Any concerns about swapping from street pads to track pads to street pads? Pad manufacturers recommend turning the rotors when installing new pads to remove the 'transfer film' from the rotors. This obviously isn't practical when swapping pads for track weekends.

Any thoughts?

 

You'll need to bed in any pad you put on, and some pads are nearly impossible to bed (a different pad) on top of (Performance Friction (PFC) comes to mind). So you may have less then ideal braking until you bed in the street pads (just as you would have less then ideal track braking till you bed in the track pads). And depending on what you are using, you may have issues bedding the street pads back in.

Sticking within the same brand can help, or go for a pad that you can double duty with (therefore not really ideal in either situation, but an option). If you're going to do enough track time, a set of rotors along with the pads for the track may make your life easier in the long run.

In addition, you may have a transition period where you are getting some parts of the rotor to bed and others don't, this can end up looking "blotchy" and braking performance suffers. If the rotor doesn't look relatively smooth clean, then the pads aren't bedded in.

 

I swap between OEM and Pagid Yellow's.

I did the swap last night, drove it this morning and no problem with the brakes. The OEM pads are Pagid, so I am sure that Ryan is correct.

I see that you have Pagid Yellow's on your wish list, I say get them. The braking is so much better then OEM.

 

I just installed Pagid Yellow (RS29) and used them at a DE at Watkins Glen this last weekend. Stopping performance was excellent.

I too was considering swapping out the pads for street pads, but:
1) I'm not sure that it's worth the effort
2) As mentioned above, there's the bedding in questions
Most importantly:
3) What's wrong with having improved stopping power on the street?
I know that you aren't supposed to drive on the street as if you are on the track, but what if you are going 80mph along with everyone else and some jerk hits the brakes in front of you? Not a bad thing to be able to stop sooner.
However, if you can stop on a dime and the minivan behind you can't, then you will still get the minivan in your backseat. At least if the minivan eats your rearend, it's presumptively his fault, not yours.

 

the Pagid Yellow's are very noisy on the street, and it only takes a few minutes to swap the pads from one to the other.

You can run them on the street, but eventually you will know why you need to swap them.

 

Well something to keep in mind is the stoping distance in most cars and more so in cars like the 997 are limited by traction, not braking power. You go for a stronger pad on track as you are going to be running it a higher temperature and you want something that can keep consistent C/F at those higher sustained braking temperatures.

A single stop from 120mph will generate a lot of energy in the brakes, but from a temperature standpoint, it's repeated use (lap after lap after lap) where the temperature just builds and builds and the brakes never really cool off to ambient.

You usually want a soft pad on street for low noise and the fact that most use is not at very high temps. Running a track pad will just wear your rotors quicker, and likely not give you any significantly shorter stopping distance over OEM, unless you are commuting down a mountain each day or something.

With respect to the Pagid Yellow's, I'm not sure they are that big a deal as a street pad, I believe that's teh endurance compound? I don't think they are terribly higher C/F then Blue's at normal temps so it's likely not a huge affect on rotor wear.

 

Great point Ryan, I was still getting a lot of skidding/lock up/chirping under heavy breaking with Yokohama 048's (R comps). These will certainly be a lot worse with the street tires.

Swapping the pads when I put my track tires on is about 10 - 15 more minutes. Even my wife could do it (but she says she won't even try)

 

I'm running street tires, not R's. Will installing the Pagid Yellows be self defeating? Perhaps just stick with the OEM pads?

Who in 6speed land is using yellows with street tires? Please weight in.

 

I swap between OEm and Pagid Yellows on the track. If you use them on the street people will look at you like your a school bus or a trash truck when stopping at the stop light. Very noisey, but work great on the track.

 

There is nothing worse then driving around looking all suave in your nice sports car, only to hit the brakes and have half the block look at you trying to figure out if you just made their ears bleed.

 

Sorry a bit off topic: Does anyone have some options for some "low dust" pads that would work and still offer a high level of performance.

 

I swap out stock pads to Pagid Yellows for the track. Remember when you go back to stock pads you need to bed them back in and wear off the Pagid Yellow compound or just drive the car but know that stopping distance will be a little greater.

I do not recomend keeping the Pagid Yellow's on for street because they do not stop as well cold as stock pads, they wear out the rotor faster and create even more dust. Oh they squeal worse than a freight train stopping.

 

pccb