I love DIY videos, so I made an installation DIY video for the Porterfield Brake pads. Hopefully this helps anyone in the future!

 

Nice video, thanks.
I have always wondered how some brake pad manufacturers are able to get good performance without throwing as much dust. You would think that they would all work to find compounds that achieve that balance.
It is encouraging that the initial brake grab in normal driving is reduced, I find that I must pay close attention to normal around town braking or I end up jarring my passengers. Will definitely consider these when it’s time for replacement.
I am at just under 12k so I assume I have a ways to go before replacement. How many miles were on your car when you replaced ?

 

I didn't realize how touchy the brakes were until I let my wife drive my car lol

My car has 36k miles and when I took these off it appeared like the pads had about 1/3 life left. They could have been replaced by the previous owner though.

 

I honestly have no idea what any of you are talking about. OEM pads are grabby? Sorry to ask, but do you brake with two feet?

 

They might appear grabby if you're used to driving a car with "soft" brakes and are used to having to be heavy on the pedal. I experienced this the first time, many decades ago, when I drove a car with front discs when I'd been used to drums all round (it was a Ford Prefect for all you Hitchhiker fans :-)) and nearly went throught the windscreen/shield.

 

Grabby brakes means they have strong initial bite. Sorry to ask, but do you have the smaller non-performance brakes?

 

I've got the big brakes front and back and have never found them to have a strong initial bite unless I really stand on the pedal (I've not used both feet yet, though!).

 

haha that makes two of us! I didn’t think they were too strong until my wife (who isn’t used to sports cars) drove it.

 

All three of my Jags (2010 XFS 355 front/326 rear, 2010 XFR 380 front/376 rear and 2015 F-Type 380 front/326 rear) came with stock pads and discs, and all three were horribly "grabby".
Way too much initial bite such that it was damn near impossible to drive smoothly in stop/go traffic, the lightest touch on the brake pedal and you came to a jarring (and graunching!) stop, although I must admit the F-Type wasn't as bad as the two XFs. And I am a very light braker and always have been, I have never worn out a set of pads or discs in 45 years of driving.
So yes, they are incredibly grabby. Maybe they fit different pads in the factory for different markets?
I swapped the XFS pads out for Power Stop Evolution Z16 ceramics and it was night and day, waaaay smoother and more progressive, no more graunch and nearly zero dust. Easily the smoothest and quietest pads I have ever used.
I never did fit ceramic pads on the XFR as Power Stop don't make them in those sizes and at the time I considered EBC redstuffs but I read too many bad reports about them (apparently they are OK now). Instead I swapped out the stock pads for Centric PosiQuiet semi-metallic. Still a little grabby and graunchy and a bit of dust (maybe half as much as the stock pads) but a lot smoother to drive than the stock pads.
I fitted Porterfield R4S pads to the F-Type as soon as I read about them, again waaaaay more progressive and smoother than stock at the expense of not much initial bite.

 

I have larger calipers and do not find initial bite at all unreasonable or sudden. I have no problems modulating my brakes and I do frequently drive other cars, so it isn't the question of getting used to it.

 

You are not describing my F-type. At the same time, I am willing to consider that for super-light braking I would just downshift and use engine brake. Does automatic not at all coast? When I drive tomorrow, I will intentionally try to feather it and see if it surprises me.

 

Before I bought the XFS in 2013 I had owned nothing but manual cars, and like you I used the gears to slow down much of the time so that when coming to a stop at say a red traffic light I hardly had to use the brakes at all. Not just for engine braking but to always be in the right gear for rapid acceleration should I need to. Some argue that is a bad habit and you shouldn't use the gearbox/engine braking very much as "brakes are much cheaper to replace than clutches or gearboxes". Thing is despite driving that way all the time I never once needed a clutch or gearbox replacement. I also noticed that the vast majority of drivers around me, especially those with auto gearboxes (maybe 90%) braked way too often when cruising and way too late and way too hard when coming to a stop IMHO. It was though they only knew two options, hard on the gas or hard on the brake with zero modulation, and I noticed this even more as a passenger in a car with an auto gearbox.
The ZF 8 speed in the F-Type does coast but it also changes down one gear at a time when coming to a stop. But it does change down rather late, when the revs have dropped well down so you get very little engine braking effect, I guess for fuel economy reasons.

