I currently have a set of Hawk Performance HPS Brake Pads, and it feels like they just absolutely destroyed my Raybestos GT-sized rotors (*yes, I did the caliper bracket swap), as in "I had said (new) rotors for less than a year before scoring/warping". They throw a TON of dust (to the extent that by the end of a week, I have to clean my rims all over again). Though, to be fair, rotors ARE indeed toasted...

I recently rebuilt the calipers (new slide pins/fresh grease/etc), so it shouldn't be due to caliper sticking or anything like that.

I DO occasionally track the car. Once every two months or so.

I'm just not impressed with the Hawx pads in the front. What alternatives would y'all suggest, or is this a case of "tough nuts" slash a result of replacing the rotors without having replaced the pads when I did the caliper bracket swap? I know Baer and Wilwood have a few offerings, and I would imagine so does Ford Performance.

Thanks, folks!

 

New rotors should always have new pads.

When you say "track" the car, what exactly do you mean?

 

>New rotors should always have new pads.

Yup, which is exactly why I think the HAWX HPS's ate through my last set of rotors -- I didn't replace them in sync. I think the pads themselves are a little warped/uneven, which is why they trashed my rotors.

That said, I don't really want to repeat that overall experience. If HAWX HPS's are really the best bang for your buck, fine. But if not, let's get it RIGHT this time.

>When you say you "track" the car...

Every other month or so (no more that 4 times a year) I take it to tracks like Gingerman Raceway.

As such, I want pads that can perform under some high pressure, but also are decent for daily driving (well, more like weekend driving these days. Tomato, to-mah-to).

 

Well to be perfectly honest the best performance will be gained by swapping your pads on track days. For this I would look at Carbotech XP series. They have a few different XP compounds that will work well for short track sessions. If you are doing more longer distances or endurance type racing I would go with their RP compound.

The problem is is that pads generally made for the street don't perform well at the track due to the difference in brake temps. Race pads tend to have an issue with initial bite when not up to race temp, and pads made for the street will exhibit signs of brake fad when too hot.

If you aren't looking at swapping pads for track days I might look at EBC Yellow Stuff pads. I have only used this compound on motorcycles and have no experience with them on cars, but I do use their Red Stuff pads on my street/strip mustang and have never had a performance issue. I just changed my pads this week (4th set up front) and have never had to have my rotors (EBC Sport) turned/resurfaced.

 

Out of curiosity, why do you recommend the Yellow Stuff instead of the Red Stuff, especially since you do them on your street/strip Mustang?

Given the similarity, I'm inclined to lean towards the Red Stuff, but I'm trusting your judgement on the difference, hence the question.

 

Well the Red Stuff are a good street performance pad that is able to work at the drag strip because yes you get them hot but only once and then they have time to cool off. During normal spirited street driving they don't get hot enough either to warrant going to a track pad IMO. Road courses need/require a pad that will perform better in a higher heat range due to the repeated hard braking with not a lot of time for them to cool off. AutoX you can get away with street pads too because your only running a minute or two. So autoX and the drag strip I would say the Red Stuff pads are fully capable. But with the stresses of a road course I would recommend stepping up to the Yellow Stuff pads. They would be a good compromise between an all out track pad and a good street pad.

 

For road track plus street use, I have used StopTech Street Performance pads with pretty good results. The worked fairly well on the track, never had any major fade even though I do drive fairly hard on the track.

On the street they work well also. No noise. Pretty dusty though . . . which I prefer over eating up the rotors. Usually a dusty pad is a fairly soft pad which means the pad is hopefully taking most of the wear instead of the rotors.

I recently switched to Carbotech XP10 in the front, XP8 in the rear and they are definitely a better track pad. They bite more aggressively and no hint of fade when good and hot. Working on braking later and reducing the braking distance on the track . . .

However, I am not sure I am going to be able to live with them on the street. The get very noisy under some conditions -- usually light braking like in a parking lot -- giving out loud screeches and moans. Also they tend to be grabby; if you brake suddenly you can get more than you wanted. There is no problem with them working when cold though, they grab just fine on the first stop when cold.

I don't have any personal experience with the Hawk pads.