I've had my Hawk HPS pads now for about a year and a half now. They have always sucked. Around town they feel mushy, around mountains they fade quickly. They are worse than OEM! WTF??? anybody else had the same problem? What can I upgrade to for just some occasional spirited driving that won't lead me off a cliff bc I can't brake in time?

 

Why did you switch away from OEM? They are great street pads.

 

And why did you put up with the poor performance for a year and a half?

 

Guys... i think he is asking for another option besides OEM. For mostly street use, and occasional track. I was always under the impression that Hawk HPS were OK pads, but dusted like crazy.

so whats a better option than OEM? Pad must fit in OEM calipers.

 

But why?

I know this is the "mods" forum, but does that mean we can't discuss changes from OEM that you shouldn't make?

Too many people seem to feel like they have to mess with the brakes for some reason. If somebody has a particular issue with the OEM pads, feel free to raise it and discuss alternatives. But these generic requests of "looking for better performance" are just ignorant.

There are at least half a dozen different aspects of brake pad performance, and many of them are incompatible with each other. The S2000 OEM pads are a very good blend of those aspects that works well for street use. AP1 formula is perhaps a little better for street-only, and AP2 formula is a little better for slightly higher temperatures (like track use by novices) but comes at a price of more dust.

Dust.
Noise.
Rotor wear.
Max and min useful operating temps.
Cf Linearity across the operating temp range.
Peak Cf.
Cost.
Availability.
Longevity.

Before asking for pad recommendations (and especially before switching), you have to identify which of those factors you are having trouble with now and which you are willing to give up on.

 

I don't care about dust, I have a black car with black wheels and clean it constantly anyways. There is this one mountain that we always do runs on, with the oem pads, they faded quickly and got mushy as well and you could just smell them cooking. With the Hawks, you don't really smell much but they still fade very quickly. Now all I'm asking about is what do people recommend? I've heard things about Carbotech, Axxis, Endless, etc and was just wondering what people have experience with OTHER than OEM, bc obviously that's what I started with lol. Or could it be a completely different problem. Fluid maybe? I don't really know that's why I'm asking. Like I said before, spirited driving here and there but mainly just bumming to and from work.

 

because I didn't do too too much hard driving and when I did I just took it easy to be on the safe side.

 

You need to compromise somewhere. What is important and what is not. Check HERE for some good information

 

I have lots of experience with Panther+ pads. If you really don't care about dust (and don't mind noise, including possibly a 1/rev squeeking noise that you hear constantly from the rear wheels as you drive), then P+ is a great light track duty and street use compromise.

Personally the squeeky noise drove me crazy on the street, and I swapped out pads between track event in order to avoid it. (Dust would have been intolerable if I cared, but I don't even wash my car more than once a year.)

I have a Cobalt XR2/XR5 setup on the car right now, but that's a totally track-only option.

(It's also my opinion that if you are fading the OEMs on public streets, you are driving like a reckless fool. But I'm separating my opinion from my advice on pads because I recognize that you didn't ask for it.)

 

I don't mind opinions at all, that's why I even asked the question ya know. Like I said, I don't mind dust, but I do mind squeeking so you have a good point there. I can tell you, along with anybody that knows me, that I don't drive like a moron. Where they fade is doing spirited driving in a group of S2000's on a road not near as hardcore as the Tail of the Dragon. After a few braking points on the downhill side, my pads were fading bad with the OEM ones, and unfortunately the Hawk's haven't helped remedy that much either.