These are some pics of Porterfield R4 race compound rear pads for the non-Brembo rear calipers. I have used various compounds on my car for HPDE's in the past and decided to give Porterfield a shot as they are one of the few to make race pads for the non-Brembo equipped Z. I used these pads twice, and as you can see, that's all they could handle. A sat and sun race for SCCA TimeTrials on a 1.7 mile course, Second Creek, and they were done with only 20 laps each day. They had good feel until the end, and never faded on me. Each day, I twice pulled into the pits to let my tires cool and adjust pressure, and then went back out, so only 16-17 hard laps on each day. When I purchased these, they originally sent me the wrong size for the rears. They told me to file them down until they fit, I told them I did not expect to have to file down my pads to make them fit and wanted pads cut properly. they assured me they do it all the time for the race cars they sponsor, but I did not wish to spend my afternoon cutting the backing plate to size. After some discussion, they agreed to send me new pads and pick up the originals. The new pads fit fine and all was good. I was shocked to see this after the weekend race, and am glad I change pads at the track and do not drive home on my race compounds, as this could have gone bad in an emergency. This was some time ago, but I finally have a dig camera and thought I would post these for those wihtout the Brembo calipers, to warn them of Porterfield's pads for our set-up. I am sorry I wasted my time and money with them and would recommend that others try elsewhere.
You can see in the pics that the backing plate is warped, and the pad compound cracked through, as well as the backing plate crushed and cracked through in some places. The pads did not come with two leading edges cut into them, they were one solid pad, those deep groves were created after use. After these pics were taken, I dropped one by accident and it broke along the cracks into three pieces, there was not much left to hold this together.
Will

 

Hmm.. the pics didn't load, so I'm trying them again.
Nevermind, file size is too large. Well crap, I know- this thread is useless without pics...
Will

 

Alright, these should be small enough to post now

 

Thanks for the info. What other pads have you tried?

 

EBC Ceramic Redstuff: not a race compound but they did very well on the track, eventually had some fade to them, but only after 12-13 laps on the same track as these Porterfields gave out on. not a full race compound, but I think a good value for HPDE's and Time Trials. Very quiet once bedded and easier on the rotors than the Porterfields. Lasted for 4 weekend sessions. Almost half as much as the Porterfields from Courtesy Nissan.
Axis Ultimates and Hawk HP+: not compounds to be used on the track, but they worked better than stock. Fade after very few laps, but quiet and less dust for the street. I only used these as back-ups because i could not get new RedStuff pads in from Courtesy due to backorder, and Porterfield was taking their sweet time sending my proper fitting ones back to me. Bought used for dirt cheap, and I have no idea how long they would last for HPDE weekends as i wouldn't recommend them for track duty at all- again, I only used them as a backup for limited runs.
Will

 

Reolute... have you contacted Porterfield about this? Might not hurt to email them these pics and ask what gives? (I'd send the bigger pics though)

You said it was done some time ago... was it during the summer? Some factors I see that could have played a role vs. some other times with other pads: #1) 1.7 course - chances are, there aren't many long straights where the brakes have a chance to cool off #2) SCCA Time Trials - add the competitve 9-10/10ths to the above small course #3) Warm temps - again, combined with #1 and #2 #4) VDC/TCS - if this was on, it seems the 350Zs achilles heel is the ECU's use of the rear brakes to stabilize the car - essentially overusing them... or a possible factory bias a little heavy on the rears

Having said all that... it does seem that less than 40 laps total should not a destroyed pad make, no matter the conditions

 

Stack,
Good points. Porterfield told me they do not warranty racing products such as pads, and suspected "abuse", though I have no idea what they meant by that. The course is fairly small, there are two straights and the top speed on them approaches 95-97 mph before entering hairpins, so there is heavy braking on the course. The TT was certainly competitive, but no more so than other events on the EBC pads without incident. It was in October, I should have posted that, and was very cool and windy out both days. I have a Base model without VDC or TCS. I know the rear brakes are biased, but I have no idea how these pads were worked so much harder than other track days, but these are the only ones I've ever seen to buckle and break like they have.
Will

 

Lots of people have had good experiences with the Carbotechs (http://www.carbotecheng.com/),,,
Ask for Matt and tell him Triangle Z Club sent you...

Dissapointing to hear that porterfield won't stand behind their product... least they could've done was offer a replacement set... what about Courtesy?

 

The thing we have to realize is that their is a certain point that because of the non track rotor's size and corresponding inability to shead heat that you can go from A to Z in a who's who of pads and melt or destroy every single one. And as you get the pad makeup right, then you'll move to rotor distruction. Carbotech is where I'd start, though brake duct cooling is also something I'd look into.

https://my350z.com/forum/showthread....threadid=49617

http://www.ntechengineering.com/inde...=6&model_id=10

https://my350z.com/forum/autocross-road/157837-front-brake-ducts.html





https://my350z.com/forum/showthread....threadid=49617

 

I actually checked with Carbotech before I bought my Porterfields. When Courtesy did not have the RedStuff Ceramics in stock, I called them first, but they did not have anything for the Non-Brembo Z's at the time. They said there were too many people warping rotors and they were trying to discourage me from using their race compounds without a rotor upgrade. They offered to sell me some, but strongly recommended against it, and so I tried porterfield. I went to Porterfield last because they were so expensive, $300 for both sets, but they swore up and down their compound would work well without warping for the limited use I was putting on them. I have not called Courtesy back to order the EBC pads, as I am not sure what compound to go with this season.
Will

 

Will- you certainly smoked those R4s! Having tried the Redstuff compounds on my ITS car this past season, I wasn't impressed. They were down to the backing plates after one weekend of SCCA racing at SCR! Consider trying the Cobalt Friction GT-Sport compound on the OEM rears. It's been a good street/track combo on my track model and isn't too expensive. Here's a direct link:

http://www.cobaltfriction.com/Produc...nds=3&x=20&y=6

 

there was a pretty in depth discussion surrounding non-track pads, although mostly for the rear. see it here:

https://my350z.com/forum/showthread....highlight=ht10

the short version is, 1) porterfield ST43. high CoF, maybe too much. no fade. ~$120 for the rears according to daveh. this is a custom cut fitment. 2) hawk ht10 - not sure if anyone ever actually got a set of these or if hawk ever actually released them. this *APPEARED* to be a good option - medium CoF, but high temp capacity. 3)lots of compromises, among them axxis ultimates ($40/set from stoptech).

ahm