I interpret it as R compounds allow the brakes to perform nearer to their full potential. *NM*

I have been using Pagid Oranges for track pads, and have been very happy, except that they leave so much buildup on the rotors as to make the car nearly undriveable when I put the street pads back on.

A few places on the Internet have good things to say about Carbotech XPS10s. Anyone run these? Any other suggestions?

I've had Carbotech XP8's on for the past two years and they are good pads. They wear well--dependent on your use and the track--, can take the heat and leave a dust that is easily cleaned (unlike a few others).

When I was getting the car ready for VIR last year, I asked Mike Puskar @ Carbotech if I needed to go up to the Xp10's and he thought not. Give him a call or email and he'll go through it with you.

BTW, they do a prebedding on the pads for another $20 IIRC which I highly recommend.

Yup - running the XP-10 as that is what they recommended to me. I like that they're made local to me. I have done several DE events and have been quite pleased with the performance. I'm a little surprised at how fast the fronts have worn down but I'm pretty hard on them with late braking trying to catch up with some of the faster cars with my little 2.5. They will dust up a bit, but it's easily washed off when I change back to street tires.

Funny, but I was thinking of trying the Pagid orange next time around just to try something different.

See my other pastime at www.gothamcityracing.net

I use XP-10's in the rear and XP-8's on the front. I felt the front had a bit more dive on heavy braking and thought using the grippier stuff in the back might level it out.

I've heard from a number of people with Boxsters that have gone with a more aggressive pad on the rear. Have you experienced any downside to this setup?

None.
Best to run at least R compounds though. Street tires don't have enough grab to compensate for the brakes.

all brakes can clamp tighter than any tire can hold up to without losing traction. Pad selection shoudl have to do with how it handles heat, how progressive it is, and how well it insulates the caliper and fluid from the heat.

Grant

Laz nailed it.
The R's provide greater surface grip, giving the anti-lock brakes the best feedback without lock up.
Street tires have less friction and will trip the lock up sensor sooner, resulting in less control.
Lewis Hamilton can deal with lock up, me ... not so much.

that street tires begin to slide, then recover, then slide, fooling the ABS. And that R compound slicks stick until they let loose, so they don't.

While i rarely run R comps, that sounds right from what i've felt and heard.

I still dont think it has much to do with pad compound selection. The problem with street pads - on our cars anyway - is that after several closely repeated hard stops they begin to heat, change their Cf, even melt, and transfer heat top the caliper. All this happens whether you are running R comps or snow tires. None of this has to do with ABS, feel, feedback, or consistency. It has to do with failing materials at hgih temp!

I went through this last week. After ~ 4 laps my brakes were grabbing left then right as they began to get gooey. Not nice at all.

All on street tires BTW. A high temp pad would have solved the problem nicely. They are now in, along with cleaned and smoothly operating calipers ( thanks to input from Marc!).

Grant

Street pads melt at the track?
I've never seen it and I've had my rotors magma red at night events, no pad melting.