Anyone Using Porterfield Brake Pads??

[Terry Stapley]

Has anybody with a Cobra changed from stock Ford brake pads to the Porterfield R4-S brake pad and if so what is your opinion of how they work compared to the stock pads??

Thanks for your opinions!!

[DAVID GAGNARD]

Terry;

While not on a Cobra, they are on my 65 Mustang Vintage road race car.........they need heat in them to work properly,on the "parade lap" I drag my left foot on the brake pedal and then make a few sudden stabs at the pedal to get heat in them, they are designed to work when hot..........

I would NOT use them on the street for a daily driven car........the first time out the driveway, you will think you have No brakes at all, kinda scary feeling........

David

[Austin_Snake]

Originally Posted by Terry Stapley

Has anybody with a Cobra changed from stock Ford brake pads to the Porterfield R4-S brake pad and if so what is your opinion of how they work compared to the stock pads??

Thanks for your opinions!!

I am currently running the R4-S pads on my Mini Cooper-S at the track. I do not have any issues on the street with them. I did do the bedding in process they suggested. I can see if you don't bed them in you would get the poor braking when cold (like the instructions warned of) They are not recommended for "full track use" what ever that means. I drive pretty hard for 20 minutes sessions chasing Corvettes and Vipers and felt they hang in much better than the stock pads I had been using. I have also noticed they are easier on the rotors. One really great by product is they do not leave black dust on the wheels!
If you try them on the Cobra let us know what you think.
Richard

[Terry Stapley]

Richard, I purchased a set of Porterfield Pads but have not installed them yet!
I did not receive any instructions about "bedding" them in! What and how did you do that!!

[Austin_Snake]

Originally Posted by Terry Stapley

Richard, I purchased a set of Porterfield Pads but have not installed them yet!
I did not receive any instructions about "bedding" them in! What and how did you do that!!

I changed pads and rotors at the same time. I'll go by memory here but it was take the car to 65 mph and brake it down rapidly to 5 mph. Do that 10 times and then drive to let the brakes cool. You can do that 2 or 3 cycles. It mentions that about half way through the process the brakes will get worse (real spongy) and you will think you messed up. By time you get to the 10th time the pedal returns. You will smell all kinds of stuff and I was seeing sparks like fireflies. I did this at 1 am on a road out by a lake so did not have to worry about traffic. I did talk to the local Sheriff but he was just curious as to what the heck I was doing. You will get these parts really hot so it is best to have hi temp brake fluid in the system or do a flush after the bedding process.

I hope this helps. If it is not clear I'll see if I still have the instructions and scan them.

Good luck,
Richard

[Austin_Snake]

Here is the place I was directed to when buying my pads.

StopTech : Balanced Brake Upgrades

This should answer all your questions.

Regards,
Richard

[bbrown]

Terry,

I am using Porterfield R4-S in my Girlings on my Kirkham. I really don't like them very much, but I don't have much choice. They need to be warm to stop.

However, when they are hot, they are most impressive. They remind me of my old GP Spitfire brakes with Ferodo DS-11 pads. (that car would stop!) My Cobra has very very impressive braking when the pads are hot. I have not had my car on the track, so I can't report how well they hold up under continuous lapping, however. Sorry.

I hear Porterfield has a so-called "vintage racer" pad for people that are not pushing their cars very hard on the track and work well cold. I couldn't get any reasonable information out of Porterfield the 2 times I called down there. They are staffed with order takers, not technical people. As anyone else tried these pads???

Regards
Bert Brown

[round_midnight]

Terry-

I have used Porterfield R4 and R4-S pads in the past on my BMW M3 for track and autocross. I found them to be all right, and indeed they are designed for higher temperatures than you generally encounter on the street. But, they are good enough on the street that I didn't feel the need to switch them out when I wasn't on the track.

I am now using Hawk HT-10 and HP-Plus pads and like them very much. The HP-Plus is a lower temperature pad that I put on my Cobra, since I autocross it more than I track it. The HT-10s are on the BMW, and they are excellent for the track.

To be honest, I don't remember why I switched. Probably, I just wanted to experiment. Also, Porterfield was not as convenient (for me) to order from because, at the time, they didn't have online ordering.

Hope that helps a little. Also, if you're going to be tracking the car, don't forget to use high temperature brake fluid. I use Motul RBF600. It is awesome. Never any fade.

[Roscoe]

I've been running the Porterfield R4-S pads, front and rear, for about 20k miles. Hardly any wear and very low dust. I've open tracked them several times and have no problems on the street. I also bedded them properly when first installed.

Roscoe

[Terry Stapley]

Richard, great site for "bedding-in" information!! Thanks a bunch!!

[Frank Messina]

I installed R4 S pads on my car when I built it and I'm very happy with the performance. I can tell you that this is a subject that received a lot of discussion among FFR owners that started off with either factory pads or "lifetime" aftermarket pads complaining of poor braking and almost universally the Porterfields were agreed to be a huge improvement. I don't do anything fancy to warm them up, just drive and they work good. On track performance is excellent without excessive dust.
Frank