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Can't speak for the StopTech, but the Hawk HP Plus are pretty good and grabby, but they are also dusty and noisy. I had them on all 4 corners and removed the rear ones to prevent myself from going insane, then put stock ones in the back instead. My car is stored during winter, so I don't drive year round on them, but the squealing when braking can get annoying (like slowing down to a stop). Yes, I did the bedding procedure and they refuse to be quiet.
I do have stainless brake lines, brake caliper bushing kit, Motul RBF600 brake fluid and a home-made front brakes cooling kit (Sneed Speed brackets and the rest is custom), but I'm pretty happy with the braking. I can corner a lot faster and know that I can stop pretty quickly.
We have a guide that lists the details for Stoptech, Hawk and PFC01, though the latter two or geared more towards race applications. There are also links to appropriate brake fluids and brake sensors.
in d-stock/street you cannot change to big brakes so I'm stuck with what it has until I can find a 2006 factory JCW then I will switch to that car I already ordered the hawk hp plus a few days ago and installed them yesterday I hope these are grippy enough for me to be happy
Thanks for the update and great photos. Please let us know how your season progresses. There are many others who can benefit from your experience with autocrossing and maintaining/upgrading your R53, so please keep posting here.
Glad you went with the Hawk, please post what you think. For anyone looking at this in the future here are my thoughts:
I had stoptech street pads on my old Subaru WRX. They were good (nice bite and easy to modulate) for the first 6-8000 miles but then the performance faded. They still worked well but lost the quick initial bite I had liked. I also had to rebed them every few months because the front pads would leave deposits on the rotors causing terrible shake under braking. I autox'd that car and by the end of a weekend the deposits/shake would vibrate the whole car even under light braking. I would not buy them again. On my R53 Mini I had OEM Textar, EBC red, EBC yellow, and cheap ceramic pads. I had the EBC reds paired with a set of EBC slotted/drilled rotors and HATED them. They felt mushy, and lacked a quick initial bite. They were no better than the auto store brand brakes, but were 3x the price and dusted horribly. I upgraded to a set of EBC Yellows with the same EBC rotors and they were better. I had no issues with cold stops, even in sub-zero temperatures. EBC claims on their website that the Yellows are only for endurance racing, but in my opinion that is overselling the pad. They do dust the wheels more than any other pad I have ever used. Braking performance was pretty good. They were also loud when coming to a stop from >40 mph and squeaked all the time.
Finally I went to a set of OEM pads with zimmerman solid rotors and am pretty happy. The performance is very close to the EBC Yellows but they are silent and they don't groan coming to a stop from high speed. I autox on street tires, so the stock brakes are usually not the weak point. On a fast track, they might have fade issues. I think the groaning was caused by the slotted rotor. Vendors seem to push EBC products, but I have had terrible experiences and will probably not buy anything they make again.
I also hear good things about Pagid pads, but have never had a set.
I had the Hawk HP+ on my Miata. Awesome pads, at least for me. I'm installing front and rear Hawk HP+'s on the Mini, along with brass caliper guide pin bushings and braided brake lines.
Yes they are loud and yes they are noisy.
I for one LOVE the noise, because it reminds me that I didn't compromise stopping ability for noise and brake dust reduction. The last thing on my mind during a panic stop is how much I'm getting my wheels dirty or brake noise. I just want to stop.
In the name of love.
That's my opinion on these pads. But I personally have a very high NVH threshold, actually preferring a more "rugged and connected" driving experience. (going to install upper poly engine mounts to go with my BSH lower mount soon. yaaay)
I have Stoptech street performance pads and Stoptech rotors on my E46, they were great new but now they are warped and lost their initial bite. But don't worry, they are quiet. Except for the shuddering under braking. Going to try cool carbon pads on the E46.
Well I have always used EBC Yellowstuff on all my track cars. Haven't had a problem like willgar. I was thinking of giving CarboTech a shot, but there price is about 2 times that of the Yellowstuff and i highly doubt i will get 2 time better performance when compared to Yellowstuff.
There are mixed feelings when it comes to TI Shims, but I'm a believer, what a difference it made last time on track. I was able to brake harder without getting that brake fade (not cool when your trying to stop thank god for run offs). It dropped about 50-60f from the brake fluid when i measured it. It was night and day was able to do all 5 session with out feeling like i had to brake sooner because it was going to overheat the brakes.
The YellowStuff are noisy at time, but like ONEBUNCHMIN said the important thing to me is stopping. All the dust a noise is like 3rd or 4th 5th down the list of importance when it comes to stopping/Braking a car (this is a dedicated track car for me. I will be driving to track events but for the most part just for track). If you are planning on using on the street as well the YellowStuff do a good job at this even in cold weather. You will have some noise here and there and dust. Did i forget to mention DUST.
Currently I'm working on making my own brake duct. The crazy prices people ask for them is ridiculous, but then again everything price wise for cars is LOL. The more cooling the brakes get the better.
04-25-2016, 06:17 PM
