I use Hawk HPS on all my vehicles and I only have great things to say about them.

I got a question for the trackers (RedLS1, Brian).

Can I use Hawk HP Plus for the street or it would be an overkill?

Note:I drive above street level expectations.




Hawk Performance - HP Plus / Autocross Pads

Hawk Performance - HP Plus Autocross Compoundis ideal for Autocross and Track Day drivers looking for a high performance race compound that can take the heat of the track and get you home safely without having to change the pads. If the Hawk HP Plus compound is what you are looking for, please use the following links to find the correct pads for your vehicle:



Hawk Performance - HPS High Performance Street Pads

Hawk HPS - High Performance Street disc brake pads are world renowned for increasing stopping power on your street legal vehicle. Increasing the performance of your vehicles braking system is easy when you choose Hawk Performance’s HPS braking compound. This unique Ferro-Carbon formula was developed for street performance using the safety and quality of Aerospace and Motorsports severe-duty friction technology. Please use the following links to find the correct pads for your vehicle:

 

The HP Plus pads are noisy as hell and fall in a go-between category, which, IMO, means they're noisy and irresponsive at cold (street) temps and then fade too quickly for high speed use.

I've autocrossed the hell out of some HPS pads and they'll stand up to some pretty good abuse, and are quiet.

The HP Plus pads are very noisy and don't offer much more in terms of stopping power.

Curious about "above street-level expectations." Do you autocross, go to track days, etc?

 

Thanks for the info. I go to the 1/4 drag strip. I asked about the pads because the difference is $10 and I was wondering if there was a performance difference. Hawk's website does not explain details.

Thanks

 

Yeah, for the strip I'd just stick with the HPS. They're pretty similar to the C5 Z06 OEM pads.

I do think the HP Plus stop ever so slightly better, but I'd rather run HPSes on a street driven vehicle and run a more aggressive compound when it goes to the track. (matched set of pads/rotors)

 

Thanks Shark

 

I've used HP+ pads on my 87 for autocross and some track days. For autocross, they worked fine once I got some heat in them. For track days, they are OK as long as the track is brake-friendly (read thru some threads about different tracks and some tracks can be extremely hard on brakes)

HP+ pads may squeal when cold but a couple of medium stops like 35-0 in quick succession will stop the noise.

HP+ pads can generate lots of dust and if that dust gets wet and dries before you remove it, it can stick to wheels like concrete and will eventually become impossible to remove.

For drag racing, if you get a lot of runs in a given day and the car sees trap speeds of 100 and more, I would go with HP+ pads. Pads are easy to swap so get a set of HPS pads for the front and swap them for drag use. The nice thing about the HPS and HP+ compound is that you don't need to re-bed the pads each time you swap.

HPS for the rear brakes will work for street and drag race use.

 

PLRX.

I run Hawk HP Plus on my supercharged 93 vert. No experience with Hawk HPS.

Hawk told me that the HP Plus would fade on a race track after a few laps. So even they admitted they are not fade-proof. But I dont know how mure more fade resistant they would be then the Hawk HPS.

They do dust, but Im of the mindset if they dont dust, they dont stop. I have the 96 grandsport wheels, so maybe the dust isnt as noticeable. Either way, Im sure to wash my car every few weeks to avoid any chance of the dust 'caking' to the wheel

The biggest issue is the squeaks and squeals when cold. I do not notice any lack of performance when cold though. They stop fine.

Even my wife agrees, that given the HP of the car, squeaks/squeals are a necessary compromise to keep the driving environment safe.

 

Great information thats all I needed to know. I stay with HPS

 

I have first hand experience with thes pads...but I'm not RedLS1 or Brian. Should I respond? Plus, I'm STILL waiting for you (PLRX) to give me feed back on the ride quality of the coil overs that you installed. You never did answer my question back in the C/O install thread.


My experience doesn't match his^ at ALL. I believe the noise issue is ALL ABOUT BREAK-IN...and if you follow the manufacturer's procedure, they will make noise. This is for many street/track pads, not just HP+'s.

My HP+'s don't make noise, and haven't on any of the cars that I've used them on. They do have good initial bite (better than any "parts store pad") and they do get even better w/some heat. They do handle track use fine on my stock 300 hp car, which hits ~120 on Miller's front straight. For ME, they last about a summer of driving (~5k) plus two full track days (3-5 hours of track time).

