In this guide, we’ll break down the six Ferodo compounds available at The Brake Shop: DS Performance, DS2500, DS3000, DSUNO, DS1.11 and DS3.12. By the end, you’ll know exactly which pad belongs in your brake calipers.

Ferodo DS Performance: The Road Upgrade

Best for: Fast road driving

The DS Performance is Ferodo’s entry point into the performance range, designed as a direct upgrade over standard OE pads. It offers stronger bite, improved fade resistance and a firmer pedal feel, while retaining the refinement you need for daily driving, low noise, low dust and dependable performance from cold. This range is especially recommended for road use as most of the range is ECE R90 compliant, which means it’s within ±15% of the Original Manufacturers performance.

If your car never sees a circuit but you want better stopping power on the road, this is the pad to choose. It’s also a great match for hot hatches and fast estates that carry a bit of weight.

Ferodo DS2500: The Legendary All-Rounder

Best for: Spirited driving, occasional track days, sprints and hillclimbs

If you’ve spent any time in the performance car world, you’ll have heard of the DS2500. It’s arguably the most popular dual-purpose pad ever made, and it’s often the benchmark that other spirited driving/track compounds are measured against.

The reason for its reputation is simple: it has great manners when you’re driving normally and like a race pad when you’re pushing on. It works well from cold, keeps noise and dust to a minimum, and delivers a consistent friction level of around 0.42 across a working range of 0 to 500 degrees C. That consistency translates to predictable braking and excellent pedal modulation.

Low compressibility also means a firm, confidence-inspiring pedal, while remaining kind to both discs and pads. For the vast majority of drivers who do a handful of track days a year, the DS2500 is very hard to beat.

One thing to note: on very heavy, powerful cars running sticky track rubber, the DS2500 can be worked towards the top of its temperature range and pad wear will increase. If that sounds like your setup, it’s time to step up to a dedicated race compound.

Ferodo DS3000: The Proven Classic

Best for: Rally, hillclimb, touring car and clubman racing

Setting the braking standard since its launch in 1998, the DS3000 is one of the most successful competition compounds of all time, with countless wins and podiums across touring car, rally and GT championships worldwide. It remains a firm favourite in rallying and grassroots motorsport to this day.

It’s a heavy-duty all-round race material with a high average friction coefficient of 0.48 across a working range of 200 to 650 degrees C, offering strong initial bite with excellent feel and release. One of its standout traits is a remarkably short bedding-in time, up to 50 percent faster than comparable materials, which makes it ideal when pads need swapping between events, and its flat friction curve keeps braking predictable in all conditions. It’s also notably easy on discs, with the trade-off being higher pad wear than the newer endurance compounds.

As the predecessor to the DS1.11, it’s since been joined by more modern materials in the range, but the DS3000’s track record, rally pedigree and forgiving character mean it’s still an excellent choice for competition use.

Ferodo DSUNO: The Heavy-Duty All-Rounder

Best for: Touring car, GT, single seater and rally

The DSUNO is Ferodo’s heavy-duty semi-endurance compound, race proven across touring cars, GT machinery, single seaters and rallying. It delivers a high average friction coefficient of 0.48 across a working range of 200 to 750 degrees C, more outright bite than the DS1.11 once up to track temperature, yet its defining characteristic is control. The torque output is exceptionally progressive and easy to modulate throughout the braking event, which significantly reduces the risk of wheel lock compared with other pads offering similar peak friction.

Despite that aggression, the DSUNO is remarkably kind to discs and offers long pad life for a compound this potent, making it a genuine do-it-all motorsport pad. Think of it as the option for drivers who like the DS1.11’s dependability but want a stronger overall bite, accepting slightly shorter pad life in exchange.

Like any full race compound, it needs temperature to work at its best and isn’t suited to road use.

Ferodo DS1.11: The Endurance Racer

Best for: Endurance racing and serious track use

The DS1.11 is a proper motorsport compound designed for long stints at sustained high temperatures. Fade resistance is outstanding, it’s a pad that simply refuses to give up, no matter how hard it’s driven, and it’s remarkably gentle on discs at track temperatures once a proper transfer layer has been established, which is exactly what you want over a long race distance.

Friction sits at a moderate level between the DS2500 and DS3.12, and many drivers actually prefer this characteristic. The slightly lower bite makes the pad easier to modulate on the limit and less likely to trigger ABS intervention, giving fine control deep into a braking zone.

The trade-off is road manners. The DS1.11 can be noisy when cold and cold bite is limited, so while some racers drive to and from the circuit on them, they’re not a pad we’d recommend for road use.

Ferodo DS3.12: The Modern Benchmark

Best for: Sprint racing, time attack and maximum performance

The newest compound in the DS line, the DS3.12 was developed for the current generation of performance cars. Heavier, more powerful and running more grip than ever before. It’s the highest-friction pad in the Ferodo range, delivering serious bite with less pedal effort, and it’s renowned for having one of the flattest torque curves of any race pad on the market.

In practice, that means the pedal feels the same on lap one as it does on lap twenty, corner after corner, with no measurable fade at any temperature your brakes are realistically going to see. Wear rates are excellent for such an aggressive compound too, and it’s unusually quiet for a race pad when cold.

Cold bite is low to moderate, so allow extra distance on the first couple of stops of the day, and expect faster disc wear if used extensively at low temperatures. But for outright performance and consistency on circuit, the DS3.12 is the gold standard.

Which Ferodo Pad Should You Choose?

• Road only? Go DS Performance.
• Occasional track days? The DS2500 is the default answer for a reason.
• Rallying or clubman motorsport? The DS3000 is the proven choice with decades of victories, strong bite and quick bedding-in.
• Racing in touring cars, GT or rally? The DSUNO combines high bite with superb control, long life and disc-friendly manners.
• Race car doing long stints? DS1.11 for its endurance pedigree, disc-friendly nature and controllable bite.
• Chasing lap times in sprints or time attack? DS3.12 for maximum bite and unshakeable consistency.

Whichever compound you choose, remember that new pads need bedding in properly to perform at their best, and a high-temperature brake fluid is a worthwhile upgrade alongside any track-focused pad.

Shop Ferodo at The Brake Shop

Browse our full range of Ferodo brake pads and use the vehicle lookup tool to find the right fitment for your car in seconds. Not sure which compound suits your setup? Our experts are on hand, call us on 01782 334440 or email websales@tegiwa.com and we’ll point you in the right direction.