..I have a bit of a dillema, its time to replace my brake pads[ '99 Prelude] and well I cant decide b/w the R4S pads or just sticking w/ the OEM pads. I currently use the car as a daily driver and for "spirited" weekend and auto-x use on occassion. So, is the added cost of the pads [~ 60 bucks] worth it for this limited use? Also, what comments/complaints do you R4S users have?
How's the dust, squel, life of these pads, etc.

Also, has anyone used TECHNA-FIT stainless steel brake lines?
They are DOT legal as far as I know, any comments?

Thanks in advance..

 

With your plans..I would stick to OEM, unless they realy suck!

 

I think the R4-S pads kick ***. Mine have been on the car for over two years. For a good street pad on a car that gets autocrossed and driven spiritedly, worth the money IMO.

They're very quiet, and IMO they don't dust that much at all. But they're painfully expensive, so if you're not dissatisfied with the current pads...stay with them, like Chris said.

 

worth the money ! Because they feel like they make the car stop quicker so it may be safer on the street. The reason I say "feel" is that I haven't tested braking distances before and after. But my car brakes definitely grab quicker.

P.S>Only the fronts need to be R4-S not the back.

 

I ran them when I still had a street/track car. I felt that they performed really well. Dusting was pretty similar to stock. Braking was improved by the seat of the pants. Do your OEM pads fade now? If not, you probably don't need them. Wanting & needing are two different things.
I use the Goodrich brake lines. I bought them because I wanted something that had been out there for a while. I didn't want to take a chance with the brakes.

 

I feel that the OEM pad is wonderful for the money. There is no noise, and little dust, and the first set I had on the car lasted a really long time. I used to autocross on them, and found that they were fine for that. I put R4S's on at a track day, and found that they dust quite a bit more than the stock pads. FWIW, dust is a pretty minor complaint for the performance, but they are expensive.
I recently switched to the Auto Zone specials, ($14.99) and have autocrossed/street driven them, and can't really tell you that you should have to spend more than 20 bucks on a brake pad for the street. If all you do is autocross, get a cheapo set of autozone pads, (warranted for life ) and a set of EBC greens for autocross only, and change them at the track. The EBC has a very high coefficient of friction, and the short time they are on the car at an autocross would help solve the problem that they last about 4 minutes in real life.

edit-please notice I did not say autocross the AutoZone pads, and I did not say they were quiet or dust free You DO get what you pay for. A cheap, good stopping pad that will squeal like a sumbitch. Though they do hold up really well to agressive street driving.


[Modified by madhatter, 9:25 AM 10/12/2001]

 

I've got the R4S pads too and echo the comments that they are a great dual purpose pad. However they do dust a lot IMO and I'm actually going to swap mine out for the winter to go back to the OEM pads as I hate having to clean charcoal colored white wheels at least once per week! What a PITA in the winter!

 

Since Chris mentioned ghetto-*** AutoZone pads...I recently co-drove MaddMatt's SE-R at Jefferson briefly. He had a 10 dollar set of "Wearever" pads on it. Amazingly, they performed very well for him all weekend. At a track which is hard on brakes. They pretty much just shined up his rotors (no apparent wear at all) and lasted really well.

I was shocked and amazed.

 

I've got the AEM/Nissin pads on my R and really like them. IMHO, they are a great street/autocross pad. The one cool think about them is they hardly dust at all. I know another R owner who has these pads too, and he likes them quite a bit as well. Probably not as track worthy as an R4S, but I've never tried them on the track.

 

"daily driver and for 'spirited' weekend and auto-x use on occassion" = OEM pads, IMHO. Add a road course and you'll need a set of Carbotechs or R4Ss etc...
Swapping pads is fun

 

OK; here goes: (Matt B. is gonna hate this!)

I have used many many many different pads on both street and track. On my 95 Civic DX hybrid (Type R front brakes, drums on back) I have settled on "Raybestos Ceramic Enhanced QS Nascar Select) front pads. You can get these at Pep Boys/Western Auto, etc. They are amazingly amazingly good for a street pad. So good, in fact, that I use them as my RACE pads, too. I'm not talking drivers ed; I'm talking racing. They really hold up well. I get around 12 to 15 hard hard hard track days on them, plus whatever street miles inbetween (5k or so). Then they are worn down to metal and I return them for my next free set. They are far far better than any other cheapo pads I have tried (Wearever, Napa, AutoZone, etc. etc.). They are not cheap, though ($60 or so). But remember, you only buy them once!

There is no doubt that the Hawk Blue and Porterfield R-4 work even better in a track environment; I've used them both. They are expensive, noisy, hard on rotors, and its a pia to change them every day. The Raybestos ones don't have as nice a feel, but I can lock the wheels at will at any speed, even after 30 minutes of hard hard beating. I can brake very hard and right at the threshold limit with these pads (Just ask Warren; he followed me around Summit for a few laps earlier in the season -- I was braking OK, huh?

As to the original question, from the guy who auto-x and street drives, these pads would be very good. They do require extensive bedding to get them to completely outgas (as opposed to the Hawks, which are preburnished).

Todd

 

FWIW, Having used both the Porterfield R-4S and the Hawk HP-Plus pads, they both react and perform very much the same. The Hawk's can also be had for about 1/2 the price. If you're concerned at all about dust, stay with OEM. Most all performance pads I've used dust.

 

"I took brake advice from Todd Reid once. Once"

Take it from somebody who has lot his brakes at speed on a track. There are two areas you don't cheap out on - tires and brakes. Find somewhere else to save money.... JMO.


Matt

 

Matt,

no matter what kind of pads you use on that CRX, you complain that it just won't stop. I am beginning to wonder if you have a defective component in your braking system?

Seriously, I have over 7k track miles on my Civic, and have never, ever, ever "lost" my brakes.

Now, my VW GTI, even with Hawk blues, was a different story. 20 hard minutes and the damn pedal would be scraping the floorboards.

later and hope to see you on Sun.

Todd

 

::raises hand:: I killed EBC Greens autocrossing. Least, they wore fine... but they glazed when I had to do some Mark Allen-style left foot braking. I glazed them at Ft. Myers ProSolo, sandpapered with 40 grit to cut the glaze off before Petersburg ProSolo... glazed them again. After that, they went into the "emergency pads" box, and I threw on a set of Hawk HP+. Mmm, all the street and autocross braking I could want. I can left-foot brake them to death (did that when our autox course involved 1.5 laps of a banked 1/3 mile oval) and they don't go soft. Very high torque for a street pad, about as much as you'd want on street tires. Take about 1-2 normal stops to start gripping really well, then after that they're dynamite. They do dust quite a bit, and make a lot of noise though. Not really a concern for me, though.