Best Brake Pads for Track/Street use - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

KRZTACO · 03-15-2006, 03:38 PM

I did a search and there are a couple suggestions, what you think?

Pagid "Blue"
Pagid "Orange"
Pagid "Yellow"
portefield R4-S
Performance Friction

Street use with track use roughly 1-time a month. I would like my dust level to stay low for the street, then with track days, I don't care how much brake dust comes off on my dedicated track rims/tires.

Thanks,

KRZ

blinkwatt · 03-15-2006, 04:47 PM

I recently installed Pagid brake pads in the front and rear or my Boxster and boy oh boy let me tell you it brought my brake back to life. They are the regular ones that ******************************** AZ offers on a 99' Boxster but boy oh boy does my car stop now,it erased all "mushy" feel in the brakes. I have taken a couple of spirited drives where moderate braking was required and I knew I could count on the brakes everytime. I havent "slammed" the brakes yet as I have only had the pads on the car for 50 miles,still breaking them in. For $130 New front and rear pads I dont think that can be beat.

MNBoxster · 03-15-2006, 05:22 PM

Hi,

A couple of things to consider. Race Pads or Race Compound Pads don't work very efficiently unless thay are heated up, so they're really inferior to Street Pads for Street Use. Also, they are more agressive and will wear out your rotors more quickly. And, they have a natural tendency to squeal unless heated and in Street Driving, you're just not on the Brakes Often enough, Long enough or Hard enough to prevent this. Finally, they cost more and for the Street offer less performance.

I keep two sets for my Cars - a Street Set and a Track Set. Disc Brakes were made for Racing and quick Pad changes in the Pits. The Pads can be swapped in about 20 min. with practice. This is what I do when I track the Car. It also offers the benefit of actually getting under the Car to check everything out before I go off and hit Warp Drive - Safety First!...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

PS I have used many Pads and I currently use the Porterfields in the Esprit. IMHO, they are the best Track Pad made today - FYI

blinkwatt · 03-15-2006, 05:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MNBoxster

Hi,

A couple of things to consider. Race Pads or Race Compound Pads don't work very efficiently unless thay are heated up, so they're really inferior to Street Pads for Street Use. Also, they are more agressive and will wear out your rotors more quickly. And, they have a natural tendency to squeal unless heated and in Street Driving, you're just not on the Brakes Often enough, Long enough or Hard enough to prevent this. Finally, they cost more and for the Street offer less performance.

I hear ya. The other car in the garage is a Jetta with a Wilwood racing brake kit,great for breaking and greatly annoying on the streets. They stop the car amazing fast,but unless you have a heavy foot on the brake or have been driving the car for hour the brake squel EVERY TIME. I can not argue with how they brake though,it is truely amazing.

Carl AMG · 03-16-2006, 04:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MNBoxster

Hi,

A couple of things to consider. Race Pads or Race Compound Pads don't work very efficiently unless thay are heated up, so they're really inferior to Street Pads for Street Use. Also, they are more agressive and will wear out your rotors more quickly. And, they have a natural tendency to squeal unless heated and in Street Driving, you're just not on the Brakes Often enough, Long enough or Hard enough to prevent this. Finally, they cost more and for the Street offer less performance.

I keep two sets for my Cars - a Street Set and a Track Set. Disc Brakes were made for Racing and quick Pad changes in the Pits. The Pads can be swapped in about 20 min. with practice. This is what I do when I track the Car. It also offers the benefit of actually getting under the Car to check everything out before I go off and hit Warp Drive - Safety First!...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

PS I have used many Pads and I currently use the Porterfields in the Esprit. IMHO, they are the best Track Pad made today - FYI

I totally agree with these points. I'll never use a "street/track" pad on the track again. It is just not worth it to be worrying about brake fade when you are on the track at speed. The dedicated track pad (and high performance brake fluid like Motul 600 or Ate Super Blue) will give you so much more performance on the track and, as mentioned, are so easy to swap back and forth.

I use Carbotech track pads (with a Stoptech BBK) on my WRX and use Porterfield R4E's for my AMG Mercedes for running in "Mercedes only" club track events.

l8braker · 03-16-2006, 04:23 AM

Got Porterfields on my Boxster S.

KRZTACO · 03-16-2006, 07:52 AM

How is the brake dust?

Are they tough on the Rotors?

FYI: my 986 S has about 50,000 miles on my rotors. I purchased the car at 30,000 miles and I'm assuming thier the original rotors.

KRZ

MNBoxster · 03-16-2006, 08:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KRZTACO

How is the brake dust?

Are they tough on the Rotors?

FYI: my 986 S has about 50,000 miles on my rotors. I purchased the car at 30,000 miles and I'm assuming thier the original rotors.

KRZ

Hi,

Dust is not bad, at least not as bad as my former Mintex Blue Pads were. They are definitely more agressive than OEM so far as Rotor Wear is concerned, but of course, your mix of Driving and Driving style have a lot to do with the mileage you get from the Rotors with any Pad.

Depending upon your Driving Style and conditions, at 50k mi., I would estimate that your Rotors are maybe 2/3 to 3/4 used. The Minimum Wear Tolerance is 22.6mm (0.89") Front and 18.6mm (0.72") Rear. Hope this helps...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

KRZTACO · 03-16-2006, 09:13 AM

So are you using this one?

R4-S High Performance Street and Autocross

KRZ

clubhead · 03-24-2006, 09:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KRZTACO

...I would like my dust level to stay low for the street, then with track days, I don't care how much brake dust comes off on my dedicated track rims/tires.
...

Stay of the Performance Friction Carbon Metallic Compound 97. I've these on for about 6 months now. These pads are a total nightmare far as dust level is concerned. Way more dust compared to stock and the worst is, they 'eat' into your wheels and your wheel arch paint work!! I intend to swap them out for the Porterfield R4S.

The Compound 97 are track pads but surprisingly, they work very well from cold. It felt much better than the stock pads. So they're totally usable on the street and is just the dust level that's the problem. Contrary to what some may say, they're very gentle on the rotors. If they emitted less dust, they would be ideal for the streets.

Now, can someone tell me where I can get some mail order Porterfield R4S? I've tried rennstore.com but they almost insisted that I get the front/back instead of just the front. Don't get me wrong, they sounded rather nice and all just that they were a bit too pushy on me getting the entire set.