Rotors basically have 76K miles on them and they are still good. The car has seen a lot of highway driving. I am replacing all 4.

 

I have a set of HPS pads that I run on the street. They stop the car fine during hard stops, but I figure the lack of initial bite is a trade off for low dust. My favorite thing about these pads is the price: $55 for a front axle set in my TSW BBK. =)

Initial bite is pretty bad, and while most people prefer an on/off brake pedal, I don't mind the soft bite.

 

your rotors will have a lip. A big one. But as I think about it, you unbolt the caliper and then slide it off with the pads sitting there, so you don't pull them past the lip. I usually just pry at the front ones a bit w/ a large screwdriver to loosen up the fit as I take it apart. With only 1K miles, the caliper piston is probably most of the way retracted anyway IF the rotors were new. On the rears, likely the same but if you have to move them, they need to be turned in--not just a simple push the piston in set up like the front. But, it changes w/ worn rotors since that wear has to be made up for in the caliper piston position when you put the new pads and rotors on.

Net, if you are replacing rotors and they are well worn, expect even w/ only 1K miles on the pads, you will need to push the caliper pistons in some. C clamp in front works, but for rear a tool is preferred. If you are leaving rotors as they stand, likely can get by.

 

Thanks MP1.6T!

 

FWIW, I just used a pair of needle nose pliers as my 'special tool' to turn and push the rear calipers. With new rotors you'll definitely need to retract the calipers some.

 

FWIW I've had the same $6 Autozone caliper tool for like 12 years now, and it still works great for fronts. I too use needlenose on the rears.

I put my new (rockauto) rotors on last weekend. I burned up a sheet of 90 grit sandpaper making sure the rotors have brand new unglazed pad surface to mate with. I did a few hardish applications from freeway speed to try and settle them in.

So far, not much of a difference. 1st stop is still very iffy, even after that they feel like they need too much pressure / travel to get the deceleration I want. They work, just not as well as I'd like. I have a higher speed autocross coming up and I really hope they don't fade on me again.

 

HPS pads? I'd burnish in this fashion. Stopping 1-10 10 being threshold braking.

5 stops from 25mph down to 10mph 5/10

5 stops from 35mph down to 15mph 7/10
This step should make smoke and smell bad.

5 stops from 50mph down to 20mph brake power 9-10 This step will make the pads grease out and fade. Fade is what you want at this step.

20 minutes cool down, then easy on them for 200 miles as the transfer film builds up. You won't have the feel your looking for until the transfer film is complete and even.

Hawk has you doing each step 3 times (on the box), I personally do each step 5 times.

I hope this helps

 

Well, with the new rotors and two of the above cycles (not quite the three recommended) it's obvious that the pads are still not fully bedded. You can tell from the witness marks.

They held up at the fast autocross yesterday reasonably, but didn't give me the confidence I need to drive the way I like just yet. They do seem to be getting better, with the new rotors making the single biggest difference.

I guess I'll spend yet more time trying to bed these things in before I make a final decision.

 

If you interested in an AutoX pad try the Carbotech AX6. Great cold bite and good modulation.

 

Wll Im very glad I found this post. I was going to be ordering a set of HPS pads along with slotted rotors, not now though.

I will be sticking with my initial choice of EBC Red Stuff and SP Performance slotted rotors.

 

Hawk HPS pads are absolute crap.

I was so angry with their unacceptable performance that I shipped them back to the distributor that I bought them from, just so they had to pay someone to open and throw them away. I got no refund of course cause they were used.

I paid both a dealer and an indy shop to bleed, bed ect, and they never got any better. This was on my allroad fwiw, over $300 for the pads front and rear.

The funny thing is they had the EXACT same symptoms that are being described in this thread. Hawk will never see a penny of my money, and I will be posting negative reviews of their products till then end of time.

 

Just got done installing the pads a few days ago. I had to compress the pistons more than I expected given the low miles on the Hawks, siphoned some brake fluid out, went for a spin and I definitely got my old car back! The pedal feels awesome, the pads bite so firm it's as if they don't even need pad-in. Press the brake pedal ever so slightly with more force than just resting on it and the ABS protests. It took more force on the Hawks to do this. The rear pads were stamped Ate, the front BMW (actually every single brake pard read BMW). I checked the part #s and yes these are OEM. The Hawks don't look one bit glazed to me. What do glazed pads look and feel like? I also verified that the Hawks were installed properly. I really don't know what to say. The HPS feel better on the Subaru but that ain't saying much.

 

Hi MP1.6T. what's your recommendation on break pads? Thanks.

 

I also will not be using Hawk HPS anymore. I used them on my BBK for a couple summers and I always felt they didn't grab as hard as they should. This was with a good break in procedure on an empty highway at 5AM on a Sunday too. The low-dust was fantastic but I got rid of them for Ferodo 2500s. They do dust a bit more but the increased performance is worth it. I don't think they're available for stock R56 calipers, but they beat the HPS pads by a long shot in my experience.

 

I'm running the Hawk pads on my 06 JCW convertible on JCW drilled and slotted rotors. BR Racing installed everything and bedded the pads in correctly. I, too, was suprised at how much more pedal effort it took to get the car to stop. It seemed that they just weren't gripping very well. And it stayed that way for quite a few miles. But gradually, they seemed to improve and now I'm quite happy with them. I have a feeling that they're a little more track oriented than they should be for street use. But I still question whether I'd use them again on the street.

 

They're an OK street pad, but that's just it... "OK" and not an improvement over OEM. They really need to hit the drawing board again with the HPS pad formula.