Anyone have any experience with any of the two? I did a search on comparison of the two but nothing came up. I just bought new M7 rotors for all four corners and I need awesome pads.

I want better stopping power than stock. I dont care about dust. Thank you people in advance!!!!

 

Hawk ceramic stop just about like stock. Low dust but only about the same stopping power.
I have read HPS have better stopping power than stock.

 

Do the Hawks have accomodations for the OEM wear sensors?

 

No the HPS do not. Not that that bothers me, but I use the HPS and find they much cleaner than stock and excellent stopping power.

 

I was told HPS are better performers than the Ceramics, but more dust...still not like stock though. Currently running the Ceramics and love the low dust. Am very pleased with pedal feel, etc.

TJM

 

BTW, the Ceramics did have a slot for the sensor in the front, but not the rear. Strange.

 

I'll 'ditto' the answers given above.

Hawk HPS stop much better than stock (esp. when hot) and dust less. I got 25,000 miles on my front pads before I installed a BBK in the front with different pads. I'm still running the Hawk HPS rear pads (27,000 miles now) and still have a good bit of pad left.

The HPS are supposed to be a bit grippier but a bit more dusty than the Ceramics from what I've heard/read. I haven't tried them both.

 

I'm about 18,000 miles into Hawk Ceramics. VERY low dust, and very easy to keep wheels clean. I THINK the bite is a little better than stock, but not much difference (I did NOT have a lot of experience with the stock pads first.) I've heard the HPS bite is a bit better also. I've had NO fade with the ceramics, on hard twisty driving in the mountains. Always predictable and solid.

 

From my experience:
Ceramics are a nice street pad, feels to bite just a little less than stock, but still stops the car nicely with next to no dust and very quiet. Very easy to overheat if you get too excited, I have experienced brake fade with these pads even during autox, don't even think about these for track days.

HPS is a step up from ceramics, more bite, just a bit of dust but not bad, less than stock, and not much in the way of noise.

If you don't care about dust and don't mind some noise in exchange for awesome street stopping power, then use the HP+. Stops amazing on the street, works great for autox, and can hold up for mild track day use (still not a true track pad though...).


Jason

 

Jason, what are you running for track pads & rotors. I like the Hawk Ceramics, but a track pad they're not.

 

I have the Hawk HPS and like them a lot. No, they do not have the sensors, and they do dust some, but it isn't terrible, and besides, noise is practically non-existent. I like them as they are a very dependable street pad and I also have had good luck with them on the track with no fading issues, although you CAN smell them as a result of hard braking. I'll get them again.

 

Jason, I would like to know what you are running as a track pad, too. At the flat-out day at BeaveRun, I did experience a little fade near the end of the second session. The last session was shorter, I did not have a problem. I'm currently running stock pads and rotors. Also, Steve M. is running EBC reds.

I currently remove my brake dust shields and change the stock cat-back exhaust to my homemade race exhaust before track days. I guess I could add changing out front brake pads too, if necessary.

Any comments on performance/race brake pads are welcome.

 

Colin, I'm contemplating changing pads & rotors before track events. A bit more work, but worth it for the extra braking & safety provided. Now to find out what that setup should be. My 15" holies need to clear them.

 

If you want to go to a track-day only pad, I'd call the guys at TSW. They have a range of Porterfield pads for the '06 and earlier (they were sending a set of R56 pads to Porterfield this week for mock-up) for various purposes.

 

My track/autox setup is TSW Rotors all around (stock size) with Hawk HP+ pads.

For autox use, this setup works very well.

With hot R-compound tires on a track day, I am able to fade these pads after 4 or 5 good laps without traffic in my way, but they have amazing bite up until that point. I'm considering going to a true track pad for next year (HT-10 possibly, I have good experiences with Hawk products here). I did manage to crack one of the TSW rotors at Beaverun the other weekend, I'm currently waiting for TSW to respond to my email, my guess is that it was an isolated incident, the other three rotors are holding up great on my car.

My street setup is the Hawk Ceramics on the same rotors as the track. They don't have the same bite, but they work just fine for me, they even worked well for spirited Dragon runs as long as I was mindful of my brakes.

Colin: I haven't played with removing the dust shields, does that make an improvement in brake cooling for you?

Jason

 

Thanks for the info Jason.

Glad to know you don't have problems with the Hawk Ceramics on the TSW rotors.

 

Not to go off topic, but the "homemade race exhaust" caught my eye. Is there a post on this or somewhere I can read/see what you've done?

 

I don't have the specifics of Colin's exhaust, but I will tell you that it sounds so nice out on the track!!! I love it!

 

tangential question:

I need to replace my rear rotors. I replaced my rear pads last year with EBC Greenstuff. Can I re-use the pads on new OEM replacement rotors? or do I need new pads?

 

cut the glaze on the pads with garnett paper - then rebed on new rotors.

Alex

 

thanks Alex!