I've been running the Porterfield R4S's on stock rotors. They are great on the street, but I feel like they are still leaving something behind on the track.

I have not had decomposition problems like cdelena, but am still experiencing some fade, and I think some glazing after a hard run. They are also about 3/4's gone, so I have to replace them anyway, and have a brand new set of factory pads for street driving.

Any recommendations on a full race pad? I would still likely change them out at home, so they still would be used on the streed, but minimally.

R4's? Pagid? Hawk? EBC? Others?

 

Hi pfb-

Hawk Blue pads have not let me down in the S2000 for aggressive track driving.

I like them (although if you read any of the earlier threads you may already know that ).

The caveats are- the dust is corrosive (must wash car as soon as you can, and definitely before any rainstorm), and the only fitments available are custom ground from the Del Sol fitment, which may not be your "cup of tea." They are also very hard on the rotors if cold. Those three issues do not conflict with the main one- the pads work as intended- they slow you down consistently with minimum fade over a period of a track session.

I've tried alot of pads on the market, and I like those the most for that intended use.

I've experienced the same problems with the two Porterfield compounds (R4 & R4s) and obviously the OEM pads. I've seen EBC "Green Stuff" pads disintegrate in one 20 minute session on other, lighter cars. The Pagid "orange" pads are really nice, and easy on the rotors, but I don't know if they have a fitment for the S2000. Endless pads are nice (CCM compound for the track, NA-S for the street, used both on other cars, good pads) but very expensive considering they don't exceed the performance of the Hawk equivalents which are much cheaper. A good friend of mine who races swears by Carbotech Panthers (and Larry @ Carbotech tells me that the latest Panther compound is much better, along with the newer Bobcat compound) but I have yet to try them.

Hope you find a pad that suits your needs...

 

Agreed! Hawk Blues are the best full race pad you can buy. Though they are very hard on the rotors.

 

I've run the Carbotech Panther Plus pads at Mid Ohio and VIR. I probably have one more event left in this set. They perform a lot like Hawk Blues but won't kill your rotors. Their upper limits are not quite as high as the Blues. Panthers are very streetable if you can stand gobs of dust and constant chirping (I can't).

If you brake with a really heavy foot and don't mind buying a new set of rotors every year, you should run the Hawk Blues. If you can be just a click easier on the brakes the Panthers work well and you won't be buying rotors as often.

 

FYI, here is the (very rapid!) response I got from Carbotech...

[QUOTE]I am glad to see another S2000 driver inquiring about our custom pads,
we will be working closely with the S2KCA going forward.

For your S2000, your front pad is a D829, and your rear pad is a D537.

 

Can anyone who has used both (preferably on the street as well as the track) give a comparative review of the Carbotech Panther Plus versus the Porterfield R4-S?

I've been using the R4-S for track and street, and like it pretty well. A little bit of squeak, quite a bit of dust, much better stopping than stock after the first two stops, much better fade resistance than stock.

I'm just wondering how the Carbotech Panther Plus stacks up.

Thanks,

Ted

 

Tedster-

I have not been a happy user of the Porterfield R4S. They did not even come close to my requirements for their intended use.

However, I know of Eclipse and Supra owners who have used the Panther (not the Panther+) who swear by it. I would thus assume the Panther+ should be even better.

For what it's worth, as soon as I've gone through my Hawk pads, I will try the Panther and Panther+ on my car- assuming that Larry@Carbotech has necessary backing plates for my particular caliper now. I'm curious how well they do compared to the Pagid pads.

 

Nick,

thanks for the review.

I think I'm looking for a different level of performance than you, though. For me the Porterfields have been pretty good, although I haven't taken a good look at them after my last track day.

That said, if the Carbotech Panther Plus offers better performance, and no worse drawbacks for street/some track use (noise, dust, rotor wear), then I'll move up to them from the Porterfield R4-S.

 

Hey Tedster-

No problem. People have to keep in mind certain things when evaluating their purchase options- what the intended use is, and under what conditons.

For me, the R4S were completely inadequate. I'm a notorious late braker, and am very hard on brakes. I consider rotors, brake pads, and fluid to be wear items- many people do not. The Supra and Eclipse owners I quoted using the Panther pads own significantly heavier cars than the S2000- require more stopping power (cF and temp. range).

I hope you find what you're looking for!

 

Nick, tried the R4's? or R4E's?

I've heard about the inadequacies for some drivers on some tracks when running the R4S's. A few NSX'ers prefer the R4's and R4E's from Porterfield.