taylor

I happen to have a used set of Porterfields from a friend who sold his stook earlier thisyear. But I've yet to use them.

My impression would be that they're only useful at a track event where they get the chance to actually heat up.

Since I've never run them PERIOD, I have no idea what initial bite is like or if I should even bother putting them on my car for the big event this coming weekend.

Should I bother? Or am I better of with the OE's which I've been doing just fine all year round on?

This particular event should be slightly quicker than most of our normal events as part of it takes place on a paddock and part on the top half of a multi-config track. though I still doubt there'll be any 3rd gear.

jzr

Depends on the compound. The R4S compound grabs well when cold and is a good autocross pad. The carbon-kevlar R4 compound does not work well when cold, and should not be used for autocross.

The stock pads work fine, even on the faster courses. Last weekend we had a really fast 2nd & 3rd gear course with a couple really hard braking spots, and my old stock pads never faded.

I've used both pads a lot and there isn't any difference in ultimate performance, only in feel. You'll find R4S bites harder, but then you may find the stock pads easier to modulate. It's a toss up really...

cthree

what jason said. R4S pads are excellent for auto-x, R4 pads are not.

Blue Liquid

Well Taylor, I run the R4-S pads and they perform wonderfully for autocross. It becomes obvious they aren't designed for track duty after a couple sessions on the track, but for autocross, they're perfect.

cbender

I used R4S pads for autocross this past weekend. They did great. That said, I'd imagine that the OEM pads would also do fine for autocross. The speeds are generally low enough and the duration short enough that you won't have any serious heat-related braking problems anyway. Given that, I'm not sure that it's worth swapping out the OEM pads for R4S pads just for autocrossing, unless you're also going to the track (and after a few sessions at the track, you'll probably find the R4S pads lacking).

frayed

I've seen folks on the track roast through the R4S pads in 1.5 days.

On my heavier E36 M3, I cannot run R4S pads, and even ran through a set of R4 pads. I've had to turn to either Hawk HT 10's or Ferodo 3000's.

taylor

Well I presume they're not going to be the R4S since they were bought for track use, but I'll take a look at the box next time I'm in the basement.

I'm quite happy with the stock pads and have used them for two years with mixed track and autoX use. No complaints.

However the event coming up this weekend is worthy of any effort to eek another tenth or whatever out of the car. Looks like a YMMV sort of situation.

Thanks for the input.