Advice? New brakes/discs a little scary in the wet

[stockysnail]

I purchased and installed UltraDiscs and Porterfield R4S street/track pads and put them on last month. When I put them on I noticed that I needed to push the brakes a little harder to get the car to stop as quickly as before when I was bedding the brakes. I don't think it's the lack of initial bite in the pads but perhaps it is as I've never changed to different pads on a car.

The slightly scary part is that it started to rain here and when I push the brakes I have to push a lot harder when it's raining then when it's dry. I didn't bleed the brakes since the fluid seems ok and there's only 18k miles on the car. As far as I can tell from how it feels is that the pads aren't grabbing the discs enough or the discs are slippery, but who knows perhaps something else is wrong. My tires (Toyo T1R) only have about 1000 miles on them so perhaps they are a little slick still as well and have heard they are better with a few thousand miles on them.

Possible things that I can think of that may be wrong (or maybe nothing's wrong): 1. the discs are still a little slippery as they haven't worn enough of the zinc coating off. 2. This is how the pads and discs perform and I just have to push the brake pedal harder. 3. Something is wrong and I should have it looked at.

[BealeAss]

I'm a bit curious about this myself because I did a little driving day a few weeks ago and found when it was wet my brakes were either smoking or not working nearly at full capacity.

[mrluky]

I noticed this a while ago when my gear was new in the rain. Dunno what it is, but I find that a pre brake(imagine giving the discs a squeegeeing) before you need to brake helps a bunch.

[Seb]

I think your problem is the R4S pads.

Did you contaminate the rotors or pads during assembly?

[stockysnail]

Originally Posted by Seb

I think your problem is the R4S pads.

Did you contaminate the rotors or pads during assembly?

I'm not sure what you mean by contaminate but I doubt it as I took the items out of the boxes then put them on the car. They weren't sitting outside their boxes.

[milehitom]

Originally Posted by stockysnail

I'm not sure what you mean by contaminate but I doubt it as I took the items out of the boxes then put them on the car. They weren't sitting outside their boxes.

I think Seb's concerned that some brake fluid or anti-squel grease may have gotten on the discs or pads during installation.

FWIW, I'm running Ultra-discs and Pagid Blues and the grip like mad.

Tom

[jasper]

R4s pads aren't as good as the stock lotus pads, IMO
I tried them but quickly changed to just the Porterfield R4 - much better grip and fine in daily driving

[SweetDaddyD]

I noticed that more when I ran R4S pads as well. When the rotors were wet when you first hit the pedal there was nothing there for a second. Got used to it eventually and now run Pagid Blues and they seem to be fine in the rain.

[jim-clayton]

Originally Posted by jasper

R4s pads aren't as good as the stock lotus pads, IMO
I tried them but quickly changed to just the Porterfield R4 - much better grip and fine in daily driving

+1

ran R4's 4000 track miles on the same rotors.

Excellent braking.

[lotusbrakes]

Originally Posted by stockysnail

I purchased and installed UltraDiscs and Porterfield R4S street/track pads and put them on last month. When I put them on I noticed that I needed to push the brakes a little harder to get the car to stop as quickly as before when I was bedding the brakes. I don't think it's the lack of initial bite in the pads but perhaps it is as I've never changed to different pads on a car.

The slightly scary part is that it started to rain here and when I push the brakes I have to push a lot harder when it's raining then when it's dry. I didn't bleed the brakes since the fluid seems ok and there's only 18k miles on the car. As far as I can tell from how it feels is that the pads aren't grabbing the discs enough or the discs are slippery, but who knows perhaps something else is wrong. My tires (Toyo T1R) only have about 1000 miles on them so perhaps they are a little slick still as well and have heard they are better with a few thousand miles on them.

Possible things that I can think of that may be wrong (or maybe nothing's wrong): 1. the discs are still a little slippery as they haven't worn enough of the zinc coating off. 2. This is how the pads and discs perform and I just have to push the brake pedal harder. 3. Something is wrong and I should have it looked at.

I always feel that you should get the braking system checked over by a mechanic anytime someone posts a similar story here, the brakes are too important to overall safety.

Otherwise, are you driving the car mostly on the street or track?

-G

[stockysnail]

Originally Posted by lotusbrakes

I always feel that you should get the braking system checked over by a mechanic anytime someone posts a similar story here, the brakes are too important to overall safety.

Otherwise, are you driving the car mostly on the street or track?

-G

I drive it on the street. Maybe track it once or twice a year.

[stockysnail]

So which pads are best for street driving that don't cost as much as the stock pads and could be ok for a once or twice a year track day? Or am I stuck with the OEM pads being the best? (I'm ok with that if that's true) I'm scared enough of the lack of response in the wet with the Porterfield R4Ss to do something about it as I'd like to be able to stop quickly if it's raining. I live in Portland after all and winters are wet. This is also my daily driver by the way.
Thanks for the input.

[Seb]

You do understand that rotors come pre-oiled to prevent corrosion on the shelf, right?

You need to clean them off with brake cleaner or else you contaminate the pads.