???Porterfield R4S... god it sucks

describe your fluid change proceedure. Describe your brake bleed proceedure. Also, are you sure you have R4S vs. R4?

 

We had a long discussion about these pads recently. Apparently Porterfield changed the composition of the pads. They used to be great pads, but no longer according to Brian C. I had used them with great success on several cars but now everyone is unhappy with them.

 

Really??....Terrible news! I loved those pads!

The stock ones squeeked so bad, the Porterfields were amazing....no noise, better feel and stopping power, even less dusting!
To hear they changed things sucks......

 

Just installed these on my 575M No more sqeeking, very little dust and they
stop on a dime.

 

I use R4S on my 348 challenge and they work great. Stop as well as metalic race pads that were on there before at least with normal street driving. No dust and no squeek.

 

I feel it appropriate to chime into this thread, now that the Ricambi name has been raised.

First and foremost, I would be more than happy to credit ajimbo the full price of these pads. Simply contact me directly via email. If you are that dissatisfied with their performance, I don't want that dissatisfaction to spill over toward Ricambi America as a supplier. Email or PM me, and we'll get the financial side of this taken care of. No worries at all...

The pads were not on sale because of an oversupply issue or because we felt they were inferior. A product we think is inferior goes into the dumpster. Trust me, I have thrown thousands of dollars of Ferrari junk into the garbage rather than send it to customers. If it's something I wouldn't put onto my own car, you can be sure I won't sell it to my customers.

Now, with regard to the composition of the R4S pads, I spent about 20 minutes today speaking with Tim Porterfield (note the name) about the pad material and any changes over the last few years. Tim assured me there has been ZERO modification to the R4S pad material in the last several years. Porterfield began with their racing pads, then 'detuned' the compound for the street -- looking for a lower dust, but still grabby/bite.

We have sold literally hundreds of these pads and never heard a complaint about the stopping power. Yes, there are complaints about the bedding process. Yes, there are complaints about sensor wires. There are even complaints about squeal when people install R4 pads for the street. But, stopping power has not been an issue.

I'm not a professional Ferrari tech, nor do I pretend to be. I would encourage you to have the brakes bled, and perhaps pull them to inspect for wear. The R4S compound is not appropriate for a track -- especially in a heavy (and very very very powerful car like the 550 or 575) Ferrari. It can get chewed through very quickly in those conditions. The pad would probably glaze, and while the pedal would still be firm there'd be no grab. In those conditions, an R4 would be much better suited. For extremely heavy track use, I might even suggest Pagid pads (squeals very loud though!)

Hope that information helps a bit.

Kindly,
Daniel

 

EDIT: ajimbo... no need to even email/PM me. I found your original sales ticket and already issued a full credit back to your original credit card.

 

I just changed from the Porterfields to Pagid Yellow 29 on the front and Pagid Blue on the rear, night and day difference the Pagids have much more feel and greater stopping power.

 

I have used AXXIS brake pads on all my sports cars for the last 20 years and have yet to be dissapointed!!! They are very low dust, don't need warming up before grabbing, don't squeel, don't fade and are even reasonably priced!!!

 

I also have R4S pads in my 550 and yet to have any problems with them would prefer them over stock OEM pads.

 

That's great Service Daniel. It's nice to see a vendor/sponsor step up so quickly.

 

Daniel:
I like the front pads so much I ordered rear pads today. Sorry didn't know
you had them.

 

now thats good customerservice ;-)

 

He obviously just naturally goes above and beyond for his customers. I've only placed one order with Ricambi, and he upgraded my shipping basically just because I asked him when he thought the order might ship. You can rest assured that Ricambi will be the first place I go to from now on!