I turned the rotors, lubed and cleaned everything, sliding pins lubed, etc, and bled the brakes. No noise so far for 3k miles, very good stopping ability, no dust (yet.) I like these brakes, I may get them for my truck when the stock brakes finally fail. Only downside IMO is they are made in china.

the lifetime warranty is hard to beat too, metal to metal and you get free brakes.

 

[DeeAgeaux]

They squeek if you simply do a pad slap and leave material on the rotor from previous pad.

The different inner and outer pads is the whole point.

The outer pads are low dusting comfort "passgenger car" pads.

The inner pads are performance pads that do dust a bit.

So you get some extra performance without extra dust.

The inner pad dust simply falls to the ground.

The outer pad dust is what falls on your wheels.

They are the equivalent of Grand Touring tires.

Not quite performance tires not quite passenger tires.

They perform better than any standard pads.

They dust less than any performance pad.

 

[Trav]

Quote:
They perform better than any standard pads.

They dust less than any performance pad.


CT+3 have very little dust and grab like anchors.
FF rated is the minimum for performance pads.
IMO if you can get American made GG rated with almost no dust at the same or close to the same price point then its a better set of pads.
Personally i wouldn't even consider putting Chinese pads in my car regardless of who makes them.

 

[DeeAgeaux]

Originally Posted By: Trav

Quote:
They perform better than any standard pads.

They dust less than any performance pad.


CT+3 have very little dust and grab like anchors.
FF rated is the minimum for performance pads.
IMO if you can get American made GG rated with almost no dust at the same or close to the same price point then its a better set of pads.
Personally i wouldn't even consider putting Chinese pads in my car regardless of who makes them.


Little is relative. To Hawk performance pads and such.

They dust more than Adaptive 1.

I bought CT-3 pads when they had their lifetime warranty/coupon for another set of pads for my nephew's Accord.

On my Accord I purchased the Adaptive 1. They are quiter when cold and they dust significantly less. And I have thin 5 spoke chrome like finish wheels. Dust matters to me.

I would not consider Bendix CT-3 for my car.

The NRS backing plates for Adaptive 1 are made in Canada and I simply trust Napa. I have used their parts for 20 years without complaint.

 

[Trav]

All I'm saying is we have done lots of brake jobs with these pads and never had any complaints even after long periods about noise or dust.From a business stand point what works and doesn't cause any issues is good for me and the customer both.

Personally i choose not to willingly support the Chinese economy any more than i have to. " Made in the U.S.A." means a lot to me especially when its a top shelf product at a competitive price.

BTW Bendix still has a lifetime warranty.

 

[mechtech2]

To be fair, I have heard plenty of good reviews from street car folks. They are not substandard at all.
It's just that now that I know what is really going on, I would choose something else.

 

[SteveSRT8]

we have a large stable, including work trucks and play cars.

Almost every one of them has the Napa adaptive pads on them.

They are an amazing pad that have no downside.

Drive aggressively and they don't fade. Drive easy and they don't squeal.

And they seem to last nearly forever.

I don't care where they are made, I'll take 'em.

 

[mechtech2]

STeve - The downside is that one pad has less hot braking friction.
An 'E' rating is OK, but not very good.

 

[SteveSRT8]

I'm all up on the stats, my experience is what I'm sharing.

I have used these pads on several different platforms and found them to be TERRIFIC.

Your mileage may vary.

As you have heard me say here before, brake pads are like ice cream... there's a million flavors!

 

[Dieseldoctor]

Looks to me like having different friction materials and operating heat rates would cause warpage? I'm sure they've researched it but that is scary i would just skip these and go with EBC or other low dust products they're roughly the same price and scare me alot less. Since the clamping force would be the same on inner and outter pad i can think of 20 reasons i dont like different friction materials on inner and outer pads

 

[SteveSRT8]

yeah, I'm sure NAPA did absolutely no research or development on these. They're really garbage.

Until you've used them you have no real basis for criticism. Why not try a set and then share your EXPERIENCES? I have put them on our fleet cars and trucks, and both my own and others cars. Every one who drives them comes back with a comment about how smooth or quiet or powerful they are.

