mdbickell

I'm going to replace the oem brake pads on my 81SC. I've been tracking the car so I'd like a good street / track pad.

Its been suggested that I install the Pagid Orange. What do you all have to say? I'm sure there are a lot of opinions out there.

Does anyone have any experience w/ the Pagid Dark Blue which is supposed to be a better street pad.

My car is driven every weekend around the Southern California Freeways and canyons and every other month or so at the track.

Thanks in advance for your feedback.
Matt

MuffinMan

Along with several friends, I have the Orange pads in a dual-purpose car and have no problems with "cold" performance on the street. The only issue is they can squeal a lot, and all of the anti-vibration tricks we tried have not worked, so we just live with it. They are expensive, but they are great pads.

Noel

Pagid Orange are not Street/Track pads. They are pretty much just a track pad. A nice combo for street and track is Hawk HP Plus, but then again there are compromises for running this combo pad. I use the Hawk HP Plus as a combo pad, but they are noisy on the street. If this car is your daily driver this may get old very quick. Also the cold braking is not very good, as you must get the pads warm/hot before they really grab. It is generally best to get the pad that works for the application at hand. I'm sure that Bill V. will chime in here. He is generally accepted as the Brake Guru around here.

JackOlsen

For the use you're describing, I'd say Pagid Oranges are a poor choice. They're loud, hard on rotors, can be frustrating when they're cold (which is all the time in street driving), and are too much brake for street tires on the track. They're also crazy expensive.

As MuffinMan points out, they can be used on the street. But if you're only going to the track five or six times a year, you're wasting very expensive track pads in a situation they're not designed for.

MuffinMan

If you don't mind the hassle of swapping out pads when you hit the track, two sets of different compound pads is the best solution. I really like the oranges on the track, though. As previously stated, the squeal on the street may drive you insane...we all have a different threshold of acceptance...and pain

Bill Verburg

The smaller A and M versions don't make the noise that the bigger 930 to 993tt versions do.

That said for the occasional track use that you describe the Blue or Sport Blue is a better pad. I have been using the Blue w/ excellent results for the past 6yrs.

An interesting alternative is the RS 19 or RS 29 yellow. I haven't used them yet but the preliminary reports are outstanding. These are endurance pads, but they exhibit superior cold and hot friction characteristics and are rotor friendly.

The least rotor friendly Pagids I have seen are the orange.

GrantG

I have the Pagid RS19 Yellows in front and Oranges in rear of my 73RS with 930 brakes. The yellows are much better cold than the orange with easier modulation too (I've mixed compounds since I had some bias issues with cold brakes on the street). The yellows have much more constant friction over temp changes, but they make the Oranges look like a bargain pricewise...

Bill Gregory

I ran Pagid Oranges on my 81SC on the street and at the track. They didn't squeal on the street like the Turbo and larger-sized pads do.

Most pad manufacturers have an intermediate/cross pad. Before the Oranges, I used Performance Friction Z-rated pads, and they were a really good street pad which were significantly better than stock pads on the track. I'd recommend them. Others like Hawk HP+, as mentioned, or Porterfield R4-S might also do it for you.

While on pads, I'll mention when you need new rotors, consider the ATE Powerdisc rotors, with the swirly lines. These fancy slots are used to relieve brake pad gas and water from between the pad and disk. When the grooves are worn down, it's time for a new rotor.

Crimson Nape Racing

I had Pagid oranges on my 84, and a friend of mine had them on 86; we both had problems with "pad transfer" when running on the track. The glue or whatever that holds the material together melted and ended up on the rotors. After 2 days at the track it felt like the rotors were warped really bad. Our local track is pretty hard on brakes, but I have heard of lots of people having problems with the oranges on the earlier cars with "smaller" brakes. The only thing I found acceptable was changing pads for DE & street.
Bob

Bill Gregory

I've never had pad transfer problems with Pagid Oranges (knock on my head), which I believe is due to proper break in, according to Pagids instructions, before usage. I also have always used slotted rotors in front with the Pagids, fwiw.