Hawk Blues v. PFC 97's

john d 81SC · 08-08-2006, 08:02 AM

The only track pads I've ever used in my 81SC are the Hawk Blues. I do 10-12 DE events in Riesentoter's White group (middle run group of 5). While I like the initial 'bite' of the Blues, they're really doing a number on my rotors. Has anyone used both the Blues and the PF 97's, and if so, how do they compare? I understand the 97's are much easier on the rotors. How are the 97's as to bite? Thanks in advance.

MotoSook · 08:22 AM

No comparison to the Blues as I have stayed away from them because of local reports of rotor abuse and unexpected bite when hot. But the PF97's have great bit when on the track. Cold bite is merely less than hot bite (not a lack of), but when on the track it's gone after the first corner or two during the warm up lap. On the street the cold bit is not alarming.

With better braking management, the PF97's work well for my heavy Carrera. No boiling of fluid and not so harsh on rotors.

PorscheGuy79 · PorscheGuy79's Garage

What he said.

zotman72 · 08-08-2006, 09:07 AM

I have PF 97s on my '72 DE car and HawkBlues on my racecar. The PF97s are not of the "Hand of God" catagory that the Blues are. In a race, highly effective brakes can be your "Unfair Advantage" especially when you have a momentum car such as mine (74 911S H class).
You can go deeper before braking with the Blues, not so with PF97s. Rotors are not cheap but they are wear items, and with the Hawk Blues, it is like they are on a lathe. I need new rotors before my next race....
YMMV.

Peter Bull · Peter Bull's Garage

I had PF97's on my '84 Carrera with stock brakes. The bite was incredible when they warmed up, but when cold they were pretty close to dangerous. The downside was that they wore away 2 mm of the rear discs and 1 mm of the front discs in 7000 km street and auto-x use. About half a season for me. The rear pads were worn out, and the front pads worn down half way.

I even had a chat with an engineer from Performance Friction about the odd wear. But the only solution he offered was that there was something fundamentally wrong with me or my car

A friend who is using them on his race car is very satisfied. Very low pad and rotor wear. So one possible explanation to why they did not work on my car is that the pads are wery small. Especially the rear ones. Since the surface pressure is inversely proportional to the area of the pad, the pressure gets to high and the pads get crushed. Or something like that.

/Peter

jaydubya · 08-09-2006, 05:21 AM

Posted a reply to your thread on Rennlist, here it is for the folks on this site.

Have not used the Hawk Blues, but have been using the PFC 97 pads for about 8 years. I really like them and they are easy on rotors. I have about 20 track days on my current front rotors and they are still at 19.5 mm thick (they start at 20 mm). This is on a 82 SC weighing about 2500 lbs.

I installed my current set of PFC97s at the beginning of the year. I now have 15 days on them and the front pads are about 1/3 worn. Rears look even better.

hobieboy · 08-09-2006, 05:42 AM

I have not tried Hawk Blues neither but have been using PFC97 for 6-7 years. Depends who you talk to, but I find they wear very well (both pads & rotors) and they do stop very very well.

They last about 30-40 track days for me though I need a set of rotors every 20 or so track days - not due to wear but crack (cross drill ones). However, a friend of mine who uses Coleman rotors can NOT use these. They would literally crack them in 2 days. Coleman dealer also confirmed that PFCs are too harsh for those. So my friend switch back to pagid black.