[kitw]

I've ALWAYS have lousy luck with anything that claims to be a street/track pad. R4S, HP+, the mild carbotechs, etc. The R4S and the HP+ are particularly nasty, because if you overheat them, they go away in a BIG way, like flying into the dirt at 110mph BIG WAY. My e36 m3's front lip left chunks in thunderhill's dirt off Turn 10... When I pulled the pads out, the pad material had crumbled away, they were junk after only the 2nd session.

HP+ lasted 3 sessions before doing something very similar, but badly scoring my rotors.

Both pads are fine if you're running in the novice group and not braking too hard... but as you get faster, I found that both pads turned into nasty action, they just fall apart.

I've run the new Raybestos ST43 race pad on the street a bit with my M Roadster, (I drove all the way to Thunderhill, did a full day of lapping, and then drove home and drove around for a few days) and they were fine. Noisy as heck, and dusty, but the dust didn't stick badly, even though I drove home in the rain. And, after a full track day, they looked almost brand new. I suspect that I'd see 5-6 days + on them, which is pretty good!

I've also run the Cobalt GT-R Spec Vr, and been ok with them, they didn't destroy rotors but they're not the easiest thing to modulate in the world.

Hawk blues are great, but they leave AWFUL dust that hardens into cement if they get wet, so those are summer only. Seriously, if you run those, watch out for puddles.

The only street/track pad that I've had any luck with is the Ferodo DS2500, but they are both expensive and don't really last that long. I got about 2 track days out of them and they were completely done. However, they did stop fairly well, and didn't squeal too much on the street, and didn't put out a huge amount of dust. (about as much as stock pads on my E46 M3)

Hope that helps! (these are all from my E36 m3, E46 M3 and M roadster, I haven't had the 335i on the track yet)

[sayemthree]

Hawk HP+ are very good for both track and street - but pretty noisy.

[M3to335]

Originally Posted by sayemthree

Hawk HP+ are very good for both track and street - but pretty noisy.

Yes, but do they carry them for the 335? Most likely not.

[sayemthree]

Originally Posted by M3to335

Yes, but do they carry them for the 335? Most likely not.

havent checked - ran them on my e46 M3. worked fine both with them only on the front and all around.

[alan93rsa]

I'll second the Hawk Blue comments. It rained at Mid-Ohio when I ran a set of Blues. I spent 2 weekends trying to get the 'concrete' off the wheels and paint. Which I suppose is better than spending 2 weekends getting estimates for body damage because the pads failed.

[ToddPhilly]

Originally Posted by M3to335

Yes, but do they carry them for the 335? Most likely not.

They are available for e92 335. Mine just came in from Tirerack. The HP+ pads are only available for the fronts at the moment however. My next track event isn't until July anyway, so I'm hoping rears will be available by then.

In fact, I'm hoping that powerslot has the Cryo rotors available by then too. They're supposed to work really well witht he metallic-based pads such as teh HP+.

[S4to335]

Todd...try frozenrotors.com for cryoed rotors as an option...

[ToddPhilly]

Originally Posted by S4to335

Todd...try frozenrotors.com for cryoed rotors as an option...

Yes. frozenrotors are working with powerslot to produce the powerslot cryos! Supposed to be available mid-summer.

[S4to335]

Greg Woo is the general manager of Powerslot..and a friend of mine. Did you know Powerslot is owned by Centric Parts..and so is Stoptech.

[ToddPhilly]

Originally Posted by S4to335

Greg Woo is the general manager of Powerslot..and a friend of mine. Did you know Powerslot is owned by Centric Parts..and so is Stoptech.

Maybe I should start harrassing Centric!

Tell Greg Woo to get cracking on those powerslot cryo rotors! My DE season is depending on it!!!

[S4to335]

did you know Greg Woo was the president of Neuspeed before this?

[kitw]

Originally Posted by sayemthree

Hawk HP+ are very good for both track and street - but pretty noisy.

As I said before, my experience with the HP+ is pretty rough. They are fine for the Beginner group, but even when I was in the intermediate group, I started frying them. they have a NASTY failure mode, which is total loss of braking... the whole pad fell apart.

[2e9x's]

I just ordered a front and rear set of Porterfield R4 pads for my upcoming event on May 30th. I will happily report back afterwards.

Porterfield was the only brand of pad I ran on my track car but that was an entirely different beast (89 S/C'd MR2). I also ran them on my 07 Civic Si but that car had MAJOR brake "issues" so they made all the difference in the world. I am hoping for good results in the 335i.

[HRC]

I've never ran the R4 pads, but I've had great results with R4S pads on all my other cars.

Danny

[leftcoastman]

Originally Posted by 2e9x's

I just ordered a front and rear set of Porterfield R4 pads for my upcoming event on May 30th. I will happily report back afterwards.

Porterfield was the only brand of pad I ran on my track car but that was an entirely different beast (89 S/C'd MR2). I also ran them on my 07 Civic Si but that car had MAJOR brake "issues" so they made all the difference in the world. I am hoping for good results in the 335i.

