Right I’m after another set of pads as the material falling off my CL RC5+ again I’m going to ditch them.
I’m after something that will be used for 90% fast road use and maybe half a dozen track days per year.
A pad that works well from cold and doesn’t chew the discs when cold aka on the road? The CL RC5+ were perfect for this but pad material falling off twice now isn’t a coincidence!
I’m thinking RS4-2 or what about PF, the working from cold is very important!
Cheers,
Neil.
I’ve used 42’s, Rs14’s and am now on PF’s.
Comments
42’s - Great for road and limited track work.
Rs14’s - I thought they were OK for road and upto 10 hard laps on track before they started to grumble
PF’s - Great on track at high temps. OK on the road but not great unless they get up to temperature
All IMHO 
PF’s mate superb but dusty in the dry or wet damp…Sludgy in the consistant rain but well into an afternoon on a very wet Silverstone TD, ABS and lock up problems. Not changing anytime soon tho.
So, there isn’t a perfect pad for the Exige then??
I’m amazed at how tricky it is to get a good set up on these cars. I’m looking to change from my Pagid rs14s, & have been strongly advised to go for Pagid rs42s. That seems feasible, but I use my car for track days mainly, so will this be right?
I’ve had my car for 3 months, done 3 trackdays, & so far I’m looking at my 3rd brake set up . . . . Doh!!!
Not sure there can ever be a perfect pad or even brake set up for any car including the Exige. It has to depend on what you are using it for road or track and then even then a pad that works the best on a dry track on a warm day may not be the optimum pad on a cold wet day at Anglesey?
Reminded at the weekend the MotoGP bike all swapped their carbon discs for steel ones because of the wet.
PF all the way, just watch for the dust, keep your wheels very clean and polished and you will be ok
I think I will go RS42 next time, I am bothered about the PF dust and people have sworn by the 42’s for years.
Boothy
[quote=Boothy]I think I will go RS42 next time, I am bothered about the PF dust and people have sworn by the 42’s for years.
Boothy [/quote]
42’s won’t stand up to a full track day - I have tried at Oulton a couple of years ago
As has already been said the best compromise setup will be different based on usage
So far for my use the PF’s seem the best compromise for 90% track & 10% road
Mr Fox and I use our cars in a similar way - drive to track, thrash it round & drive home so the PF’s suit
[quote=-Neil-]
I’m thinking RS4-2 or what about PF, the working from cold is very important!
Cheers,
Neil. [/quote]
Both work well, Pf have much better feel to them but you have to live with the dust. 42’s pretty much fit and forget.
Don’t get hung up on people saying about them ‘working’ from cold… Anyone who jumps in their car and blasts it up the road from a stone cold engine/ brakes and expects them to work properly is a muppet!!
Is the dust easy to remove? I don’t want to be destroying the finish on my wheels.
Neil.
RS42’s here
All brake pads will generate dust, you can’t get away from it entirely, just that some are more prone than others.
PF’s use a multi layer technology. The initial thin outer layer is quite soft and wears away very quickly after fitting them. They are designed like this to allow for minimal bedding in procedure (you can pretty much spank them straight out of the box). Down side is that it causes a lot of dust/debris from the pads when you first put them in, and if you do it in the wet prepare for a full wheel refurb as it is almost like weld splatter which cakes all over them when it drys.
Having used 42’s for a number of years on other cars before the lotus, I opt’d straight for them when the STD pads were spent. What I found though was the Lotus Elise/Exige is very front bias in the brake set-up department and for track work could ideally benefit from having a bit more towards the rear. After trying RS14’s all round and killing two sets of front discs within an hours use, I eventually ended up using a combo of 42’s on the front and 14’s on the rears which (IMHO) is a very good set up for track which works and is hassle free. However after trying PF’s I have been converted just that you have to give some thought to the bedding in, I.e DON’T DO IT IN THE WET, an if you have them stick a set of older rims on for the first hundred miles, after that the dust is no worse than any other pad…
I do have another set of wheels I could bed them in on, the main thing I’m worried about is the type of dust that melts/eats through lacquer on wheels. The RC5+ do produce a fair bit of dust so I’m not too bothered in that regards as long as it doesn’t muller the finish of the wheels.
I take it the ones to go for are the PF01 that Eliseparts sell?
Neil.
Tbh I dont know which ones I’m using (I know I know), Mr Shorrocks from JSR usually just sends them to me through the post or I get them off him when I see him and he relieves me of money… John, which ones am I using?
Tried the Rs42, RS14’s and the CL5+'s.
All have their good and bad points.
Recently fitted a set of CL6’s and found them to be great.
The bite of the RS14’s without the pad transfer and dust issues.
Very happy with them.
Ex77
For a little complication, you can only get 97 compound for the rear of the Lotus, with standard calipers.
For the front you can get 81, 97 or 01 for the standard 2 piston calipers, plus a couple of other pads that are more endurance based.
From memory, you can get 01 for the front 4 piston caliper, again plus some endurance orientated ones.
In rough terms, 81 is fast road with occasional track, 97 are track and 01 is race. There is some variance with torque, which depends on loads of factors, but you can mix and match the compounds front to rear to get a good balance,
All the pads are as Gav says though, primarily designed to fit at any point over a race weekend, and have maximum braking available from the first press of the pads, so no ‘bedding in’ in the traditional sense. Some care needs to be taken on choice of weather at that point however if you are a little precious about your wheels. Of all the ‘race’ type pads we have used, the only downside is the initial levels of dust produced and the normal undersize backplates that all the race type pads have, but this is slightly less so than others
I must say a thanks to John for advising I go with the 01 compound PF in my new rear 2 pot setup, these seem to match the 01 4 pots on the front, I am well pleased with the set up but it did ake some getting used to especially in the wet 
A set of Pagid RS4-2 will be turning up tomorrow and I’ll be fitting them with some Alcon 308mm discs as well 
Neil.
My RS4-2s went on today following a thorough wire brush of the discs.
Bedding in this weekend, followed by Cadwell on Monday.
Lets hope they work.