Brake Dust

[MPrice2984]

The calipers are a Bosch design and the OE pads are from Ferodo. The division I work for is a new US aftermarket division as opposed to the OE side which supplies a lot of parts to smart.

[msjohnson1974]

Its about the same amount (or less) of brake dust as our Z4. Definitely not a safety concern but if all you've driven are US vehicles the amount of dust might be disconcerting.

[RussBarnes]

Originally Posted by msjohnson1974

Its about the same amount (or less) of brake dust as our Z4. Definitely not a safety concern but if all you've driven are US vehicles the amount of dust might be disconcerting.

Or if you have white powder coated wheels like I do.....whew - talk about hard to keep clean.

[dbwill]

I have used Kleen Wheels for years on my BMW that had Basket wheels which are almost impossible to keep clean due to their design. I drove almost 150,000 miles and there was never any problems with the brakes or the rotors and the wheels stayed reasonably clean and were easier to keep clean.

That said, I never tracked the car and would not do so with the Kleen Wheels on the car. I figured that if I got into a situation where would have to use maximum braking more than once in an emergency situation without time to cool, I should not be behind the wheel. Additionally, there was never a problem in rush hour traffic in stop and go driving.

I just checked the Kleen Wheels site and they now have colored ones. They are quite a bit more but wondering what a gloss black set would look like on a black/white car.

I am thinking of trying them on the smart, but am not sure how good they would look as the wheels are so open that they might be too obvioius.

[xcrew229x]

One thing to consider. The smart has solid rotors. Typically they don't like a hard brake pad, which will generate less brake dust, but wear or warp the solid rotors. For me it comes down to what's worse..... brake dust and more frequent pad replacement, or cleaner wheels and rotor replacement. The former for me......

[John_H]

Is a low-dust brake pad "hard" by definition?
I also got slotted rotors when I got my EBC green-stuff pads. I'd love to find ceramics as well some day.

[jimvw57]

I used some ceramic pads on my Expedition. There was less dust on the front wheels and they seemed to last longer with no problems even when towing some sizable loads. I don't know about the solid rotors or if they are available for the Smart cars.

[John_H]

The smart rotors are solid. Slotted/dimpled rotors are available for the smart from EBC, part #GD923, stocked at Smart Center Portland. I got a slightly different EBC rotor (USR923, slots only) that may not be made available in the US but I managed to get one shipped out from the UK anyway.

[SilverHornet]

At this time no ceramic brake pads are available for the Smart. The EBC "Redstuff" would be ideal, but not available yet.

[parts4smarts]

Originally Posted by SilverHornet

At this time no ceramic brake pads are available for the Smart. The EBC "Redstuff" would be ideal, but not available yet.

we have available the common EBC parts
Blackstuff, Greenstuff and Redstuff pads
also turbogroove as well as stock rotors

we have sold more greenstuff pads than the other types,but for the least amount of dust the Redstuff are far superior.
EBC explains it this way :
There are TWO reasons our customers love Redstuff, First because they are the lowest dust pad we have encountered by reducing dust by 60-90%. Plus the minimal dust you see is very easily removed with a simple sponge wash as it contains no steel fibre particles as in ALL OTHER pads. Second they brake like an alligator right from cold (as good as Original pads or better) and just get better as they heat up.

This material is a Kevlar® fibre based brake compound enhanced with ceramic particles. If you have previously tried EBC redstuff (pre-ceramic compound) this material is light years ahead. It lasts longer, it brakes better and is quieter.

Having said all this, Redstuff costs more than Greenstuff which again is more than Blackstuff......and so it goes
similar with rotors, slotted ones , like the turbo groove model,cost quite a bit more than the 'stock' type unslotted ones.
We currently have a few of these items on 'special
see this thread spring sale on select parts
and specifically
EBC standard disc CAD $ 210 U$ 165
EBC black Dash disc CAD $ 275 U$ 225
EBC turbo groove disc CAD $ 275 U$ 225
EBC blackstuff pads CAD $ 65 U$ 55
EBC greenstuff pads CAD $ 110 U$ 90

the turbo grooves look like this :

except,of course,that the smart-specific ones have 3 bolt holes.

I need to receive orders on any of these by tomorrow,March 14

In addition, i will make available a one-time high-end special.
turbogroove rotors plus redstuff pads, all for U$ 310.
Expires midnight, March 14
harald