I am in need of new pads and possibly new rotors on my S2 and I had a few questions.

Is there any consensus on what are the best pads? It will be driven on the streets as well as autocrossed.

I might also be in need of new front rotors. Does anyone know the minimum width on S2 rotors?

Also slightly off topic, but when looking for the transmission drain and fill plugs I saw some that looked like they might be on the muffler side of the transmission. Are these indeed the drain and fill plugs? Why did they put them on the side of the muffler? Did they intent to make it harder on us by giving us less space to work with?

Thanks in advance,

 

I have not done any autocross events. I have been doing high speed DE events though for three years or so. My turbo has way more power than the brakes were designed to handle. What I run now is a set of frozen and slotted rotors and Performance Friction compound 97 pads. I am very pleased with this combo. I drive the car on the street with these pads as well. I get a little brake squeal but I can live with it. I ran PFCs Z-rated pads for a while. They are a little more street oriented and may be a better compromise for auto-x. They did fade on the high speed track in my experience.

The minimum thickness is stamped on the rotor itself. When I changed my rears they were under min without being turned. For any type of auto-x or track time I would always buy new, don't bother turning them. Zimmerman is a good alternative to the actual Porsche part.

You found the fill and drain plugs. There is not much that was made to be easy on these cars, though there is more reasy stuff on your model than mine

Best of Luck

 

I recently changed my old pads to EBC greens -&gt; <a href="http://www.ebcbrakes.com/" target="_blank">EBC webpage</a>

So far I haven't tried them on a track or on an autocross competition, but the overall feeling I've got on the street - including some silly speeding-braking-speeding-braking -testing on an empty highway - is that they're a bit better than the OEM pads I had in there before. Cold braking is about the same, but the EBC's get better when they heat up just a bit - and I didn't get any fade on the highway test, which was nice. <img src="graemlins/jumper.gif" border="0" alt="[jumper]" />

Weird thing is that now, after the brakes get hot enough, the rear ones seem to lock up before the front ones do... it used to be the other way round. There's a good chance I screwed up with the right side rear caliper though, I'll have to check it out... <img src="graemlins/c.gif" border="0" alt="[ouch]" />

 

I will cast my vote for Hawk HPS again, they are a good dual purpose pad, they grip well fade less than stock, and they are kind to your rotors.

I did 1 auto-x, and couple DE's on mine and they were in great shape, and even though I would have liked something more aggressive for the track, they were a compromise, and did all that they should have.

(There is no mythical pad that stops the car quickly, gives of no brake dust, is quiter than stock, and lasts forever, you always have to make compromizes or buy multiple sets of pads)

 

With as eays as it is to change the brake pads on these cars (at least the turbos and S2's, having multiple sets is not too big of a deal. You can change them out in like 10 minutes and be ready for a DE or autox and then 10 minutes when you're done back to street pads..

 

OK, where can I get the Hawk HKS pads at? Any comments on the pagid pads that paragon sells?

If I need new rotors I will be going with some cross-drilled vented rotors. Where is the best place to find these as well? I think I saw some through tweeks and perhaps vertex as well. Any experience with any of these?

 

I am still a PBR metal master fan. For the price they are a good pad that doesent make alot of dust. They are great on the street. A little numb on first application on a cold morning or on a rainy day. But otherwise fine. No squeeks.

 

Hey Chris

It's Matt from the Ventura event trip.
I second the Metal masters. Cheap and good all around pad.

 

[quote]Originally posted by ClassJ:
<strong>I am still a PBR metal master fan. For the price they are a good pad that doesent make alot of dust. They are great on the street. A little numb on first application on a cold morning or on a rainy day. But otherwise fine. No squeeks.</strong><hr></blockquote>

I can't get my Metal Masters to stop squeeking. Even after scrubbing with some heavy braking, they squeek quite a bit. I've been looking for a repacement set as well.

Daniel

 

Unless you go with a premium cross drilled rotor, I would stay away from them. The good ones are not actually drilled at all, but have cast in holes. I think the good ones are tough to come by for our brakes. There are some when you go up one size rotor but, not much for turbos and S2's. Instead look at the slotted rotors for extra performance. An added benefit is that they are generally slotted to the min thickness, telling you when they require replacement

Pagids are good pads, they are spendy like PFC and Porterfield, but very good pads. The Hawks are likely the best value / performance compromise. Metal Masters will work fine until you work them hard on a racetrack.

 

Hawk HP plus for mostly track driving. You can't beat the price @ around $60/ set from Tire Rack.