Anyone run Pagid's on the road?

What do you think. What color? Any trouble? Is it worth it?

I use Pagid Orange for driver ed track events. I usually swap them out for stock pads when on the street. Lately, I've been lazy and left them in. When they warm up, they squeal like crazy. Otherwise, no problems. Of course I've gotten used to explaining to people why my brakes are so noisy. On the track, no matter how much I cool down, there is a tendency for the pads to fuse to the rotors. I usually try to do the last lap without using the brakes at all. Then I drive around the paddock for 15 minutes. At Sebring I drive some 5 miles away from the track to get gas after a run (much less expensive than buying gas at the track). And they still fuse. I even have front aftermarket brake ducts for added cooling. I'm also careful to roll the car after parking after a run to make sure heat does not build up behind the calipers and pads. They still fuse. When you move forward you break the adhesion. Then you can see the outline of the pad on the rotor. You can also hear a metallic sound as the added material on the rotor goes past the pad. When the rotors heat up again, the material buildup goes away. I've had the rotors inspected and measured and they are within tolerance, so there is no permanent damage. I've been told that this may happen because the coefficient of friction is the same for the rotors and the pads. The solution is to try running with a different brand of pads, like Hawke. All of this would not be a problem when running Pagid orange on the street. Although, I feel no real difference between the Pagids and stock pads for street use. It depends on how aggressively you drive on the street. I think you would have to drive pretty aggressively for extended periods to reap any benefits on the street. Hope this helps. Regards, Mike

I use Pagid Blues on the street and track with no problems. Very, very occassionally, they might squeak but never anything like the fingernails on the chalkboard sound from the Oranges. On my viedotapes of my track endeavors, I can hear the Oranges squalling over the windnoise and engine. I am biased because I don't like the Oranges. For DE purposes, they are terrible cold and don't get any real heat until halfway through a session. Because of the inconsistency in braking quality throughout the 20-25 minute run session, my braking points are always screwed up. The Blues may not be as good for longer runs, but I find them very consistent, hot or cold, for my track events and on the street. Hope this helps.

Would running Pagids on the street overtime cause buildup to the point when driving you would hear squeaks? Regards. Mike

The Pagid Oranges and Blues in my experience are very squeaky on the street. For track use, the Oranges last a little longer than the blues (and a lot longer than the street pads). I have had problems switching between street and race pads in the past. Referencing the coefficient of friction differences of pad materials that slowdrivingmike mentions, there is a tendency to get a wobble effect on the track caused by the street pad material left on the rotor effectively conflicting with the race pad material. This is a complete non-issue on the street. As for any advantages with a race pad in street use, I would say that they would be immeasurable, and noise disadvantages aside, as John mentions, race pads take time to warm up, so they are not "right there" like a street pad is.

I used to use Oranges when I was running DE events. They definitely wore a lot better that the street pads. The noise eventually got to my girlfriend pulling into a restraunt valet one night. It sounded like we were driving up in a piece of farm machinery. The other problem I always had was having to drill out the holes a bit in the Pagids to fit properly. You should also be aware that they wont accept the wear sensors and you have to tie them back.

I followed the procedures for break-in as set forth by Pagid (late at night on a desolate stretch of highway). The Oranges just always squalked. I am not sure it had anything to do with build up. I usually swapped them out after track use, sometimes I got lazy or only had a week or two between events. One good thing was that my wife would not drive it. I like the comparision to driving farm machinery as RS described.

SlodrivingMike, What after-market brake ducting are you using? I have a 2001 996 Coupe and I was not aware there was such a product.

The brake ducts were fabricated at Foreign Affairs Motorsports. Talk to Bobby at [phone removed]. Regards, Mike

Same here. Orange at the track, stock on the street due to squealin"!!!