| After many well-traveled miles, it was time for new brake pads. I'm the type who is always looking for something new and different and wanted to move away from OEM pads to see if the grass was truly greener. I read a lot about Pagid and decided that they were next on my list.
Pagid makes many types of pads designed for many types of racing. With different compounds, you can get exactly the type of pad suited to your driving conditions. The Blue pads are designed to be a step up from the OEM pads and offer many advantages of the higher end race pads but without the warm up time to bring them to their full potential.
One of the cautions or criticisms with Pagid (or any racing pad for that matter) is that they squeak when cold and remain that way until they are hot and that can wear thin on one’s nerves very quickly. I had been warned by more than one person that I probably wouldn’t like the pads because of it’s “squealy” nature when cold. However, the Blue pads are supposed to be silent from the start and remain that way through the most grueling track day. I’ve also never been one to listen too much to anyone’s opinion and so off I went.
The car used was my 2001 Boxster S with 18” turbo twists and Bridgestone SO3’s moving rapidly toward the end of their useful life. The suspension on the car is the ROW030. I actually changed mine during a track day, which one could argue was not the proper way to do it since I didn’t have much time to seat them properly. But I say, who cares… they will be nice and broken in by the end of the weekend one way or another. So, after a few quick runs from 70-0 mph, off I go in my run group. After the first couple of laps go the brakes were up to temperature and I showed them no mercy. I was following behind a buddy of mine and I was diving deeper and deeper into the corner before hitting the brakes, trying to unsettle him and get him off his line (it didn’t work).
They were fantastic right from the start. What I liked was the linear feel of them. Whether I feathered the brakes or jumped on them with both feet, the brakes felt very smooth and consistent. They do grip better than OEM pads in my opinion and next time I replace them, I want to replace the rotors as well (this is supposedly recommended to get the best out of the braking system).
I have had the pads on for about 4 months (4k miles) and I like them just as much as the first day I tried them. There is a slight amount of squeal every once in awhile but not like true race pads like the Orange or Black pads. I found that I can cure the squeal with a quick stop or two. One negative (for some, not me) is that they do not have a hole for the wear sensor. I had to attach my sensor to the brake line with a cable tie.
At the end of the day, I found that Pagid Blue pads are a very good hybrid pad for the everyday driver that occasionally takes the car to the track. |