I hate to tell you, been there, done that.

I ran a set of R4 on the front only and the problem with the kevlar compound is that hte glue that holds it together disintegrates at a specific temperature.....which happens to be achieved on track.

The pads looked like a dog chewed on em and also cracked on me. They did have great bite before they fell apart.

[O-cha]

I put the EBC yellow pads on today on all four corners in preparation for this weekend. I'll let you know how they turn out.

And I swear I saw a glowing ember go shooting in front of the car while I was bedding them in!

[ToddPhilly]

Originally Posted by kitw

As I said before, my experience with the HP+ is pretty rough. They are fine for the Beginner group, but even when I was in the intermediate group, I started frying them. they have a NASTY failure mode, which is total loss of braking... the whole pad fell apart.

Well I'm going to give them a shot and keep my fingers crossed. A couple guys in the PCA club I particpate in DE's with were running them with good results. If these don't pan out, maybe Pagid will have an orange line out in a couple months???

[sayemthree]

Originally Posted by kitw

As I said before, my experience with the HP+ is pretty rough. They are fine for the Beginner group, but even when I was in the intermediate group, I started frying them. they have a NASTY failure mode, which is total loss of braking... the whole pad fell apart.

I ran the HP+ in the advanced/instructor groups with R comp tires on my e46 M3 for 5 years or so at tracks such as Cal speedway and Laguna seca that are known to warp rotors. and they held up extremely well,

[M3to335]

Originally Posted by O-cha

I put the EBC yellow pads on today on all four corners in preparation for this weekend. I'll let you know how they turn out.

And I swear I saw a glowing ember go shooting in front of the car while I was bedding them in!

Originally Posted by ToddPhilly

Well I'm going to give them a shot and keep my fingers crossed. A couple guys in the PCA club I particpate in DE's with were running them with good results. If these don't pan out, maybe Pagid will have an orange line out in a couple months???

Cool, let us know how it turns out.

Im still suprised how well my stockers are doing. Im still on the original pads after all these events with no issues thus far. Of course, I havent done "South Course" yet which is supposed to be brutal on brakes.

[2e9x's]

Originally Posted by leftcoastman

I hate to tell you, been there, done that.

I ran a set of R4 on the front only and the problem with the kevlar compound is that hte glue that holds it together disintegrates at a specific temperature.....which happens to be achieved on track.

The pads looked like a dog chewed on em and also cracked on me. They did have great bite before they fell apart.

DOH...too bad they arrived yesterday. The good news is I am really easy on brakes despite being in the advanced group. At CA Speedway I was on stock pads and had no problems, despite some hairy braking zones. I even ran my X3 on Willow Springs on stock brakes and was fine. Hopefully the R4's will hold up.

Thank you for the advice and I will keep an eye on them throughout the day. Perhaps as I do the change back afterwards I will remember to take some pictures.

[leftcoastman]

Originally Posted by 2e9x's

DOH...too bad they arrived yesterday. The good news is I am really easy on brakes despite being in the advanced group. At CA Speedway I was on stock pads and had no problems, despite some hairy braking zones. I even ran my X3 on Willow Springs on stock brakes and was fine. Hopefully the R4's will hold up.

Thank you for the advice and I will keep an eye on them throughout the day. Perhaps as I do the change back afterwards I will remember to take some pictures.

I will admit it was back when I was trying to late brake every damn corner. I have since eased off now that I realize there's no big check for being the fastest and there is a big bill for braking a bit too late, lol.

Yeah, you're probably better at braking than me. I definitely overheat the stock pads about 10-15 minutes into a session. And it was generally in 95+ degree ambients, if that makes a difference. That said, you'll love the R4, just watch for the disintegration I talked about. And tell me if you get rear end wiggle. I'd get some nasty ass wagging at 10/10ths braking. No ABS, just a wallowing feeling.

[2e9x's]

Originally Posted by leftcoastman

I will admit it was back when I was trying to late brake every damn corner. I have since eased off now that I realize there's no big check for being the fastest and there is a big bill for braking a bit too late, lol.

Yeah, you're probably better at braking than me. I definitely overheat the stock pads about 10-15 minutes into a session. And it was generally in 95+ degree ambients, if that makes a difference. That said, you'll love the R4, just watch for the disintegration I talked about. And tell me if you get rear end wiggle. I'd get some nasty ass wagging at 10/10ths braking. No ABS, just a wallowing feeling.

Will do! I got and will run all 4 corners so maybe that will help. Have you noticed that the rears wear faster than the fronts?

The interesting other change in terms of braking is I swapped the OE RFT's for some Direzza Z1 Star Specs. Combined with the R4's stopping should be decent. The event is at Buttonwillow so braking is not as critical but we shall see.

Again, thanks for the pointer! I will absolutely keep an eye on the pads as the day progresses!!