Sunir (or anyone else), I've read up on your Poterfield R4S, and it sounds like you've had a great experience. Everyone loves them on the track & especially once they're warmed up, but I see mixed reviews for street use...including noise issues. Would you say they were your best fit/recommendation for daily driving use?

 

I have had my porterfield brakes on for a few months, no squeaks, great grip and way less brake dust than before. I only have them on the front rotors. I find the rears did not produce much dust anyway.

 

If you do NO track events, you may want to consider Carbotech's 1521 pads. I have read some good comments about them. However, they are not recommended for any track events.
I went with the Porterfield R4S compound (front and rear) as I do several Hooked on Driving events a year. I now have about about 2400 miles on the pads (including some track time) and am very happy with the results. Dusting is minimal compared to the OEM Pagid pads, and noise has not been an issue with me. Rotor wear considerations also affected my decision to go with the R4S compound.
I also tried the ArmorAll Wheel Protectant in the past, and was dissatisfied with my results. I continue to have excellent results using Collinite's #845 Insulator Wax on the rims and the car as well.

 

Here's a very easy way to deal with brake dust. Buy a bottle of REJEX and apply to the wheels 2x a year. This product was developed for the aircraft industry and brake dust will wash right off quite easily. I've been using it for years now. No scrubbing at all, most will come off with a water stream and a light rub with a towel.

http://www.mypilotstore.com/MyPilotS...FWaoPAod_RQAfQ

Also, the problem with low-dust pads is they are OK on the street, but you cannot take them to the track as they fade miserably when they get hot. One of the things I always ask students as an Instructor is if they have low-dust ceramic brake pads on the car...because if they do we're going to lose our pads sometime during the day's session and I don't especially want to be in the right seat when that happens.

 

I've kept quiet about my experience with the Porterfield R4S pads as it was on a different vehicle and it seems everyone here loves them... but I might as well share. I had used them on a BMW M Coupe and really disliked them. I used them as a combination of street and track. They were the most cruel pad I've used on my rotors. They absolutely ripped them to shreds during track use. My writeup went like this:

Once they get warm they stop like crazy. The only problem is the pedal feel remains terrible throughout, and it nearly goes to the floor. The Porterfields only lasted two track days, and they took the rotors with them. The pads do stop fairly well, and they don't fade, but they do get pretty mushy. They severely grooved the rotors after the second track day, and I had very odd wear on the pads, where the outboard pad wore all the way down but the inboard pad had 35% pad life left (this is the only pad that did this to me on this car):



They were also the noisiest pad I used on that car, and I sounded like a city bus driving down the road. I used plenty of anti-sequel before mounting them, as well. They were the loudest street/track pad I used. I replaced these with Performance Friction Z-Rated pads, which I loved. They lasted 5 track days (plus street driving), were quiet, and were amazingly friendly on the rotors. They don't stop as well when totally cold, but pedal feel is always great. The Porterfield R4S had good petal feel on the street, but they got bad at the track. It appears the Z-Rated pad exists for the WRX STI... I just need to confirm that does indeed fit the Vantage, as I'd love to stick the Z-Rated pad on the Vantage...

David

 

Here's the deal with track pads...they are considered sacrificial disposables (as are rotors) and if you run them they WILL get used up. Its better to keep a matched set of rotors and pads for the street, and one for the track. Swap them out before a track day.

You cannot quiet a track pad. They will rattle and squeal on the street and are designed to heat up and fit the caliper when hot and they expand. Its a bad idea to run aggressive track pads on the street and save them for track events. But unless you are running sticky tires on the track (extra set of wheels and tires) you can't really take advantage of racing pads anyways as the tires run out of grip well before the track pad is done.

On a car like an Aston, your stock pads will do fine at a track day if running standard DOT street tires, just make sure the brake fluid is not too old so it doesn't overheat and boil.

 

Okay lots of posts on this topic. MrFrankel I use the porterfield R4S on my Aston DB9 on the street. I have absolutely no intention of taking my DB9 on the track. When on the track in my race car is use Hawk DTC compound brakes and in my Porsche GT2 run Pagid for the carbon ceramic brakes/rotors. As drcollie suggested, I too ask my students what type of pads they are running as well as brake fluids, having been an instructor now for 8 years, and raced compettively during some of that time, I don't take chances with the brakes when I get into a student's car.

The Porterfield R4S is the best pad for street and highway use on the DB9, I've tried stick (too much dust), EBC reds (WAY TOO much noise) and Porterfields (just right....low dust, hardly any noise at all, and great street performance and brake torque even while cold)

hope this helps

 

Much less dust than OEM. I have had it out for two track days and plenty of street driving. From day one no noise (none, zilch, nada) which I could not say about the OEMs. Props again to KarlFranz who put us all onto them originally.

 

I love our Forum! Sunir, DonL, DBP, JuMar, David, KF & A.Ca & others, thanks. It's a sin that I've not tracked the car, and I am looking forward to doing this with a good instructor and getting to connect with my vehicle even more, but it just hasn't happened yet. Until then I'm a daily road warrior, and am going with the R4S pads as well. Too many good experiences outweighing the alternatives.

 

Count me in on the Porterfields.

Also I want to take this opportunity to thank you all for a warm welcome. Your patience and information is much appreciated.

You all have got me hooked.

Thanks again.

 

You're welocme guys, that's what the forum is for, thank you for your membership

Now get out there and enjoy your Astons!!

 

Ditto on the above I ordered the R4S's front and rear for my DB9 after reading this, hopefully my HRE wheels show soon(its been about 5 weeks now), i can swap everything all at once, H&R springs are next on the list!! love this forum, AM info is hard to come by

 

I had good results on track with Pagid Yellows (RS-19), but I realize this is a more expensive alternative. They are streetable, BTW (not that I would recommend them as a street pad).

As for the comment that OEM pads are sufficient on track... uh, no. Not if you know the track well and push the car reasonably hard, anyway.

 

Good posts and info, thanks to all. After much reading, I've decided to go with the Porterfields for my DB9. Do I have any options other than stock for the e brake pads, and is it anything I should even concern myself with?

 

^^^ for e-brake pads I think stock are the only ones available.