Favorite track pads?

[Dialcaliper]

I know that this thread is all about TRACK only pads, but since you seem to be the only one on here who has used any Porterfield pads at all; have you ever used their 'fast street'/autocross R4S pads for the FiST??

If so, how was the initial cold bite, and were they as noisy (squealing on softer street stops) as the Hawk HP+es I've had on other platforms?

They don’t talk about it here in the R4 brochure, but the R4S friction curve is listed here along with the rest. R4-1 looks interesting as a street pad…

https://www.porterfield-brakes.com/images/portrace2008_11_06_02_41_04.pdf

 

[kevinatfms]

I know that this thread is all about TRACK only pads, but since you seem to be the only one on here who has used any Porterfield pads at all; have you ever used their 'fast street'/autocross R4S pads for the FiST??

If so, how was the initial cold bite, and were they as noisy (squealing on softer street stops) as the Hawk HP+es I've had on other platforms?

Never used the R4-S. I used the Ford "S" summer pads since they were so good for me around town/autocrossing.

 

[kevinatfms]

many thanks! how would you describe bite and modulation?

I love the R4, R4-1 and R4-E for track work. They are easy to modulate and are quite heat tolerable if the sizing of the brake system is adequate for the car.

Case in point:
Just got back from the 24 hour race at VIR with Champ Car and our Elantra did the full 24 hours on a set of R4-Es that already had 6+ hours on them. The pads lasted the full 24 and still have meat left on them. Car has 12" front rotors from a Sonata with Tiburon 1 piston calipers up front, OE disc brakes in the rear. 2" dedicated ducts up front is all that is needed to keep them cool. Car weighs around 2400lbs loaded.

They felt great all weekend with good pedal pressure/modulation and rotors still have life on them after the full 24 hours.

@cidsamuth can elaborate a bit more on what he felt with the pedal and how the pads performed during the race. He drove 4 hours or so in the car and can give a good background.

 

[cidsamuth]

I love the R4, R4-1 and R4-E for track work. They are easy to modulate and are quite heat tolerable if the sizing of the brake system is adequate for the car.

Case in point:
Just got back from the 24 hour race at VIR with Champ Car and our Elantra did the full 24 hours on a set of R4-Es that already had 6+ hours on them. The pads lasted the full 24 and still have meat left on them. Car has 12" front rotors from a Sonata with Tiburon 1 piston calipers up front, OE disc brakes in the rear. 2" dedicated ducts up front is all that is needed to keep them cool. Car weighs around 2400lbs loaded.

They felt great all weekend with good pedal pressure/modulation and rotors still have life on them after the full 24 hours.

@cidsamuth can elaborate a bit more on what he felt with the pedal and how the pads performed during the race. He drove 4 hours or so in the car and can give a good background.

The pads were very good. It was insanely hot, and VIR is known to be hard on brakes. I never felt any real fade and, as Kevin said, they lasted the whole 24 hours. Grab was good.

Worth noting, this was on a 150 crank HP car. More speed might have taxed the pads, but it’s speculation whether it would have been enough to matter.

 

[stash3630]

I just put all new front and back HP+’s on brand new oem equivalent front and back rotors yesterday. Firstly, I think this bed in procedure Hawk has on their website seems a bit inadequate. Maybe that’s for liability reasons?


Secondly, these things are squealing like a 50 year old garbage truck. I’m not exaggerating. It’s unlike ANYTHING I’ve ever heard. Also, they felt pretty slippery and mushy. They might be starting to get better today though in terms of bite, but the sound is still CRAZY loud under normal ‘round town braking.

I may go out on the freeway late tonight and try and re-bed in the pads with some higher speeds and heavier braking. If that doesn’t work, I may try a different branded oem equivalent rotor? Thoughts on that?

If that all fails, I think I’m going to try some porterfields

 

[M-Sport fan]

I am sure that others, on other platforms (maybe including this one) have had different experiences than I, but when I tried the HP+es on my (yes, higher HP and ~700 lb. heavier) LS1 Z28, they squealed LOUDLY, like the proverbial stuck piggies on every single not extreme stop approaching a stoplight/stop sign on the street regardless of rotor used, or break-in method tried.

It's one of the reasons why I am afraid to even try anything but the Motorcraft OEM 'summer tire' pads on this car for the replacement coming up real soon for me.

 

[Williamson]

I just put all new front and back HP+’s on brand new oem equivalent front and back rotors yesterday. Firstly, I think this bed in procedure Hawk has on their website seems a bit inadequate. Maybe that’s for liability reasons?
View attachment 57542

Secondly, these things are squealing like a 50 year old garbage truck. I’m not exaggerating. It’s unlike ANYTHING I’ve ever heard. Also, they felt pretty slippery and mushy. They might be starting to get better today though in terms of bite, but the sound is still CRAZY loud under normal ‘round town braking.

I may go out on the freeway late tonight and try and re-bed in the pads with some higher speeds and heavier braking. If that doesn’t work, I may try a different branded oem equivalent rotor? Thoughts on that?

