Factory.

 

cmon seth you know i need a little more to go on than that

 

Since I needed a full brake job all around I have (gasp) Duralast Gold C-Max ceramics all around and have no complaints. This is pretty average driving though. My real test will come in the summer when I have my yearly mountain adventure.

 

I would recommend the OEM pads.

Are you just looking for info on pads? If rotors too, then brembos from eEuro.

 

no just along the lines of pads. the rotors may be toast but i dont want to replace those just to finally find some money for the 318 upgrade.

is any pad other than stock really just too much to put in the rear?

 

mine...

6pot 330mm WP Pro (in conjunction with front 6 pot 336mm WP Pro).

Stock pedal feeling, way better stopping power!
http://www.saablink.net/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=4081&d=1250972811

The stock brakes of an 9-3 Aero are not that efficient at stopping the car (just my 0.02$).
An real upgrade is the Nick T.`s Viggen brake kit. Go for it (with directional slotted discs, it looks great)!

 

i do drive a viggen so the brakes are somewhat decent minus the nose dive.

 

I find that my NG has very little nose dive, especially when compared to most cars I have ever been in. I would just go with Hawk all the way around, balance is already there with the stock hardware so no reason to upset that in my view.

 

Yes I agree with christian.

EDIT: I just realized GS doesn't have rear hawk hps brakes so if you're going through GS, I guess my next choice would be the oem pads. You can get them for 65 bucks at autopartswarehouse.com though.

 

I did the 03 Aero rear swap on my Viggen since the rear calipers froze and ate my EBC rears discs. Picked up a full kit from EFA last year that had vented discs, calipers, dust shields, pads, and E-brake equipment for an unbelievably great deal and haven't had a problem with them yet. And since all his parts are from Cali cars, they were in great shape!

Just something to consider.

 

unfortunately im not made of money yet. so i will prolly just be buying pads unless i win some cash in vegas next week.

 

you're coming to my neck of the woods?

 

I like OEM pads because they provide decent stopping ability without creating much dust.

eEuro all the way.

 

Greenstuffs on the 9-5 Aero rear calipers.

 

greenstuffs really are the absolute worst brake pad i have ever used in my entire life.

i've used the following:

ebc greenstuff
ebc redstuff
ebc yellowstuff

hawk hps
hawk hp+
hawk blue 9012

akebono street performance

of those, i would recommend the redstuff, yellowstuff, and hp+ for a higher power street saab.

the greenstuff was complete shit. greenstuff pads + ebc rotors, and i couldnt even lock up my front tires from 30mph on my ng900 with good tires. they are fucking terrible.

ebc redstuff, and yellowstuff i found to be pretty similar in street driving. my redstuff pads are VERY loud when it is below freezing, until they've gotten some heat into them. i imagine the yellowstuff is worse. not a problem, just something to keep in mind. i've yet to experience fade with either the yellowstuff or redstuff pads (including a full track day at BIR with redstuff pads and a near empty track). i currently have red stuff pads in my white ng900, front and back.

the HPS pads were not as bad as the greenstuff pads, but i'd skip them.

i found the hp+ pads to be similar to the redstuff pads, but with a little more dust. i currently have these in my dark NG900 with the brembo BBK up front, in both front and back.

the blues are an awesome track pad, but they arent great if they are not warmed up. will be purchasing a set of these as a track only pad, but wouldnt run them on the street.

the akebono street ceramic pads were low dust, quiet, and had good initial bite. they were in my spg, and while i never did any track days or sustained spirited driving with them, i suspect they would not hold up well.

if you have any sort of power modifications at all, upgraded brakes are a must in my opinion.

i'd go with ebc redstuff, yellowstuff, or hawk hp+ pads.

 

yeah ill be there friday-the next saturday.

 

lemme know what your plans are, depending on work, i might be able to pay up on a beer or two i owe you. =)

 

I have red stuffs on the back and yellow stuffs on the front and absolutely love the combo.

 

i do not run ebc products unfortunately.

 

Bummer, they make good products. Any reason why?

the akebono street ceramic pads were low dust, quiet, and had good initial bite. they were in my spg, and while i never did any track days or sustained spirited driving with them, i suspect they would not hold up well.

Your suspect is right - I had a pair of them that were on my car when I started doing track days and they give up really fast. However, they didn't dust at all so I hardly had to clean my wheels. Decent enough grip for the street.

 

i had two separate bad expereinces with EBC.

i have hps streets in the front on the viggen. they are pretty good although i wish i had the hps+. i have the +'s on my other car front and rear and they are quite good.

is running too much pad in the rear as noticeable on the 9-3's as it used to be on my 9000?

 

i had two separate bad expereinces with EBC.

Bummer! I've had nothing but good things with EBC, both the race bikes get EBC HH pads, and now with the car yellow/red.

is running too much pad in the rear as noticeable on the 9-3's as it used to be on my 9000?

That I don't know, I've always had more pad in the front than the back. My guess is it's probably not as bad as the 9k, the 9-3 (viggen especially) seems to be pretty heavily front biased.

 

as jon said, the 9-3 (especially the viggen) is front biased. this makes the car more stable under braking, at the cost of increased stopping distance.

a more aggressive pad in back will make the braking more neutral, decreasing your stopping distance. however, this will come at the cost of more instability if you have to brake while taking a turn (especially if you have a stiff rear suspension + thick ARB).

so it's a trade off. you'll brake faster, but you must have an understanding that if your rear end WILL break loose if you brake hard in a turn.

 

I'll second everything that has been said about the RedStuff pads. I absolutely loved them on the NG, too bad it wasn't stopping that concluded in the accident, stupid people. Will be going to these when the brakes on the 9-3 need changing.