Porterfield R4-s OR Hawk HPS

[90turbotsi]

Just wanted to get some opinions before I make a purchase... I have 99 that I just finished installing the powerslot plus big brake kit on. The kit uses larger rotors with the stock calipers (spacers). I want to get a nice pad to complete this setup for performance, street driving and to compliment the brake upgrade.

Ive run the metal masters on my car before and was not overly impressed so thats out of the question. Ive also run the EBC greens but have some mixed feelings on them, plus i dont know if I want the whole red calipers green pads xmass theme going on (I know i could paint them but uhh I think ill go with a different make)
Ive ruled it down by reading past posts to the Hawks (High performance street) or the porterfield R4-S, both ive heard only good about. The porterfields ive heard the best but are a bit more money and will take longer since they need to be special ordered while I have a local place that sells the Hawks. I am willing to pay the extra money for the porterfields but wanted to hear others opinions.
Please dont get on here and tell me to go with the EBCs or the axxis metal masters, ive ruled them out and would like to decide between the Hawks and Porterfields.
Thanks for any input!

 

[rice_rocket]

I hated the Hawk ones that I had.... they just didn't do the job.

The porterfields Rock... but they squeak and sqeal like the brakes are going when you stop. I never noticed the "warm up time" either on a street car. Maybe because I take it easy in the morning stopping well ahead of time anyways

My opinion goes for the Porterfields.. they felt a million times better than the metalmasters... the squeaking I can deal with.

 

[90turbotsi]

hmm this is interesting, from all the reading up I did on them I read they are the ones that done squeek? hmm

 

[wortdog]

I had a set of R4-S pads on the front and rear for a while, they squeak a little bit but its not bad. Good pads in my opinion. I've since switched to Carbotech XP8's and they squeak and dust like crazy, but they can also stop the car all day long from 130mph at track days. I never got a chance to test the R4-S pads on the track, they probably would have held up alright.

 

[90turbotsi]

Hmm... being strictly a driver (yes with mods) maybe I should reconsider other pads as I really dont want brake squeeking and all. I wont be doing many +100mph stops either

 

[Turbo Shogun]

If you're just going to use the car to commute back and forth, then it's really, really hard to beat Metal Masters ... I'm a little confused with your question, though, what made the Metal Masters feel inadequate?

I've run MM's for a year and a half now and they're great for the street. The only time I notice considerable fade is during a spirited run on a local hilly road, or on a really technical autocross course that demands alot of left-foot braking (nothing like the smell of pads-over-easy in the morning). They have very good initial bite when cold, something you won't get with race or semi-racing pads.

I've had friends who ran HPS and HP+s and said they were good. If you want a more durable pad that won't fade during high-speed stops, they're better than MMs, but I've never used Porterfields before. I'm going to give them a try this season, though.

 

[ACM]

Porterfield R4S.

I run those on my AEM/Powerslot big rotor setup. Temperature stability is great, they're very consistent and they work from dead cold. On DSMs they have shown time and again to be much better than MMs and Hawks under autocross conditions on street-ish tyres. And they really last.

I have never had a set squeal, either on the race car (back when I used Ss) or on the street car; I don't use shims, anti-squel or anything. R4-1s are a different matter !

R4Ss are _not_ track pads though, they'll melt right off the car.

Charles

 

[cait sith]

Well, at least up front they'll melt right off the car.

I run S's on the street, and they'r pretty damn good. I run R4E's on the track and they hold up to all the stupid track running I can do.