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PowerStop K7002 Brake Kit - Z23 Pads + Slotted/Drilled Rotors Review

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#1
I installed the PowerStop K7002 kit which is their Z23 carbon fiber ceramic brake pad with their drilled/slotted/coated rotors on my 2015 big turbo FiST. Overall the kit looks good and the rotors are good quality. Along with stainless steel lines the kit was an easy install without any issues.

Comparison to stock - Overall braking performance is definitely under stock levels of performance. The carbon fiber ceramic pads just don't compare to the grabby metallic compound stock pads (my 2015 came with the early very grabby/dusty oem pads) in either initial bite or under heavy braking. Overall I am having to push the brake pedal down further and harder than I would with the stock. I feel that it is too much of a compromise for reduced dusting, and affects the overall feel of the car waaaay too much. One a positive note, the pads are dust-free so far when I would have for sure expected to see the dark colored brake powder on my white painted wheels by now.

Conclusion - I would continue to buy the rotors, they are good quality and look great and are not a large price increase over stock. I would not buy these Z23 carbon fiber ceramic pads ever again. They are just not anywhere near the feel of the stock pads. They feel like any other non-performance OEM pad you would expect to find on a base model sedan. The stock ST pads are worlds above in initial bite and overall stopping power. I would never ever use these on the track or autocross, while the stock pads are known to hold their own when pushed. I will either be switching to the stock pads at my earliest convenience, or I may go with an EBC offering (still doing research).

ETA: Apparently the pads had glazed, perhaps from being to soft on them during the bedding procedures, which these pads have a very specific procedure to follow from the manufacturer....
OK just got done sanding the pads and it made a difference for sure. Overall stopping power is on par with stock once you slam on the brakes where as before the car took more time to stop. These will take some adjusting since I am used to the strong initial bite of the stock pads, this definitely doesn't have anywhere near the bite even after the sanding. I am not sure if I would use these on the track or autocross, as they are going to take some time for me to get used to as I already mentioned.

New Conclusion for the pads: These are an acceptable replacement for stock pads if you are looking to maintain the same overall full-press stopping performance, with reduced initial bite/grab and less dust. IMO they change the feel of the ST too much from what you would be used to if you have been using the stock pads like me. The stock pads definitely stock quicker and with less pedal pressure, you really need to slam on the brakes to get these pads to grab like the stock, but they eventually do grab. You will need to change the way you brake, which for some may not be what they want. I think I may be one of those people but I will see how things go over the next months with these pads and post an update.
 


Last edited:
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Hudson
#2
Could you have possibly glazed the pads when bedding them in? I didn’t expect powerstop to be good by any means but economy car bad doesn’t sound right. I put Posi-Quiet stoptech pads on my friends economy Impreza and she said they are a million times better than stock. It’s stoptech so it’s a higher quality brand but they’re still the OE replacement pads so I would expect any performance pad to not perform terribly. Just curious if you looked into it.


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OP
mercdank
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Miami
Thread Starter #3
We did follow the bed-in procedure, though maybe not as aggressively as needed. I'm not used to having to push the pedal down so far, so maybe I was too light on it when bedding.

Also, aren't the slots in the rotors for pad deglazing?
 


OP
mercdank
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Thread Starter #4
Thanks, will send them and do more aggressive bedding.
 


Ford ST

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#5
Okay so we used the power stop Z16 pads on every car in the shop I worked in for a bit why? The pads are quiet we never had a single come back from them. I have installed two of the Z23 brake kits. The pads do not have the bite of the OEM pad not even close. I would never install these pads on the ST. For a regular Fiesta or Focus sure it's a great pad. Not a bad pad just not better than OEM.

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Shalimar
#6
I put the same kit on my FiST and absolutely love them over stock. Bite is more progressive and easier to modulate especially when heel/toeing. Power stop makes hella good brakes and I’ve put their kits on much faster cars too. The OEM pads are crap to me. Bite is way to early upsetting smooth corner entry and upsetting the chassis where too many corrections are needed.


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OP
mercdank
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Miami
Thread Starter #7
OK just got done sanding the pads and it made a difference for sure. Overall stopping power is on par with stock once you slam on the brakes where as before the car took more time to stop. These will take some adjusting since I am used to the strong initial bite of the stock pads, this definitely doesn't have anywhere near the bite even after the sanding. I am not sure if I would use these on the track or autocross, as they are going to take some time for me to get used to as I already mentioned.
 


PunkST

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#9
I dig their rotors, i paired with ebc reds. Thay said i might grab yellows next.
 


Dib

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Tucson, AZ
#10
isn't it obvious that carbon ceramic pads will not have the same "bite" as metal pads? braking turns motion into heat. and carbon ceramic doesn't absorb heat as well, but they will maintain the ability to transfer heat longer after the heat gets there. the opposite is true of stock pads. it's like complaining that your Big Turbo doesn't spool as fast as your stock turbo. or your big cams just don't have enough low end. Moral of the story: buy parts that fit your driving habits.
 


danbfree

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#11
isn't it obvious that carbon ceramic pads will not have the same "bite" as metal pads? braking turns motion into heat. and carbon ceramic doesn't absorb heat as well, but they will maintain the ability to transfer heat longer after the heat gets there. the opposite is true of stock pads. it's like complaining that your Big Turbo doesn't spool as fast as your stock turbo. or your big cams just don't have enough low end. Moral of the story: buy parts that fit your driving habits.
My OEM ceramic pads ar grabby as hell, they just need a little warm up time for them to reach their actual full potential stopping power from there, which isn't a big deal unless you need to stop from 70 to 0 when they are cold. Otherwise the initial bite is almost too much as it is, I don't know why people say ceramics lacks bite when it really lacks the big stopping power from speed while cold as it's only downside.
 


Dib

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#12
My OEM ceramic pads ar grabby as hell, they just need a little warm up time for them to reach their actual full potential stopping power from there, which isn't a big deal unless you need to stop from 70 to 0 when they are cold. Otherwise the initial bite is almost too much as it is, I don't know why people say ceramics lacks bite when it really lacks the big stopping power from speed while cold as it's only downside.
From all my research, it's a pretty well known fact that ceramic pads have less bite than metallic pads. It's not so much that ceramic completely and totally lack any an all bite, but it's definitely less than comparable metallic pads.
 


danbfree

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#13
From all my research, it's a pretty well known fact that ceramic pads have less bite than metallic pads. It's not so much that ceramic completely and totally lack any an all bite, but it's definitely less than comparable metallic pads.
OK, fair enough man, that's understandable, I guess I find ceramics to have PLENTY of bite... I know I accidentally have cases of excess initial bite quite often, which could have something to do with how the brake system is setup in general with our cars. So I suppose we can just take my example as one case where ceramics certainly can have plenty of bite, but just a little less than semi-metallic in general.
 


danbfree

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#14
I took a look at the different EBC pads and they claim initial bite is an 8 out of 10 with their YellowStuff semi-metallic, and a 7 out of 10 for their RedStuff ceramic, so I guess its pretty close!
 


Jabbit

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#16

the duke

Senior Member
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#17
I ran the rotors and pads on the rear. Bought some for the front as well but put a bbk on before installing the fronts. I liked them.
Did they last with aggressive braking at the track? All my race pads I've run up to this point pretty much are dead after 1 hour...

I will have better cooling this time though.
 


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