I bought the HP+ b/c I believed that they would hold up better than the HPS on the track, but still be sufficient for the street. For me, the way I use them, the evidence shows that my thinking was sound.

 

Tom - I don't really understand your first paragraph. It seems that you agree with me on the noise issue. Did you mean to say that they will NOT make noise if you follow the manufacturer's instructions, or is there another method of break-in you did not elucidate?

PLRX is not doing track days. I wouldn't use the HPS for a car that saw a lot of time stopping from road course speeds, but autocross and drag? I wouldn't hesitate. Even in a car that saw 120 mph trap speeds - why? There's no reason to brake that hard passing the lights. I can easily coast down to freeway speeds in my C6 Z06 before having to slow down for the 2nd exit lane. Don't most strips have a near and a far exit lane?

I still have HP+s on one of my cars. One time I took that car on a caravan, and by the end of the caravan someone had decided to refer to me as "Squeaky Brakes". Fun!

 

I'm most likely the only one, but I use the Hawk Ceramic and I autox every weekend of the season. They work great for me, on and off the course. No noise and very little dust. Hope this helps. Hope I don't get blasted too much.

 

Been down the Hawk path. No thanks.

I highly recommend Carbotech. XP8s all around for aggressive street driving.

FWIW, I use XP10s in the front and XP8s in the rear combined with brake cooling for track days and time trials. I've never had the pads fade or the fluid boil (Ate Super Blue alternated with Ate Typ 200) even when repeatedly braking from speeds >150mph. Anyone that has rode with me will tell you my braking often reflects a simply philosophy: "count to 3, brake when you see God"

The Carbotech brake dust washes off easier than Hawk and it doesn't corrode or rust. Very predictable braking and with the XP8s you don't need to get a bunch of heat in them for them to work. Minimal noise on the street as well.

 

Sorry. You're right that the way I worded that, it's not clear. I do folllow another method for break in; I do NOT follow the manufacturers break in procedure and by avoiding their recommondation, I believe I also avoid brake sqeal.



Yep. I'm with you on all of that^.

 

Tom - curious to hear about your break-in method, I may have to adapt it to my next brake job. Well, maybe not the next one, that's my 3/4 ton truck. lol

 

We have 3 options I will be happy to answer your questions


Carbotech™ Bobcat 1521™
The Carbotech Bobcat 1521™ is our high performance street compound that is our most successful compound. The Bobcat compound is known for its awesome release and modulation, along with unmatched rotor friendliness. Like our AX™ & XP™ line of compounds, Bobcat 1521™ is a Ceramic based friction material offering minimal rotor damage and non corrosive dust. Bobcat 1521™ offers outstanding performance, even when cold, low dusting and low noise with an excellent initial bite. This compound’s virtually perfect linear torque production provides incredible braking force without ABS intervention. Bobcat 1521™ operating range starts out at ambient and goes up to 900°F. Bobcat 1521™ is suitable for ALL street cars, perfect for your tow vehicle, police cruiser, and has won multiple SCCA Solo 2 and Prosolo National Championships. The Bobcat 1521™ compound has been found to last two-three times longer than OE pads you can purchase at a dealership or national retailer. Bobcat 1521™ compound has also been found to extend the life of your rotors 2-3 times. That’s one of the beauties of Carbotech Ceramic brake compounds. Bobcat 1521™ is NOT recommended for any track use.

Carbotech™ AX6™ (1106™)
The AX6™ takes the place of the Panther Plus™ compound that was so successful. AX6™ was specifically engineered for Autocross applications. A high torque brake compound delivering reliable and consistent performance over a very wide operating temperature range (50°F to 1150°F +). Advanced compound matrix provides an excellent initial “bite”, high coefficient of friction, and very progressive brake modulation and release characteristics. AX6™ offers high fade resistance, rotor friendliness at all temperatures, excellent cold stopping power, and non corrosive dust. As a result, AX6™ is an excellent choice for Autocross & AX6™ has gained tremendous popularity with SCCA Prosolo/Solo2 competitors for its fantastic bite, release & modulation. Many drivers use the AX6™ for street driving as well, even though Carbotech doesn’t recommend street driving with AX6™ due to possible elevated levels of dust and noise. AX6™ is NOT a race compound, and should not be used as such. AX6™ shouldn’t be used by any intermediate or advanced track day drivers, and should not be used with “R” compound tires (racing tires).

