Review: Project Mu HC+ 800 Street/Track Pads
 

Hello Everyone --

I recently purchased and installed a set of Project Mu HC 800+ Street / Track Pads from Speed Freaks (http://speed-freaks.net/). Kudos to Ying @ Speed Freaks for awesome service, and timely delivery of the pads within the deadline of my first track day in the BRZ. I feel more than comfortable recommending anyone in need of racing goodies to Speed Freaks!

Note: I am in no way affiliated with Project Mu or Speed Freaks LLC. Everything posted here is my opinion, and end-purchase is up to the reader.

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Brake Pad Description:

HC+800 (HYPER CARBON 800) is a premium Performance Street, Race and Rally brake pad. HC+800 has more bite than both NS and B-Spec and has excellent fade resistance. Capable of operating at temperatures up to 800°c, this pad will handle almost all serious braking conditions. HC+800 is a genuine 'cross over' pad suitable for both road and race. HC+800 is extremely capable in competition environments so use this pad if you are also involved in track day, rally etc. Along with temperature capabilities, HC+800 is renowned as a 'drivers pad' with unmatched driver feel and control.

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My Setup:

- Project Mu HC+ 800 Front/Rear Pads
- DBA Front Slotted T3 Rotors
- Motul 600 Brake Fluid

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The install:

Install in the BRZ was a breeze! I had to remove the calipers due to the installation of DBA Front Slotted T3 Rotors. But other than that, the pads fit nicely into the pad slots and most of my time was spent bleeding the system (used a MittyVac in the process).

Street use:

Driving on the street you do notice a whole lot more bite, without loss of performance or increase in brake dust. This is exactly how the brakes should have come from the factory. I feel the factory brake pads were too soft and unpredictable, even for canyon runs. The pads are super quiet, but I'll have to update after the first few hundred miles. :happyanim:

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Track use:

These pads were tested at Laguna Seca Mazda Raceway on 3/30 with Checkered Flag Racing Association. We had quite a bit of rain in the first two sessions, but it was completely dry for the last three. The brakes performed really well in the rain, but I cannot fully comment because I was not pushing the car too hard. In the last three sessions I pushed the brakes very hard, braking very late with a firm foot presented no problems. They were smoking at the end of every session, but I noticed zero brake fade. Great bite at all temperatures as well. You can also see from the picture above that the pads do eventually change color from being green new to gray used (does not effect performance, and is noted on the box). Overall, I can conclude that these pads are definitely a worthwhile investment for weekend track days.

Since brake performance is heavily dependent on driver skill, I will say that I am an Advanced Driver in CFRA (one of the more tenured clubs). I do not recommend these pads for anything more than weekend track days or autocross. Project Mu does have their higher end 'Club Sport' brake pads, which would be more appropriate.

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I know my post is not as long as other ratings, so please PM me if you have any additional questions!

Thank you for reading! :thumbup:

Nice review, thanks. I'm looking forward to getting mine installed.

So do you plan on leaving these pads on for street use or swapping to OEM pads or something else in between track weekends? How is the noise on the street when cold? I'm hoping to run these pads year round.

Noise is something I forgot to mention! They are completely quiet on the street, although I have had race pads stay quiet for the first few hundred miles and become louder as time went on. I don't foresee these getting any louder though.

I will leave these on my car for the street as well. :)

I've heard great things about these. Only downside I've heard of is high price and very low pad life, I'm interested to see what your long term results are.

PM us for a price. HC+800 are priced very reasonably, and are more affordable than most people think. We also offer the Club Racers, and are the only US based FR-S/BRZ vendor to work with Project Mu directly and import the 999 (their high-end race pad).

awesome review OP

Thank you for sharing your thoughts and photographs! I'm definitely going to grab a pair. I hope this works out for street use.

Just wanted to reach out to everyone that Speak Freaks, who I bought these pads from, just sent me a notice that they are offering a ft86club discount. 10% off by putting "FT86" in the coupon code field. Thought this may be useful to people! :)

I am not affiliated to them, just putting it out there!

@eauto is a forum sponsor here and they have a long running thread in the classifieds selling the HC+800s and other PMU pads for much less than Speed Freaks does even after their coupon codes.

How many miles have you put on them so far?

@ngabdala this sounds like a nice setup at reasonable price.

How is the pad material thickness? Mostly asking about the rears.

Same as OEM. (~9mm iirc)

Here is the picture of the stock/HC800s.

These pads are excellent for street driving and Autox.
If you track day and are not out trying to set lap records they will hold up well for about 5-8 laps depending on the track.

Mine faded out at Gingerman after 5 laps with OEM rotors. But that's because we had a 105-50 brake zone followed by a 90-45 zone, just never cooled off enough.

(Got mine from Mike at CounterSpace, because he actually tracks the car ever weekend which most speed shops do not)