[Araemo]

I did a search, and there doesn't seem to be much info on here about stock pads vs aftermarket pads.

I found some people who say the stock pads are actually ok on the track, as long as you aren't going all-out, but I would still feel better with slightly upgraded pads, it's a small price for a bit more safety/margin for error.

The question is, anyone who has driven the stock M Sport brakes w/ oem pads and with aftermarket, how do they compare?

OEM Vs. EBC Redstuff
OEM Vs. EBC Yellowstuff
Redstuff/yellowstuff vs Pagid RS29s
OEM Vs. Carbotech 1521s

Specifically with regards to fade resistance and brake feel/modulation.

My car has the 'track handling package' m sport brakes. So, same calipers as the M Performance brake kit, but the blank rotors, not slotted/dimpled.

Pagid seems to recommend using slotted/dimpled rotors with their pads, so I don't think those are a good option unless I want to spend the money for slotted rotors right now, which I didn't budget for this spring, so I'd rather not.

I've used Carbotech bobcats (discontinued) and 1521s on previous cars (including at the track) and never experienced fade, but the 1521s were higher-dust/noise than I'd like to use, and I'm ideally looking for a 'street' pad that will still be an upgrade over OEM on the track. Other than dust/noise, the 1521s were awesome. I also used hawk HPSs two cars ago, but I didn't find good info about Hawk's that fit this car.

I'm only likely to do one HPDE weekend this year, but when I get out into the countryside, I can get the brakes hot enough to feel the difference between 'street' pads and ones that work better at temperature, so if the pads aren't too noisy/dusty, I'd like to keep them on year-round. Since I've only had the car since November, I haven't had the opportunity to get a real feel for the stock pads yet.

As for the EBC pads.. I haven't used any EBC pads myself, but I've seen them recommended elsewhere. It was a little tricky to confirm the part #s for my car, but I'm pretty sure these are the brake pad shapes (FMSI #) for M sport brakes:

D1609 front
D1656 rear

Can anyone confirm these?

EBC has both Redstuff and Yellowstuff available in those shapes. Carbotech can generally provide any shape in any compound they sell.