I'll add my 2 cents:
I tried only few pads in the past four years I have been attending DEs, Hawk, PF, and Porterfield. Every time I went back to Porterfields, I personally felt comfortable with their feel, wear and rotor-freindliness.
People complain about slow initial bite of the Porterfield, but only on the very first application for couple of seconds. Depending on the tires, I find that R4S or R4 work very well for me. Keeping in mind that I am not a high-speed tracker with only average driving skills, I found that these pads never abuse the rotors, have singinificant brake torque difference from OEM pad and they are very cost effective copare to many other pads.
The best part for me, I use R4S pads for street and R4 for track. After the initial bedding, I never have to worry about switching and bedding the pads, no glazing, no scratching, etc. I used the R4 pad for extending periods of street driving as well (sometime I get lazy changing pads) and no problems at all, including winter months.
One last note to add, Poterfield, including R4, one properly bedded have about 20% less brake dust and make very little noise.
So, I'd recommend Porterfields.
Bookmarks