Since the inception of FST, we have tried all sorts of brake pads from super trick Ferodo's to $5.00 per axle set no name, made in India stock pads.
With about 10 years into this thing, I thought we could compare notes.
One thing for certain, I have never managed to wear out a set of pads. The best I got was 36 races before I chickened out and replaced. The minimum I got was about 25, but they still had meat on them.
The racing pads I have tried are too "bitey", hard as a brick, no feel and lock up very easy. The super cheap India pads were OK and lasted very well, but my bet is the friction coefficient was terrible. I found the best pads (so far) to be OEM VW of Mexico Varga. Excellent feel, good stopping power and solid life. I found that pad management (fancy word for moving them around to different calipers) would really stretch out the life.
We don't really have any catastrophic issues to talk about in FST, so I figured a thread on pads could give us something to pass the time until the 2013 FST season is announced (in a few days)