brandonecpt

Looking at some minor upgrades to my Spyder and I've heard a lot about Pagid pads. Found them on Pelican but they're about $800 for all 4 wheels.

"Worth it" us subjective of course, but who uses them?

Along those lines, which compound should I buy? I use the car for enthusiastic driving and plan to do a few AX days per year.

jdavis8361

I was very underwhelmed by the performance of the OE brake pads on my 987.1 Cayman S, but remain quite pleased with the Pagid yellow pads I had installed all round, even though they do squeal a bit more than the OE pads, especially when cold.

jD

bernb6

Are you seeing brake pad issues in your current driving? I'm not sure you'll see any value in Pagid for street use, even enthusiastic driving. In DE, you'd be braking from 100+ to 50-60 up to 60 times or more in 20 minutes, depending on the track. Street pads can't handle that but I can't imagine this amount of braking ever happening on the street.
AX requires quick bite at low temps - I'll let the AXers respond to AX needs.
Bern

AZWCat

Turbo Jonny

SpeedFreaksUSA

Pagid makes some fantastic brake compounds for track use (and street as well on the OE side), but as others are alluding to, matching the compound temperature range and characteristics to your use is most important. Based on the price you are describing I would assume you're talking about the RS-29s which are an endurance race compound that happen to generate a fair bit of cold bite at lower disc temps. They are fantastic pads if you are tracking the car fairly regularly but I wouldn't say those are ideal for your intended use. You will rarely get them even close to their ideal temp range which will result in suboptimal performance, unnecessary amounts of dust and increased disc wear (cold race pads are vary abrasive).

I know this is a thread asking about Pagid specifically but in our experience Endless MX72 is a better compound for what you're looking for. MX72 are an aggressive street pad that has a very large operating temp range while also maintaining more street civility than pretty much anything else that's in the same ballpark in terms of friction levels and peak operating temperatures. They are perfect for street use with occasional autox and even a track day or two if you ever decide you'd like to try one

-Matt M.

PorscheAddict

Easily worth it for the track, as are PFC.

brandonecpt

Thanks for that feedback. I'm only asking specifically about Pagid as they've been recommended regularly. I'll look into the Endless pads as well.

brandonecpt

I'm actually just looking for more bite, my current pedal travel is very linear but also very long. Maybe I should look into a system flush/bleed first? Or go big with a GT3 master cylinder?

SpeedFreaksUSA

Understood. I have mostly very good things to say about their compounds, especially for track use, and we have more than a few customers who are so happy with their Pagid pads that they refuse to consider anything else when it comes time to replace them. My concern for you specifically is that virtually all of the Pagid pad compounds available outside of the OE spectrum are designed to be used on a track and therefore have a heat range which is outside of where your pads will spend majority of their life.

If your pedal is a bit long or spongy start with a fluid flush or at least a bleed since that is going to be fluid related. Friction levels/bite is down to the pad compound used.

-Matt M.

Auto_Werks 3.6

I bought one set of Pagid pads as an emergency when I was doing a track day autocross combo weekend. I forget which version the pagid was, but it was definitely a track compound. Not impressed with the bite, or performance from cold, and they're LOUD. Like, can't drive around town at all loud. Lots of people seem to like them, though. I much prefer the results I got from Raybestos ST43

bernb6

A couple things might cause long pedal travel. The 981 has a bit of a weak fire wall that actually moves in and out like a diaphragm when you press hard on the pedal. There are some after market solutions to this but they will only affect pedal feel, not braking.
Another of course may be air in the line. A fluid flush is cheap and you may be ready to do that anyway.
A third is that the pads may not hold a close enough distance to the rotor - perhaps caused by pad taper or piston seal stiction. If/when you flush the fluid, you can use a channel lock pliers to retract the pads a bit. The large movement to re-seat will relieve any stiction and seat the pads close to the rotors. If you immediately have firm brake that go away after a while, then your issue may be stiction or pad taper related.
Forth may be brake hose flex. Stainless steel brake hoses would be a solution but I don't think 981's are very susceptible to that.
Bern

Voyager6

On my Cayman track car, I am running RS29 pads. They squeak occasionally on the street, but not enough to bother me. When I replaced them last fall after 11 DE weekends, the pads still had 50 percent pad thickness left.

V6

PorscheAddict

Pagid and other race pads squeal a lot less once they've been superheated on track. IME, they are dead quiet for a couple-few weeks post each DE. I generally leave Pagid in from March-October or so and run stock just for winter. RS29 also last forever.

fhp911

IMO if you aren't going to high speed track days there is no reason to get any track pad or a GT3 master cylinder.

It can never hurt to get a full fluid flush.