Porsche Sport Pads - Textar T4128 - Impressions?

Does anyone use the Porsche Sport Pads for street use? I've done a search but have only read of 02 Carrera's impressions: https://rennlist.com/forums/showthre...38#post3415038 I need to replace my brake pads (street use only), but instead of the standard OEM pads, I picked up a set of the Porsche Sport Pads which are stamped Textar T4128, part nos. 99635298000 and 99635198000, thinking that a more aggressive pad with a higher coefficient of friction may help increase the rate of decceleration if I hit the brakes hard while on the street or highway. Is my assumption correct, and if so, do the Sport Pads fit the bill or should I stick with the OEM pads? What do you gain or lose by going with the Sport Pads instead of the OEM pads? Various posts praise the Hawks, Pagid S (Blue), and MetalMasters. Do any of these fit the bill better than the Porsche Sport Pads or OEM pads? Thanks in advance.

I would suggest giving a call to Ruf Autocentre. Both Wayne (on his Boxster S) and Hans (on the Ruf Kompressor 997) run these pads on their personal vehicles for a 2nd opinion. Keep also in mind that Texttar and Pagid are 2 different brands produced by the same company.

let us know what you find out! I hear the Textar stuff is pretty good... again depends on what you want it for... I've heard good things about the Porsche "sport" pads...

What are the friction ratings of these pads? There should be 2 letters on the back of them.

Tool Pants: In white lettering, the back of the pads read: TEXTAR T4128 (47A) 21942 170 319 996.351.940.30 (note: 996.352.940.30 for the rear pads) Germany 437387 09/04 Stamped into the metal backing of the base of the pads is: TEXTAR T4128 21942 (47A) 02 What does that tell you? 02 Carrera: Thanks for the recommendation.

Look at the pad at the top of the picture, which is a Boxster Textar pad. Stamped on the metal backing plate and in white letters is Textar T4045 FF. FF is the cold/hot friction ratings. 2 letters are used for the ratings. The Galfer pad at the bottom of the picture is also rated FF. Are there letters on the back of your pads?

Tool Pants: There are no letters stamped on the pads.

Don't know what to tell you. Even the Hawk pads we use have ratings, such as GG in the picture below.

Notes on rating of pad friction: Pad Friction levels are designated by the alphabet system... the further down the alphabet the higher the friction level and double letters is stronger than single letter designations (for example: GG has stronger friction than G rating).

That is 1/2 correct. First letter is cold. Second letter is hot. The letters are not always the same. On the left is a FE aftermarket pad that we put in a Boxster.

So what would be a good rating for street pads, and then street+track pads?

I am no expert on this subject. All I can tell you is what we have put in over the years, and maybe avoid some of the marketing hype. Those G and G rated Hawk pads are popular with the autocross crowd. They can make noise on a street car and need to be heated up to bite the rotors. But they can be a dual use pad. You do not put true "racing" pads on a street car. For the street E or F work. On the Box Porsche uses Galfer FF on the front and Textar FF on the rear. My fronts happen to be a Mintex with an E and E rating. My daily driver. In any event, I think the point of this thread was and should be the coefficient of friction ratings. Calling a friction material "sport," "performance," "old lady" is just marketing without the ratings.

Thanks Tool Pants. It's always nice to learn something new.

Hey Russ, did you also put red stripes on your brake pads?

No, but you got me thinking about it now.

Well, if you painted the calipers red, then the red stripes on the brake pads would coordinate with the calipers!

Just installed a set of these Porsche Sport pads in my 2004 Carrera. They're also marked with Textar T4128, they cost me $160 which was cheaper than dealer stock pads. After bedding them in early this morning while no one is around my feedback is great inital bite and progressive, much better bite than stock pads. I was also expecting noise (squealing) but there was none :-) Taking the car on a DE day in 2 weeks so lets see how they hold up then as they are supposed to maintain their effectiveness at much higher temps. The stock ones did not fade but wore out quickly on the track, so i'm hoping these will wear better too. Updates to follow

sport pads are a decent upgrade from stock pads.... I get maybe 8 track days out of them... I liked them. If you are really into tracking you can try pagid yellows as they stop much better and last longer...

I have the Porsche sport pads and they were great at first for the street but eventually they do start to squeal and do so quite badly! So now I use EBC pads for street and then swap out for the Porsche pads for the track.

Yup, they squeal... Get them hot and they quiet down.

2 DE days in now on Porsche sport pads (part no. 996 351 980). Very impressed. Great intial bite and no fade from sustained 140+ mph to 50+mph slow downs. For $160 they're reasonable. Wearing well too, i think i could get another 4/5 DE events out of these. Was using stock pads in the rear and wore through them in 2 DE days so trying some Mintex MDB1874 G (gold series) in the rear now. They worked well after 1 DE day and are wearing well, perhaps, another 3 DE events out of these and at $48 for a rear set they're good value. Interested to know what front and rear combo others are using on their 996 for DE events?

I've been using the sport pads front and rear with great luck, but they're getting low and I just found out the rears aren't offered by Porsche any longer. I picked up another set for the front and I thought I found some rears still in stock with AutoAtlanta. When the box arrived from AutoAtlanta I found stock textar substitute pads. They charged me the correct price for the stock pads, but how about a little heads up before you just ship and bill me for something other than what I ordered? Anyway, I'm interested in hearing about a a good option for the rears as well. Shawn

After a day at the Glen the Mintex MDB1874 G pads in the rear were done so swapped out for stock OEM Textars as i happened to have a spare set with me. Therefore still looking for a good rear compound as 2 DE days out of a setof reas even if they are $50 is not good. Should i try a set of Pagid blue's in the rear? anyone with experiences of this? Meanwhile the Porsche sport pads up front are holding up well with around 2/3 of the material left after4 DE days now.