MSP brake pads, what and where

C

codex

Member
:
2016 Mazda3 Hatchback
So I need new brake pads and checking my 3 local stores (summit racing, autozone, advance auto parts) it seems that they list the same part# for both the regular 2003 protege and the 2003 mazdaspeed protege. Is this right? Am I looking for a different size pad? Also what should I consider between semimetallic ceramic and organic. Are there any local places which stock the correct size brake pads?

See what I mean here at this link:

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/AXT-AXMD637/Application/?query=Make|MAZDA|Model|PROTEGE|Year|2003
 
I know from autozone that my car takes MSP in the front and mazda6 pads in the rear. I don't know if the person before me put on the wrong calipers in the rear or what Both sets of pads are different. Don't know if the rear calipers are interchangable or not. My car was rebuilt after being totalled before I bought it.
 
ES/Pro5 Front pads will fit in the mazdaspeed, but the MSP front pads will not fit the ES/Pro5. the MSP front pads are bigger, but mount in the calipers the same.

Rear brake pads are not even close between the two, and will not interchange either way.
 
Ok so my option is getting smaller sized pads for $20 in stock or order them from the dealership in the correct size for I have no idea how much.
 
Wouldn't a smaller brake pad give better stopping power from the higher PSI on the rotor?
 
codex said:
Wouldn't a smaller brake pad give better stopping power from the higher PSI on the rotor?
Click to expand...

After thinking more about this I looked up online about brakes and came across this.
http://webcache.googleusercontent.c...ad+size+psi+pressure&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

Here is a summary:

Brake torque is what stops the wheels. The brake torque (ft-lbs) of a wheel is the clamping force (lbs) of the caliper times the disk radius (ft), times the coefficient of friction for the brake pad. The disk radius is measured to the centre of the brake pad.
.........
If you're following the story so far you will notice that rotor thickness has nothing to do with brake torque. The rotor thickness is related to the thermal capacity. Also, note that the pad area does not play a part either. Increasing the line pressure is possible by either stepping on the brake pedal harder, or decreasing the master cylinder size.

_______________________________________________________________

So it would seem that a smaller pad would not effect braking at all, other than fade from heat, but I doubt I would ever experience this with the slightly smaller pad (semi metallic.)
 
You don't need to get them from a dealer; you just need to know which pads to order. Every retailer, save for a select few, list the wrong rear pads for a MSP. I have personally found that the rear pads for a 1995 RX-7 are the correct application; it appears that a 1st gen mazda6 will work too. If you're dealing with a local auto parts store, don't even tell them it's a protege. Just say "rear pads for a 1995 RX-7, please".

You should be able to get the pads at any local parts store. IMO, Hawk HPS are generally a great choice if you want a performance bump on a daily driver, but you can't always find them through a local store.
 
you can get the msp pads from PG as well
 
Last edited:
rally2003 said:
I know from autozone that my car takes MSP in the front and mazda6 pads in the rear. I don't know if the person before me put on the wrong calipers in the rear or what Both sets of pads are different. Don't know if the rear calipers are interchangable or not. My car was rebuilt after being totalled before I bought it.
Click to expand...

I had to do the same.
 
codex said:
After thinking more about this I looked up online about brakes and came across this.
http://webcache.googleusercontent.c...ad+size+psi+pressure&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

Here is a summary:

Brake torque is what stops the wheels. The brake torque (ft-lbs) of a wheel is the clamping force (lbs) of the caliper times the disk radius (ft), times the coefficient of friction for the brake pad. The disk radius is measured to the centre of the brake pad.
.........
If you're following the story so far you will notice that rotor thickness has nothing to do with brake torque. The rotor thickness is related to the thermal capacity. Also, note that the pad area does not play a part either. Increasing the line pressure is possible by either stepping on the brake pedal harder, or decreasing the master cylinder size.

_______________________________________________________________

So it would seem that a smaller pad would not effect braking at all, other than fade from heat, but I doubt I would ever experience this with the slightly smaller pad (semi metallic.)
Click to expand...


^^^ What do you think of this? If the MSP does indeed have a larger pad, wouldn't the smaller regular Protege provide the same braking power.

So for certain the MSP has a different size pad than the regular protege?

Do local parts store stock the larger size msp pads?
 
BTW I have a friend that does road course racing and swears by the cheapest pads you can buy.
 
I found some more info on the same topic
http://www.braketechnology.com/techinfo.html

SUMMARY:

Bigger vs Smaller Pad

A larger friction surface will not improve stopping power. The amount of pressure applied, coefficient of friction and the disc diameter determine stopping force. A bigger pad does not apply more pressure, only the same pressure over a bigger area. The size of the pad matters in terms of heat capacity and wear rate. A larger pad will absorb more initial heat and has better wear characteristics.

________________________________
Wouldn't generating initial heat actually be beneficial to some brake pads? Its my understanding that they work better with heat.

So my next question is, what pad material is more efficient at higher temps? Organic, ceramic, or semi metallic?
 
Last edited:
I'm not sure if you looked into corksport yet, but I got my KVR brakes from them 4 going on 5 years now (since I first got the car haha) and they have lasted me this long. I dont race my car to brake hard to increase the wear on them though. Its time for me to get my brakes replaced again and I'm going to be buying them again
http://www.corksport.com/product-31561.html

But from what I heard about using them if you do race or do a lot of hard braking more often than some they are still a good buy for their price.
 
Well part of this is figuring out if the pad size is different between the MSP and the part listed for the MSP (the 626 v6 pad), on my first post I linked to the applications for this one pad and it was for all proteges, also mx6, and 626.
 
Last edited:
that doesnt make any sense that pad size does not play a part in brake force. all else being equal, an increase in surface area will increase the friction between two surfaces- an increase in friction will increase the resultant brakeing force. whoever wrote that has no clue what he talking about.
 
If you want to convince yourself of the correct application, go to protegegarage's website, look at the part numbers of the rear pads they sell for the MSP (they have it right), and then do a reverse lookup of that part number at the retailer of your choice.
 
dmention7 said:
If you want to convince yourself of the correct application, go to protegegarage's website, look at the part numbers of the rear pads they sell for the MSP (they have it right), and then do a reverse lookup of that part number at the retailer of your choice.
Click to expand...

i thought the MSP rears are interchangeable with rear RX7 pads, but not 100% sure. i know that advance auto parts has an interchangability guide on their website. you can also go to the Hawk website and search.
 
That's the thing though. When I bought brake pads using Hawk's application guide, I got the completely wrong pads. I did some digging and found that every application guide and auto parts website I could dig up was wrong, except for a handful; namely the retailers that cater to mazdas.
 
dmention7 said:
That's the thing though. When I bought brake pads using Hawk's application guide, I got the completely wrong pads. I did some digging and found that every application guide and auto parts website I could dig up was wrong, except for a handful; namely the retailers that cater to mazdas.
Click to expand...

the CORRECT msp front Hawk HPS pads are:
HB489F.630

the CORRECT msp rear Hawk HPS pads are:
HB158F.515
 
Please log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

K
    • Like
2015 CX-5 OEM pad/rotor/hardware (MazdaSwag) and brake fluid flush
Replies
9
Views
1K
theblooms
theblooms
W
Which OEM comparable brake pads? 2019 CX-5 NA
Replies
3
Views
1K
RokkuAni
R
K
2013~2016 CX-5 Brake pad and disk question
Replies
7
Views
2K
ColoradoDriver
ColoradoDriver

Latest posts

Back