Boxster (base) track brake pads?

[Dave Diamond]

Boxster spec folks and others: Any recommendations for track brake pads for a 2002 base boxster? Pagid orange vs. something cheaper or dual use track/street? Looks like many of the popular ones are not available in the right size for the front of the base model, just the "S."

Thanks.

[Cajundaddy]

Others have had good luck with Pagid pads. My brother and I both had a problem with them gumming up our rotors and causing serious rotor judder. On the advice of Steve G I ordered a set of Raybestos ST-43 from Porterfield brakes in Costa Mesa. They have been excellent and typically last 20 track days (front) in the TT series. I just re-ordered another set. They don't come off the shelf in our size but Porterfield will custom-cut a set for you if you ask. The rears have lasted 3 years. Excellent racing pads that are perfectly useful on the street. Definitely not the cheap and dirty solution though.

[rshon]

If you’re just going to run on one pad for both the street and the track/AX, I’d suggest you try the Pagid (“Dark Blue”) Sport Pads, or some equivalent from one of the other manufacturers. They are a good compromise of bite, fade resistance, and pad/rotor wear. Very similar to what street exotics and high performance specialty cars run. I ran on them for street/AX/DE with good results for many years.

If you’re going to brake REALLY hard at track events (and some of us DO) and you’re willing to switch pads out for track events, then either the Pagid or Performance Friction Brake pads are good (and will be more expensive). I don’t recommend running them on the street, as they will be very noisy, take more time to heat up and develop bite, and on some of them the dust is corrosive to wheel finishes (when combined with water). Plus you’ll want to save your expensive race pads for the track.

In Pagid Sport/Race pads, the base Boxster takes pad type 2407 front, 2406 rear. Here are two places I have bought them from in the past:

http://www.ebsracing.com/content.wws?fname=porsche-pagid-brakes.html
http://www.velocityspot.com/servlet/the-Pagid-Race-Pads-cln-Porsche/s/26/Categories

In the PFB pads, the base Boxster takes part number 0737.XX.16.44 front, 0738.XX.16.44 rear (where “XX” is the pad compound, 97, 01, or 06). I usually by them from RotorsandPads.com unless OGRacing has them on sale:

http://www.rotorsandpads.com/search.aspx?keyword=0737,0738

If you go with Race Pads, you will need to develop an opinion about which pad compounds you want to use. There are several tradeoffs regarding torque, temperature range, release characteristics, pad and rotor wear, etc. I am currently using the PFB racing pads which have the best wear and are relatively easy on the brake rotors (type “97”) and they work great. A lot of Porsche guys like to put grabbier pads on the rear to shift the braking bias towards the rear and/or take advantage of staggered tire setups, and I am starting to come to the conclusion that (at least my) Boxster’s brakes are heavily biased towards the front brakes as well, so I’m going to try the slightly grabbier PFB type “06” on the rear.

PM me if you want to dig into this in more detail.

[Dan Chambers]

Others have had good luck with Pagid pads. My brother and I both had a problem with them gumming up our rotors and causing serious rotor judder. On the advice of Steve G I ordered a set of Raybestos ST-43 from Porterfield brakes in Costa Mesa. They have been excellent and typically last 20 track days (front) in the TT series. I just re-ordered another set. They don't come off the shelf in our size but Porterfield will custom-cut a set for you if you ask. The rears have lasted 3 years. Excellent racing pads that are perfectly useful on the street. Definitely not the cheap and dirty solution though.

Another Porterfield product is the R-4 series pads. These are really good track pads made of carbon-kevlar. They will squeak a bit when cold on the street, but once warm are tolerable for daily use. They hold up extremely well under AX and TT use (I get about a season of wear at TT's with my SC), and aren't too costly.

If the occasional squeak/squawk of the R-4 on the street drives you crazy, the R-4S is a "street duty" pad with a little less track-brake capability. They are very quiet and very effective for street/track use.

I've had great customer service from Porterfield. They are very helpful, local (SoCal) very nice on the phone, and I get my products via UPS in just 2 to 4 days.

They also make rotors (referring to your other post).

[mrondeau]

+1 for the Porterfield pads. I use the R-4 in the front and the R-4S in the rear for better brake bias. They hold up well, are rotor friendly and are very consistent.
Of course, I don't use my brakes much because my car has no horesepower and doesn't go very fast.

[Bmas]

Hi Guys

I was checking the thread looking for a solution for my 03 boxster S mushy, soft, brake pedal.

I switched my rotors, and i'm using the EBC red stuff pads. Flushed the system twice and bleed it. I'm using the Blue Brake Fluid.

Some people has the same problem as I was reading other forums, they switch the master cylinder and brake booster with no success. The pedal still almost hit the floor when driven on the track.

Does anyone has something to say about that?

Thanks so much

Bernardo

[Mike]

Boxsters get no respest...
http://youtu.be/CKrcDMyXz44?t=8s

[Cajundaddy]

Boxsters get no respest...
http://youtu.be/CKrcDMyXz44?t=8s

Cute Mike

I did enjoy the top 10 AX results for August. A pair of lightly modded base Boxsters placed well in a tough crowd and drove around a lot of very well prepared track cars with big motors and fat tires. Perhaps AX is more about the driver though.

[Kim Crosser]

...had a problem with them gumming up our rotors and causing serious rotor judder.

I wasn't aware of how long new pads have to "cure" before using them. If they aren't fully cured by heating/cooling under light loads, and you take them out on a track, I was warned by John Rickard that this would result in melted brake pads all over my rotors.
Is the cure time (or number of easy heat cycles) similar for all pads, or are some of the race pads ready to rip and run quickly?

[Cajundaddy]

...had a problem with them gumming up our rotors and causing serious rotor judder.

I wasn't aware of how long new pads have to "cure" before using them. If they aren't fully cured by heating/cooling under light loads, and you take them out on a track, I was warned by John Rickard that this would result in melted brake pads all over my rotors.
Is the cure time (or number of easy heat cycles) similar for all pads, or are some of the race pads ready to rip and run quickly?

That is a good question and I don't really have a good answer. Obviously on a non-street legal race car, the track is really the only possible place to bed fresh pads. On my dual-purpose Boxster I usually prefer to run a fresh set of pads for two weeks prior to an event and even then brake characteristics will change once we get them really hot. In the case of our Pagid Yellow issues, they had been on the car for most of the TT season and were down to 50%, with rotors also pretty worn. I suspect that we were at the limit of heat management and failed to get the brakes cooled down sufficiently to prevent gumming the rotors between sessions. This is only a guess.

We usually have good luck doing a thorough bedding followed by a cooling drive home and parking overnight. I did have one day of brake judder recently after a fresh set of ST-43 pads and rotors. I performed my usual bedding procedure but I was driving on old, hard street tires that didn't have much grip. My guess is I couldn't really get em hot enough to bed in properly. My first day at the track was uncomfortable with mild rotor judder but I patiently drove the car hard and cooled them down carefully. The following day my brakes were excellent.

Sorry it's not a very direct answer Kim but I hope it gives some insight at least.

[ttweed]

Not that I have to worry about it much these days, but back when I was doing a lot of DE, TT, and track day events, I found this tech article by Carroll Smith very illuminating: http://www.stoptech.com/technical-support/technical-white-papers/-warped-brake-disc-and-other-myths

HTH,
TT