Pseudo Nim

Hi all,

Quick question. Someone I know is selling a set of brake pads and rotors, was wondering if I should get these or not - I'm coming up due.

1) The pads are Porterfield APs. The car spends most time on the road - will these be OK for the road? (i.e., not looking for a particularly track-focussed set, don't want insane noise a la Carbotech and zero braking performance while cold, etc)
2) Rear rotors are OEM, turned to 22.1 / 22.2 mm. This seems to be very close to the minimum recommended thickness. Should I pass on the rotors and get a brand new set instead?

Thanks!

RngTrtl

As a general rule, brakes are not something you want to pinch pennies on. You dont have to drop a fortune on super fancy pads and rotors, but dont throw on old stuff near the end of their life anyway. I believe when I looked last stock parts were 450-500 bones front and about the same for the back. They are also super easy to do yourself.

az968gpw

I put the Porterfield street pads (R4-S) on my 968 last year, the R4 is too much a track pad for daily use. Absolutely no squeal, minimal dust and great stopping power. use the anti-squeal backing disks (can order from Porsche) and you'll have no noise.

+1 on not reusing used pads, rotors. Cost for new is reasonable and you're not back in changing stuff for a long time.

Pseudo Nim

Right, I figured - thanks for the replies. Ok, so to be much more specific:

- the pads were AP738 and AP776, with brand new OEM front rotors
- I was just going to get a set of Pagid rear rotors (I'm a believer that proper pads matter far more than fancy rotors as long as the rotors don't overdo the drilling / slotting / etc).

Am I super misguided here and am I walking into a screaming yelling whining track machine that spends more life on the streets of Tokyo than on Fuji Raceway? Should I go back to the drawing board?

az968gpw

Why don't you contact Porterfield and ask about this specific combination and see what they tell you? Those are racing pads, not street pads. Different heating characteristics, noise and dust characteristics.

The front rotors are new OEM? Then they should be fine, but you'll want to match with OEM on the rear. I'm not a brake expert but it seems to me that different rotors could have different characteristics and you'd be better off matching the fronts and rears. Why introduce a variable on a street car to maybe save a few dollars?.

I'm leaning toward the drawing board approach. You really want to be able to stop your car safely.

RngTrtl

Im with AZ. Mixing and matching brakes does not sound like a good idea.

Pseudo Nim

Not an issue to get OEMs (agree on the mixing being a bit iffy), but guess I wanted to also be sure the Porterfields aren't too noisy. I'll reach out to them and ask, it's a good idea I think.

az968gpw

It's not just noise. Track pads take longer to heat up to optimal temps than street pads. Great for track where you really use the brakes a lot, not good for the street where you really don't use the brakes hard. As a result track pads don't stop cars on the street. Be sure to discuss your application with them. Proper brake pads are cheaper than bodynwork.

Pseudo Nim

Slakker

I'm in the opposite camp. After switching back and forth between track pads and street pads every track day for awhile, I realized that used vs new pads is pretty irrelevant. I've latched on to every used track pad deal I've found since then and had great results.

Mike Murphy

az968gpw

If you are doing a DE type event good street pads would work just fine, not out there hard on the brakes that much. Serious racing would be a different matter. I never changed pads for DEs cause I am too lazy for that, just ran good street pads and was careful not to glaze them. Left track pads on my serious car and just enjoyed listening to them squeal on the street.

Pseudo Nim

Got a reply from Porterfield. R-4s are a full race compound, so will be dusty and squealey on the road. Guess it's back to the classifieds, doh!

Out of curiosity, once the brake pad light is on, how much time before I start scraping the pad backing? Or am I on borrowed time already?

az968gpw

R4-S are street pads with low dust and low noise and great performance. See their web site. Maybe their web site is wrong? That's exactly what I have experienced.
https://www.porterfield-brakes.com/m...akes/R4-S.html

If the pad wear light is on, you are pretty much there. But, if you are replacing the rotors as well, you can afford to score them before replacing everything. But braking will be diminished.

Pseudo Nim