If that all fails, I think I’m going to try some porterfields

Some pads just squeal, the HP+ I know are a higher temp pad and so they may just be cold and squealing as such. I do recall my HPS 5.0s feeling a lot less confidence inspiring even following the break in procedures from them, but I did get used to it and they did start to feel better as they were driven. But as mentioned, I was ultimately not overly impressed in the HPS 5.0s and won't buy them again. No experience with the HP+ to give any real advice though

 

[green_henry]

HP+ were fine when I first put them on, but after my first track day, they squealed like crazy. Worked well, but too loud for me

 

[kevinatfms]

Some pads just squeal, the HP+ I know are a higher temp pad and so they may just be cold and squealing as such. I do recall my HPS 5.0s feeling a lot less confidence inspiring even following the break in procedures from them, but I did get used to it and they did start to feel better as they were driven. But as mentioned, I was ultimately not overly impressed in the HPS 5.0s and won't buy them again. No experience with the HP+ to give any real advice though

HP+ are not a high temp pad. The working range stops well below 1000F. They are rated as an Autocross pad with maybe a novice on track days. Anyone with some speed will overheat them quite easily. They also have a very odd pedal feel when warm where it feels like the compound compresses a bit before it wants to really bite.

The Hawk HPS 5.0's were flat garbage for me. Couldnt stand the lack of cold bite and terrible pedal feel. I couldnt give them away once people found out how bad they were on the Fiesta. Went back to OE summer pads after only a few hundred miles for autocross and around town.

 

[kevinatfms]

I just put all new front and back HP+’s on brand new oem equivalent front and back rotors yesterday. Firstly, I think this bed in procedure Hawk has on their website seems a bit inadequate. Maybe that’s for liability reasons?

Secondly, these things are squealing like a 50 year old garbage truck. I’m not exaggerating. It’s unlike ANYTHING I’ve ever heard. Also, they felt pretty slippery and mushy. They might be starting to get better today though in terms of bite, but the sound is still CRAZY loud under normal ‘round town braking.

I may go out on the freeway late tonight and try and re-bed in the pads with some higher speeds and heavier braking. If that doesn’t work, I may try a different branded oem equivalent rotor? Thoughts on that?

If that all fails, I think I’m going to try some porterfields

Its not the rotors. Ive run every pad under the sun at this point with the cheapest/shittiest rotors i can find for track days without any noise.

I would re-bed the pads and scuff the outer edges to eliminate flash spots when they bond the friction material to the backing plate. Some times they can drag and squeal if that material is dragging the outer edge of the rotor face.

The slippery/mushy feeling is the pad compound compared to the stock compound. The factory pads have extreme cold bite while the Hawks do not.

Im a massive fan of Porterfield race pads. Havent had a chance to try the R4-S yet but have heard good things from other platforms. I hope they have the initial cold bite of the stock summer pads as they are about the best ive felt for around town/autocross.

 

[stash3630]

Its not the rotors. Ive run every pad under the sun at this point with the cheapest/shittiest rotors i can find for track days without any noise.

I would re-bed the pads and scuff the outer edges to eliminate flash spots when they bond the friction material to the backing plate. Some times they can drag and squeal if that material is dragging the outer edge of the rotor face.

The slippery/mushy feeling is the pad compound compared to the stock compound. The factory pads have extreme cold bite while the Hawks do not.

Im a massive fan of Porterfield race pads. Havent had a chance to try the R4-S yet but have heard good things from other platforms. I hope they have the initial cold bite of the stock summer pads as they are about the best ive felt for around town/autocross.

Last night I went out on the empty highway and did like 15-20 nearly threshold braking runs from 80mph down to 20mph with the HP+'s. Then I slowly rolled home trying to not touch the brakes at all and let it sit overnight. This morning I would say there were noticeable improvements in feel and squeal, but not enough to totally satisfy me. The feel and bite was definitely better so the more aggressive bed in runs I did were helpful, but they still squealed under normal to light braking

As a result I pulled apart everything later in the afternoon and greased the backing plates. I did a thorough brake clean and added grease to all caliper parts and backing plates. I also gave the rotors a quick mist of permatex brake quiet.

This all seemed to help a great deal. The bite is better and the squeal is gone. Time will tell if the squeal returns. I would think if the squeal returns soon, the permatex rotor spray was what band-aided the squeal. If they actually stay quiet, I'll think it was the thorough clean and greasing that solved the issue.

I was looking forward to seeing how they would hold up in a race, but my RallyX event was canceled this weekend. Regardless, I will keep y'all updated on how or if this progresses.

I will say though, that while todays clean and grease has made a significant improvement, even if they don't regress to more squealing I'm still not overly impressed with the pads. If the the work I did today remains, I'll ride them out, but would probably try a different pad the next time around. If they get squeaky again in the next few days, I'll be moving to the Porterfield R4s asap.