 

My super performance brakes did have a bit of grabbiness on initial pedal application. That subsided after installing the Wortecs and Porterfields. Overall less pedal pressure is now needed, but initial brake force is more Progressive.
Oz, to your point in MT downshifting, I always engine sync (double-clutch) into a downshift to slow the car to a stop. No additional clutch or synchronizer wear. Over the half past century I only really needed to replace A couple clutches on my pickup when I was regularly towing 5000+ pounds of race car/trailer rig. (Of course that record came to an end with the wonderful first and second gen F-Type clutch designs). I seem to remember the clutch on the MINI may have been replaced at 100+k.

 

Another reason to use brakes rather than engine is your brake lights will let following traffic know you're slowing down. But like you, I'm a light (not late!) braker and am often sad when following cars whose brake lights hardly go off - brow of hill, brake - oncoming car, brake - red light half a mile ahead, brake ..... How do these people pass their test?

 

Perhaps it’s the bedding process that makes the difference?
I bought my car used with about 10k so obviously the brakes were well bedded. I have owned many sports cars and this car is the most difficult to smoothly apply the brakes during normal in town driving. Spirited driving is no problem since you are expecting more forceful braking.
It’s not a huge problem by any means, just takes some getting used to and I would most certainly rather have these brakes than something spongy or vague.

MM

 

Yup stock pads have been quite grabby for me. Requires conscious effort to not throw my passenger towards the windshield when going around town. No other car I’ve driven has been quite so sensitive.

I don't actually want to change them though, happy with the oem setup.

 

I went out today to do some tests. No issues with light or heavy braking. My 100% OEM large brake setup with OEM pads and disks.

Test procedure: Get to a street speed limit. Shift into Neutral. Make sure nobody is behind me. Apply pressure on brake pedal with various level of effort.
Results: Light application results in light braking. Hard application results in hard braking. No sudden grab or bump through chassis felt. Pedal has a small dead travel then progressively applies brakes. Coming to a bump-less smooth stop required slight easing off the brakes right as the car was about to stop, which is not unusual.

In my testing, I could feather light brake application without feeling any sudden grab. While I normally engine brake instead of lightly using brakes, I focused on that aspect. The car behaved as expected. I had no issue rolling the length of block with lightest brake application.

No sudden grab unless I stomp on the brake pedal. Pedal has a little free travel, probably less than a typical passenger car.

My brake fluid is 6 month old (was flushed last fall) and my pads and calipers were serviced about a month ago (so very recently). My pads are still original what was installed from the factory.

I can only conclude that people reporting grabby brakes experience this as a result of technical issue. For example, if brake pad is not freely traveling in the caliper it would create sudden engagement. Keep in mind - brake calipers have to be serviced at least every 2 years if you expect them to work as-new.

 

No idea. I break in my brakes by the book and did this when I get my car new. I race, so I know the importance of doing this. I am also religious about maintaining brakes (because I race I have extra appreciation of importance of being able to stop rapidly or risk unscheduled spontaneous disassembly).

 

Lol, spontaneous disassembly, think I might have had that happen once or twice 😳

 

Yep, I have been fully aware of the "brake lights not showing" issue for 40 odd years, which is why when changing down through the gears coming up to a red light I lightly tapped the brake pedal as well. Also relates to another of my pet peeves - the old Split Enz track "I see red I see red I see red". Stopped in a long line of two, three, four lanes of traffic at a red light, and every single one of them (except me!) has their foot on the brake (so glaring red brake lights) and the car in D for Dope, although they know (or they would if they were paying attention!) they will be sitting motionless for at least a minute yet. Whenever I stop at a red light or otherwise in traffic, and I either know for sure or judge that I will be stopped for at least 30 seconds, I whack it in N, apply the handbrake, take my foot off the brake pedal and stretch and relax. I guesstimate that maybe one in a thousand drivers in Adelaide does the same. BUT, if I am the Tail End Charlie in my lane I keep my foot lightly on the brake pedal purely to turn the brake lights on to warn any half asleep bozo coming up behind that I am stopped. Then, when they pull up behind me, I take my foot off the brake pedal and relax.