EBC? Seriously some of the squeeling-est and rotor-unfriendly pads available. Even the green ones sucked on our trucks. So did Hawks. We run the bejeezus out of these rigs and nothing else is as smooth and sweet as these pads.

And have you ever really seen a warped rotor? We have a machine shop in the family and warped rotors are actually quite rare. Maybe one in a hundred or more that come through our shop, and that's from all kinds of cars and trucks. Plus we have the Sherrif's contract and they are some bad drivers!

 

[m0ntels]

Just put a set of Adaptives on the wife's HHR this weekend after hearing about them on this thread. This car is supposed to be a rotor-eater, so I wanted to see if some good pads would help, and seeing mostly good reviews and hearing lower friction (thinking less heat = less chance of warping), I bought a set.

Taking them out of the box, I was a bit shocked at the big rounded off groove in the center. I was a bit skeptical about them taking off so much pad material, but I thought that might help them cool better too. It seems at 50k, this car has already seen 2 sets of rotors because the clips to hold the factory rotors to the hubs weren't on there.

On the drive home breaking in the pads, it didn't feel like I was slowing down as fast as before. A look at the speedo said I was though. After a few more stops, it was plain that they were stopping the car just fine, but they felt much smoother than any other brakes I've ever used. The wife commented on that as well and she didn't even notice when I fixed her slipping tranny on her old car.

So far, I'm sold. They weren't cheap at $75, but not out of line for a "premium" pad.

 

[mechtech2]

SteveSRT8 - You have proven to be a good mechanic , and I like you.
But holy cow! Chill!

There are personal experiences here and there that are not so hot with these pads.
I did not initiate this thread to slam these pads, but simply looked into them to see what was up.

 

[PandaBear]

One thing I'm not sure is if a brake rotor will ever have even temperature at all during hard braking scenario.

Let's put it this way, the circumference region of the rotor is traveling at a higher "linear" speed than the center part of the rotor. When the pad is clamp down, it will heat up the rotor and pads differently. Then you have the variation of the inner vs outer surfaces of the rotor due to air flow or water splash. Then you have the center hat/hub acting as heatsink transfering heat away, etc. You are getting yourself an uneven temperature.

I'd imagine a rotor warping may have less to do with difference between inner and outer surfaces than variation in airflow or casting quality, but in reality the amount of heat we put down to the rotor should be way less than it can handle if minimum thickness is there.

 

[mechtech2]

We used to 'cure' some poor braking complaints at Honda by simply driving the bike and really aggressively using the brakes.

As we got off the bike, we'd make a show of lighting a cigarette of of the rotor surface, and tell the customer it was fixed.

Looking back, it must have been a deposit issue.

 

[Sequoiasoon]

Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
we have a large stable, including work trucks and play cars.

Almost every one of them has the Napa adaptive pads on them.

They are an amazing pad that have no downside.

Drive aggressively and they don't fade. Drive easy and they don't squeal.

And they seem to last nearly forever.

I don't care where they are made, I'll take 'em.


SteveSRT8,
With all the vehicles that you work has anybody tried their own version of the Adaptive One? I'm thinking like a Hawk HPS/LTS on inner and Wagner TQ on the outer?

A couple weeks into the new Hawk LTS pads and now very noticeable how much more they dust as compared to the old Thermoquiet rears and Carquest Premium (seriously lacking braking power) fronts that were on the Sequoia.

Huge improvement in stopping power but getting dirty fast. Could also be extra wear as I only sandpapered the rotors didn't remove and resurface so they of course have some very minor lines in them.

I might want to try the Adaptive One on the next change for whichever car needs them first Sonata or Sequoia. I like the low dust of the Wagner TQ's and the great bite from the Hawk LTS's.

 

[SteveSRT8]

Old thread, but a good one. Adaptive One remains an excellent choice, if a bit pricey.

Sequoiasoon, No way have I tried anything like you suggest. Sounds a bit risky. I am very dedicated to the safety angle as some of my fleet trucks weigh close to 5 tons! But it does sound like an interesting experiment!

 

[The_Eric]

To add to this thread:

I spoke with a NAPA rep the other day about these pads. One of my questions was specifically "Where are they made?" The answer was about 90% to 95% are U.S. made by Raybestos??? I've used a few sets and have been very pleased with them.