Guys & Gals,
When I first got my F it had stock brakes with standard pads, I thought they were so bad in performance I got frightened braking into corners and in case somebody pulled out in front of me. Now I was used to BMW and Merc braking systems but was sure they couldn't be that bad in comparison. So I changed the hoses for braided, bled the brakes and replaced the standard pads. Now, having read some great articles on this and other forums about improving the brakes, I felt that some serious investment was required to go for a big brake system so didn't want to spend any money on kit that was eventually going to be replaced. So I then replaced the pads for Black Diamond Predator, believing that this upgrade was address the challenges now and pads are consumable so when I had seen the best way to go with Big brakes it was not wasting money.
What a disaster, the brakes were better that before but with no low speed bite, you had to warm the pads to get any level of control, My buddy suggested they might be glazed, so I whipped them out and applied emery cloth and they improved for a while. I did learn to drive the car with this level of control but wasn't ever happy. If I thrashed around the lanes the brakes got hot enough to perform, but a quick trip to the local shops required real care in case somebody decided to pull out. The decision to change was spurred on by a trip with my youngest son when a builders van came down a hill I was climbing with parked cars on both sides forcing me into a gap which resulted in me doing a 150 kg leg press on one leg to stop piling into a parked car.
I changed the pads for EBC green stuff this weekend, and cannot believe the difference, they actually stop the car! bearing in mind they are not fully bedded in and the car has not been used in anger, but the ABS came on when I stopped for a local roundabout. I now feel the stopping distance is about the contact patch of rubber and not my leg strength!
Conclusions: Predator brakes pads may be ok for track days but not normal use on a standard disc set up, they need much heat to be effective, the pad compound is too hard. The standard MGF brake set up is good enough to lock the wheels in normal town driving with good pads. I cannot comment on hard lane driving or track days since the new EBC pads are not bedded in, but believe they will be OK and not fade too much. So if you want to stop safely and are making a pad decision please consider what type of driving you do before you spend any cash.
BTW: I now have a nearly new set of Predator pads for tack day use only