Skip Wolfe

Wanted to get folks opinion on what the best dual purpose street/track pad. I know dual purpose components are a lesson in compromise, but am looking for something that does squeal too bad and doesn't create a crazy level of dust but still can handle an occasional DE.

Thanks!

CosmosMpower

Any good track pad will squeal quite a bit and dust a lot. I leave my Hawk DTC70's on all the time as I don't drive my car too much. If you're fast you'll destroy just about any dual purpose pad on track.

Hawk Street/Race is basically a DTC-30 with a backing plate to help a bit with the noise and should be serviceable on the track.

Jason @ Paragon Products

Devils advocate here Skip...it's so easy to swap pads out on your car...is changing to a track pad an option when you do a DE? Seems that no matter the brand of pad some folks will find them quiet and some will think they scream like a banshee. Lots of players in the pad biz.

1990nein

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mark kibort

squeealing is only about poor bedding or matching of components. if you start with a new pad, you can get most any racing pad to bed properly. you dont need to swap pads on the track. I dont, and have been doing more consistant racing and street driving with the same car than probably anyone you will find. (will alll the usual players of brake pads and rotor combinations)

Im running PFC-11s which are as agressive as DTC70s , and ive even run more aggressive pads, such as ST41s. its all in the bedding process. a pagid orange is a great dual purpose pad as are a few others. PFC-08s are another good one. but if you are serous about the track, something like a pagid RS14 is perfect.

PM me for the bedding process.

brownan

In my RS I just leave the Pagid RS29 pads in all the time. Works fine.

stronbl

Don't know if they are the best, but I've used the Ferodo DS 2500. Bed them properly and they are quiet on the street but will still squeal at times on the track. Porsche OEM vibration dampers help too. Very little dust and rotor friendly for the most part. You can put them on front and rear.

Although as was said already swapping pads is pretty easy, so it is common to have both sets - street and track.

Conekiller

I've always run pfc 97s and now 08s and have been very happy with how they preform on the track and street.

They only squeek for for me when I haven't done a track day in a while 500+ Street miles. However they do dust a lot

e9stibi

+1. Using them for years on my 993 (80% track 20% street). They are very easy on the rotors.

PJorgen

+2 on the DS 2500. good compromise pad and won't break the bank.

gbuff

I drive to, on and home from the track on Carbotech XP12s--obviously they're better on track but do work on the street.

Gary

ShakeNBake

Friction causes vibration, and the methods of combating vibration typically don't survive high temps very well. Dual use pads are also a safety compromise because you are removing a lot of headroom from your braking capacity that one day when you get fast enough, switch tires, or visit a particularly hard-on-brakes track, you might start dipping into. Most modern high temp compounds have a pretty wide temperature bandwidth that allows them to pinch hit on the street. Noisy, but they work fine in most situations. Hawk DTC60, Ferodo DS1.11 come to mind. You are looking for a pad that has a friction/temp curve that has stabilized at 200F, and one where the maximum operating temperature has a gradual fade out so you get warning that you are overheating.

Worst case street scenario I have experienced learning about pads was with a set of DS2500 in the parking lot. For a brief period of time I was under the illusion that I could get away a dual use pad, and that is the pad I chose for my M3. One day, right after I started my car, and backed out a little more aggressively than I should have, I discovered that because my brakes were dead cold, I had zero brakes in an emergency situation. Very close call.

Another worst case experience was riding in the right seat with two different students on separate occasions (at TWS) who had hawk HP plus pads installed. They are marketed by hawk as dual use pads, and sold aggressively as dual use pads. Net of the story is that everything was going well until it wasn't - Resulting in us somehow not hitting a tire wall CW into 4 or going off the end of the straight CCW into 1. HP Plus pads feel sporty, but their maximum operating temp is lower than stock porsche pads typically are, and the curve is nearly vertical, so you lose your brakes with no warning...when you need them most.

I'm not trying to be on a high horse. I see that the OP is an instructor and on a race team, so this post is mainly to round out the conversation that unfolds here for others who read it and think we're finally going to find the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Given what I'd call my unfortunately experiences in the situations that book end the reasons why pads are so important, I feel it's important to share. If your pads fail, then you start learning if your helmet was the right choice....
Take advice from your peers. Look at someone you respect on the track,someone driving at a level you aspire to get to, and ask them what they use and feel comfortable with. Vendors get fat profit margins on these consumables, and the worst advice seems to be motivated by profit. I'm not saying vendors on rennlist.

Whatever porsche is putting on the new GTx cars in the US is not bad for occasional use on the track, you get a lot of warning before they become a problem.

erko1905

It's probably the furthest thing away from a dual purpose pad but I've been running the Pagid RSL29 yellows this summer both on track (~10 track days) and street and they seem to work just fine.

Tried my best to bed them properly (thanks to Mark) but I put them on old, grooved rotors so I do get a bit of noise on the street, and the stopping power isn't really great when cold but it'll do the job. Nothing beats not worrying about brakes at the track and slowing down on a dime when you need to though.

I was thinking about the Ferodo DS2500 (previously mentioned), which seemed like the best dual purpose pad when I did the research - but they weren't making them for 991 Carreras at the time.

Depends on what you drive obviously but I also found OEM 991 pads are a no go for track.

pontifex4

Skip, I've found the PFC pads to be acceptable on the street because of their high cold and initial bite. They haven't squealed for me on new rotors, but if you have any lip or a lot of grooves, you'll get some squeal no matter how you bed them.

You can also use more of their pad material than some other track pads, for what it's worth.

stronbl

I agree with a lot of what is noted and said above. Dual use pads are sort of like all season tires IMHO - they're not great winter tires and they're not great summer tires. To me street/track combo pads are very similar, they're not great track use pads and they're not great street use pads. When given a choice, I'd always go fit for purpose.

I too have experienced poor street braking initially with combo pads when cold. So it is indeed important to know the pad properties and what needs to be done to make them "work" in street and track conditions. I also don't like to compromise on safety so I do tend to swap pads rather than use combo pads.

Thanks for the comments.