Brake Pad Help...

[quicksilver77]

OK, so I am preparing to change the front brake pads on my MY01 996 Coupe, and I am in a quandary...

I attend track days at least once a month, so I need a fade resistant pad, but I also drive the car daily with a set of custom iForged wheels, so I really do not like dust either.

I am contemplating swapping pads for track days, seeing as though I do have to swap wheels for the track set anyway. That said, I am lazy, and would prefer to not have to swap pads monthly.

So the question I have is: What pad will offer the best compromise between fade resistance, rotor wear, and low dust? On the track I drive her like I stole her, but she is babied every other day.

Any help would be much appreciated!

Thanks!

-Sean

2001 996 C2 Manual

[quicksilver77]

Perhaps I should elaborate... Seeing that I have had quite a few views of the original post and no responses.

The pads I am considering are the:

Pagid yellow

Hawk Blue

I do not know anyone with experience with these pads on a 996. Again I am looking for a pad which fulfills the following criteria, which are listed in order of importance:

-Low incidence of fade

-Low amounts of brake dust

-Easy on the rotors

-Low noise (street)

I am fully aware that a brake pads which exhibits all of these characteristics do not exist, if they did... well there would only be one pad manufacturer. On my previous car (2002 Audi A4 1.8TA Quattro) I ran Mintex Red, which were alright, but on the Porsche I have only ran the OE pads; which trow too much dust, and after the second lap, at any of my local tracks: T-Hill, Sears, or Laguna, the brakes have started to fade.

If anyone has used one or both of these pads, your input would be most helpful! Thanks in advance!

-Sean

[LVDell]

Just b/c others have viewed your posting does NOT mean they have an answer for you but rather are curious what you are asking. So if you don't get a response within a few hours just relax. Hopefully somebody will chime in to help out.

As for your brake pad requirements, forget about the brake bad dust.....that just shows you are using the your brakes and on them hard. Only way around that is to upgrade to the PCCB.

Personally I use the factory pads and am quite happy with them. I get on them hard and they do just fine but they wear very fast if use at the track and as your daily pad. I will probably change to pagid orange or yellow starting in the spring for track days only. I get in about 10-15 track days a year so it might be worth it to have a track pad.

Hopefully others can chime in about experience with your pad choices or other rec's.

[clord]

Hi Sean.... In my personal, humble opinion...you will not find a pad that will meet all your criteria. I've tried, unsuccessfully. All pads will create dust. Race pads (Pagid: orange, yellow, black, orange) will have higher coefficients of friction and higher temperature tolerance....and will howl on the street after you cook them on the track. They will dust and wear your rotors a bit more....but They Will Stop You time after time. That's why Porsche uses them on the track. Stock pads are a good compromise of dust/performance for a street car, but, will wear quickly and can fade on the track. It all depends on how hard you need/want to use your brakes. My GT3 came off the track Saturday (short, tight track that really burdens brakes) with smoke coming off the pads (Pagid blacks and oranges), but, they were still stopping me predictably. Next weekend, I'll switch back to factory pads for the street. At the track, you burn a lot of gas and use a lot of brake. That's the way it is. Your brakes are as important as your motor. You will be paying a lot of attention to your brakes and servicing them regularly. It's not hard to swap pads in the process.

[ar38070]

Pagid yellow are a lot harder on the rotors than orange. Orange are harder than the stock pads.

I use orange on the track and stock on the street. Though if some brake squeal does not bother you just leave the orange in. Most of the time I am lazy and leave the orange in all the time.

To me brake dust is like dirt. You wash it off.

I do not see how switching to PCCBs would eliminate brake dust. All pads wear. That means they make dust. Some dust is more noticeable than others but the dust has to go somewhere. As there are multiple compounds available for the PCCBs from Porsche, at least two, street and track, I am sure that at least the track versions put out noticeable dust.

[LVDell]

Craig put it best. You really need 2 pads (track and DD) b/c you will NEVER find a pad that works on both. As I said, starting next season I will have a track day pad and then my factory regular pads for daily use.

[LVDell]

ar38070.....the PCCB's are virtually brake dust free. That is one of the benefits (so they say) of spending the extra $9K!

So for your $9K you get incredible stopping power and little brake dust. But for a pre-facelift C2 it would not make sense to upgrade to them. My comment was more in jest than a suggestion.

[Hroussard]

And on the subject of PCCB's, I hear people are replacing them because of their "squeeling" noise when braking. I even talked with the owner of a brand new Ferrari who also was contemplating taking them off.

HarryR -

[ar38070]

What is your reference for dust free PCCB? I do not recall ever seeing that claim in the Porsche literature.

[LVDell]

"Dust free" and "Little Dust" and not synonyms.

[SPR]

The best compromise are the Pagid S pads. I liked them a lot. They lasted reletively well. I now run pagid orange all the time and you do have to romp on them to keep them from squeeling but they sound like a bus. I am used to it but it's rediculously annoying, and they kick out the same amount of dust.

[aracerx]

Dust, Shmust!!!

Bottom, difinitive line-

PorscheCrappyCruddyBrakes are a slap in our faces!

2 sets of pads-Don't forget to "mark" them for future refitment!

Pagid Orange should be fed to the Iraqi Insurgents-not put on your car

Pagid Black is Beautiful-nuff sed! havefundriveporschetakechances-Mark

:):):)

[ar38070]

"Dust free" and "Little Dust" and not synonyms.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You said "Dust free" not me. Again I have never seen even "little dust" claimed by Porsche for PCCBs.

[quicksilver77]

Many thanks to all of you for your input! It sounds like I am going to become very aquainted with brake pad swaps! Hope to see you at the track! :drive: