Hawk Performance Ceramic Pads? Anybody try them...?

[AZP Installs]

Originally Posted by ubersoph

Personal experience - they squeal a little bit, dust like hell, but they are consistent.

They are on par with the noise of hawk HPS. Aka slight noise but nothing major at all. Dusting is also on par with hawk HPS. If you think the stop techs dust try a set of HP+ out!

Mike

[DarkSunrise]

My Stoptechs made zero noise when I first bedded them in and ran them at the track. I've done 300 miles of street driving after that, and I can hear them occasionally make a slight noise when rolling to a stop. Very street friendly in my experience.

[FR-S Matt]

I have Hawk's Ceramic Pads in my living room currently. I'll be installing them with Goodridge SS lines and a Motul DOT 5.1 fluid swap. I'll let you know the results. My car is a DD, with some spirited driving, so I figure it keeps my RPF1's in SBC cleaner, and they will perform well for non track.

[ZDan]

Originally Posted by AZP Installs

For street and track use which is 90% of our customer base, we've done a lot of testing of pads on track and on the street in the past 10+ years. Here is our recommendations based on use and cost...
Hawk Ceramics- Good for soccer moms who don't want noise or dust. Good OEM replacement. Cost is a bit higher than the ST ones though.
Hawk HPS- Good upgrade to stock or as a stock replacement, good enough for a HPDE Level 1. Low dust, low noise.

I have to say, my one experience with the Hawk HPS pads is that they are barely acceptable on the street (inferior to OEM S2000 pads), and *dangerous* at the track, for anyone.
I installed them the day before a track event (bled brakes w/ DOT4 as well). The pedal felt softer to the extent that I re-bled the brakes before driving the car. No improvement... On the road, I noticed a loss of coefficient of friction vs. OEM. I suspected this might actually be a good sign, maybe they need some heat in them "because race(ish) pad". Next day at the track, after about a lap out the pedal would begin sinking to the floor under braking, and I would have to actually downshift super-early and rely somewhat on engine braking to get the car slowed! I came in and bled brakes *again* with fresh DOT4. Next time out, same thing. Holy crap! It was barely manageable, I cut my session short. 3rd session, same thing, and after that I swapped the OEM pads back in. By then the HPS's were 85% GONE anyway. And whaddya know, with OEM pads I got my brakes back! The OEM Honda pads are NOT good track pads, but they were INFINITELY better than the HPS.

Either the HPSs I got were a "bad batch", or the HPS pad material just sucks. Either way, I STRONGLY recommend people to stay far far away from these pads.

I'm pretty easy on brakes, btw. I can easily get through a 2-day event on OEM pads taking it easy in the braking zones, and have no problems with HP+ pads on either the S2000 or 240Z on R-comp tires, without taking it easy on brakes.

[AZP Installs]

Originally Posted by ZDan

I have to say, my one experience with the Hawk HPS pads is that they are barely acceptable on the street (inferior to OEM S2000 pads), and *dangerous* at the track, for anyone.
I installed them the day before a track event (bled brakes w/ DOT4 as well). The pedal felt softer to the extent that I re-bled the brakes before driving the car. No improvement... On the road, I noticed a loss of coefficient of friction vs. OEM. I suspected this might actually be a good sign, maybe they need some heat in them "because race(ish) pad". Next day at the track, after about a lap out the pedal would begin sinking to the floor under braking, and I would have to actually downshift super-early and rely somewhat on engine braking to get the car slowed! I came in and bled brakes *again* with fresh DOT4. Next time out, same thing. Holy crap! It was barely manageable, I cut my session short. 3rd session, same thing, and after that I swapped the OEM pads back in. By then the HPS's were 85% GONE anyway. And whaddya know, with OEM pads I got my brakes back! The OEM Honda pads are NOT good track pads, but they were INFINITELY better than the HPS.

Either the HPSs I got were a "bad batch", or the HPS pad material just sucks. Either way, I STRONGLY recommend people to stay far far away from these pads.

I'm pretty easy on brakes, btw. I can easily get through a 2-day event on OEM pads taking it easy in the braking zones, and have no problems with HP+ pads on either the S2000 or 240Z on R-comp tires, without taking it easy on brakes.

I can't speak to your situation since we don't deal with s2000s very often. However our sample size of hawk HPS on subarus spans almost 12 years and we have installed easily 1000 sets of hawk HPS over that time period. Of which about 10-20% of our customers go to the track as beginners. That is where our feedback comes from.

My guess is that either you are faster than you think or you got a bad batch of pads or they are not a good combo on the s2000.

Mike

[ZDan]

Originally Posted by AZP Installs

My guess is that either you are faster than you think or you got a bad batch of pads or they are not a good combo on the s2000.

I never said I wasn't fast. "Fast" does not equate to "hard on brakes", nor does "slow" equate with "easy on brakes". Drivers turning the same lap times in the same car can be very different on brakes, even at the highest levels of motorsport.

I am somewhat fast, and I'm quite easy on brakes. I have instructed students who feel like they have to be either 100% off the brakes or 100% on them, and in my limited experience, this is usually not the most efficient or repeatable way around most tracks...

I don't think it could be a case of not being a good combo on the S2000. Whatever pad you use, it's that pad material against cast iron. Specific car shouldn't matter, relatively. If a car's brakes are undersized, that would be a factor whatever pad you use. I'm able to "get by" with OEM S2000 pads, but the HPS's were utterly unusable no matter how easy I tried to take it on them.

Perhaps it was a "bad batch", but even so, reason enough to stay away...

I've always had good results with the HP+, though, despite it having a lower temperature range than most real track pads.

[ubersoph]

Originally Posted by AZP Installs

They are on par with the noise of hawk HPS. Aka slight noise but nothing major at all. Dusting is also on par with hawk HPS. If you think the stop techs dust try a set of HP+ out!

Mike

Oh they are definitely streetable, but stock doesn't squeal. Not really complaining hugely, I still run them on my BRZ.

Also they do fine for about 10 minutes on a lapping day before they start fading much.

[FT-86 SpeedFactory]

Ferodo DS2500 a great pad for your use. Way better than the Hawks.

We've run these on light track days with very good success.

http://ft86speedfactory.com/ferodo-d...front-767.html

[007BRZ]

I am not a soccer MOM! I ran Hawk Ceramics from 2250 miles on the car to over 60K and definitely stopped better that the OEM. At 60K half the Pads and the rotors were perfectly worn. Had a major emergency stop twice and don't believe my OEM pads would have prevented an accident. Now have Hawk Ceramics on my 2017 Yellow BRZ and they do make a big difference with the 4 piston Brembos in the fronts and bake 2X.