loony tunes

The pedal continues to be firm when the brakes start to smoke but you have to push down much harder. I am under the impression that when the brakes start to smoke they start to break down and are never as effective as they once was. Is this correct? I am a newbie - what are AP's? Drilled and vented discs? What brake fluid would you recommend? It has still got the same fluid from new.

I have upgraded to ebc red stuff brake pads in my wrx (2004 model) as the first OEM set worn out too quickly and suffered serious fade from over-heating. I am now disappointed with the ebc red stuff pads as they are the same (not quite as bad) as the OEM pads. I don't know whether it is because I am using OEM discs but the pads have been run in properly but smoke when braking harshly resulting in reduced braking force. On the other hand however, I have not experienced any problems with them when cold as some members have mentioned in this forum, but this may be due to my driving style, as 99% of the time the car is being driven hard and the pads don't stay cool for long. Those people who experience problems with the red stuff pads when cold are in my opinion driving to the speed limit most of the time, not giving the chance for the brake linings to warm up, which in all honesty, doesn't take much. The important thing to remember is that you really want to stop when you are flooring it when the pads are very hot (at speeds that you know you won't make it), when compared with the speed that you must be going at if the pads were cold. I have read about the yellow stuff brake pads and they are apparently stable up to a temperature of 900 degrees as oppaosed to 700 for the red stuff pads. The frictional coefficient for these pads is greater than that of the red stuff pads. Has anyone used these pads and how do you rate them? What pads do all you scooby nutters out there recommend, or what do you recommend me to do to my scooby to eliminate brake fade altogether?

I have upgraded to ebc red stuff brake pads in my wrx (2004 model) as the first OEM set worn out too quickly and suffered serious fade from over-heating. I am now disappointed with the ebc red stuff pads as they are the same (not quite as bad) as the OEM pads. I don't know whether it is because I am using OEM discs but the pads have been run in properly but smoke when braking harshly resulting in reduced braking force. On the other hand however, I have not experienced any problems with them when cold as some members have mentioned in this forum, but this may be due to my driving style, as 99% of the time the car is being driven hard and the pads don't stay cool for long. Those people who experience problems with the red stuff pads when cold are in my opinion driving to the speed limit most of the time, not giving the chance for the brake linings to warm up, which in all honesty, doesn't take much. The important thing to remember is that you really want to stop when you are flooring it when the pads are very hot (at speeds that you know you won't make it), when compared with the speed that you must be going at if the pads were cold. I have read about the yellow stuff brake pads and they are apparently stable up to a temperature of 900 degrees as oppaosed to 700 for the red stuff pads. The frictional coefficient for these pads is greater than that of the red stuff pads. Has anyone used these pads and how do you rate them? What pads do all you scooby nutters out there recommend, or what do you recommend me to do to my scooby to eliminate brake fade altogether?