Porterfield R4-1 - Front MX-5 Club Brake Pads

I like the performance of these pads - in the front I have the 6-piston Wildwood caliper with the stock rotors. Braking response excellent - with a little extra pressure I get dramatic deceleration - much better than stock brakes. My MX5 is my daily driver, and I do autocross and track days. Very satisfied with the pads for all of these scenarios. Had one problem when installing the pads - I had to grind down the edges on one of the pads to get it to fit in the caliper.

-- Douglas P., San Diego ( MX5 2019 ) February 2020

I'm a frequent DE instructor and use this car as my daily driver also. These pads are a huge improvement over the stock pads. Before I installed these I struggled to get the brakes to hit the threshold and although I had zero failures on stock pads and fluid I never was confident in the feel. These pads have terrific bite and feel. Downside is the noise at low brake pedal pressures...sounds like a loud school bus. I love the pads but will probably go down to the R4S when these wear out

-- James H., Houston, TX ( 2019 MX-5 Club ST Brembo ) January 2020

These truly are a dual purpose pad. I daily drive my car, and have put tens of thousands of miles on these pads. They have good bite, even in the winter when it's 20 degrees in the morning. Plus they hold up great to hard driving and track use, maintaining that good bite even through very high temperatures. They're a great pad to swap in, and know you're safe on the streets and at ten tenths on the racetrack.

Downside for street driving is that under very low brake pressure, the pads will squeal a good amount. They're definitely livable though, as long as you don't mind occasionally sounding like an 18 wheeler coming up to a stop light or in stop and go traffic. The pads do also make a fair amount of dust, but this is to be expected of any track ready brake pad.

-- Nicholas R., Boston, MA ( MX5 2016 ) May 2018

I've tries this pads for four track days and a few hundreds miles street driving.

This pads is decent, good quality overall to be a dual purpose pads, considering its affordable price.

Good thing first. On street, it's driverable, bite is smooth, paddle feels great. On track, bite is great, heat capacity is decent, very consistent.

Like every other dual purpose pads, it has compromises. Big noise, heavy dust on street driving. On track, when you drive really hard, (over 1000F on the pads), the pads get burnt, but still consistent and safe to stop. It should be no problem at all for autoX (though I never tried on that).

Overall, this is a good pads for those drivers who would swap pads and drive to and from autocross or track (light track use).

One last thing, it's very affordable.

-- Chao H., San Jose, CA ( 2016 ND Miata ) July 2016