Carbotech XP8™ (1108™)
A high torque brake compound with a wide operating temperature range (200°F-1350°F+). Carbotech XP8™ is the first of our racing compounds. Outstanding initial bite at race temperatures, high coefficient of friction, excellent modulation and release characteristics. Extremely high fade resistance, very rotor friendly with 100% non-corrosive dust. Excellent as a front brake pad for lighter ITA, ITB, ITC, SRF, H4, H5, and other cars that weigh less than 2,400lbs. Perfect for novice, intermediate and advanced track day (HPDE) use with any tire, and can still be driven safely to and from the track. There are several vehicles that use XP8™ on the street, autocross, and at track day (HPDE) events. Carbotech does NOT recommended XP8™ as a daily driven street pad due to elevated levels of dust and noise. XP8™ is also a great rear brake pad for almost any race car (Spec Miata-T1/T2/CMC). XP8™ is a great compound on the front & rear of most open wheel and sports racers.

 

I agree with this 100% as far as street use is concerned. My one experience with Carbotech on a track wasn't such a great one but that is not really relevant here. I also have been down the Hawk path with no luck. For aggressive street/occasional drag strip use the XP8 should be a really good choice for a C4.

I have never used the HPS but my experience with the HP+ is again similar to what has already been said. Of all of the pads I have tried they are the shortest lasting, the worst on rotors, noisy as hell, and even with all of that they don't seem to perform any better than the others.

Unfortunately, it doesn't look like they make them in C4 front sizes but I am really starting to like Wilwood pads. I use Polymatrix A/B on the track and H on the street with great results.

EDIT:

I just remembered that I am actually using Hawk ceramics on my daily driver Z06 right now and they are great. The street performance is not at all noticeably less than the metallics (would obviously not use ceramics on a track) and there is almost zero dusting and zero noise.

 

Alright, I hesitated to post this due to not wanting a "flame job" today, but here goes. In my experience, NO brand new set of pads, and new or resurfaced rotor mate up perfectly. Proof of this is in driving the car around the block with new components, then observe the rotor, and you'll see that the pad is not "sweeping"/polishing the entire rotor -at first.

It is my opinion that to throw in a new set of pads, then go out and follow the bed-in procedure is only going to create hot spots on the "high" areas of the new pad -the only ares initally contacting the rotor. You glaze those areas of the pads, essentially over heating them right off the bat, and you have sqealing/squeaky brakes from there on.

I install new pads and use them as gently as possible, being cognizant of heat during use, so "pumping" to a stop, rather than "riding" the pedal. Use the brakes, b/c you need the pad to rotor wear to accomplish the surface mating, but do so in ways that mitigate local heat build up on the pads' "high spots". What I want to accomplish is a perfect breaking in of the pad to the rotor, with "no heat" -impossible, but certainly attainable w/o glazing. I run the car like that until I see the entire "swept area" of the rotor, is polished. Once the whole rotor is evenly polished, that is evidence that the whole pad has conformed to the rotor. Not proof; the pad could be concave, and not touching in the middle, only the edges, but it's evidence. I usually run the car gently another day or two like that, just to be sure....THEN I go through the factory recommended bedding procedure.

All this is based on observation; no science. But it's worked really well for me, for all brands of pads, on all of my vehicles -including my Silverado, which I got 100k out of part store front pads and 208k out of the rear shoes. I get what I consider to be good pad life, and low to no squeaking.

 

Makes very good sense! Thanks for the insight.

 

That's actually very similar to what I have done on my street cars for a long time. I tried it once with a set of Wilwood pads on my track car and it gave excellent results. I might start doing it with every set...

 

Hi.
I hae an 85 with stock calipers. I have Powerslot rotors and now Hawk HP plus pads. Now the brakes are so good it is not to compare with the stock brakes.
Yes they squeel now and then when cold. The initial bite when cold is good enough and better than the stock brakes.
The dusting is the problem. I had HAwk HPS first but use HP+ now even for dayly driving.