Time to upgrade the pads for agressive street driving so the priotities are -
1) stopping enhancement.
2) brake dust (who wouldn't want a little less).

I am particularly interested in getting feedback on - PBR Ceramics (Axxis).

For non-ceramic pads is the hawk HPS still "THE" pad for the mini?

 

I have Hawk Ceramics and they are fantastic

 

What are the advantages of ceramic pads, and Hawk specifically?

 

I've got Hawk ceramic's on my MINI. One advantage is very low dust & what dust I do get is a light color. I've gone to one track day with them & they held up very well. Although track days aren't their strong point.

 

+1
Hawk ceramics stop about the same as stock but almost no dust.

 

I am also interested in these pads.
I want a set of ceramics that stop better than stock.
What would they be?

 

I'm not sure you will find ceramics that stop better than stock.
It seems to get better stopping you will need a more agressive pad, which may dust less than stock but more than ceramic.

The Hawks are great, just not a big change. If you are doing mostly street driving the Hawk ceramics are a good choice.

 

I had PRB Ceramic on my Audi Allroad. They were wonderful when combined with zimmerman rotors that were drilled, slotted, and cadmium plated. Minimal fade, low dust, no noise.

I am going ceramic for my next set of pads on the MINI. Does PRB make a set for the MINI? Where to order them from?

 

PBR / Axxis can be purchased at Minspeed.net (aka mymini) for one.

 

I'm under the impression that ceramics are a good bump up better than stock - i.e. agreesive street. Dust is less important to me than getting a good bump up in stopping power for street.

 

The Hawk ceramic may be some better than stock, I just don't want to over state the improvement.
In my experience if you are looking for a lot more stopping power, ceramics will not do that. The major advantage of ceramics is low dust.

For agressive stopping you need a pad designed for that, and often the comes with a little more dust.

 

your suggestion being ? w/out squealing and not MORE dust than stock (I have black rims)

 

Mine aren't ceramic, I recently bought the Hawk HPS pads & they do not have the initial bite that the stock pads do so I'm not all that happy with them

 

Wow - that's a bit odd. That's exactly opposite of other comments I've read on the HPS pads - which are supposed to be MORE aggressive than the Hawk ceramics which I have (and love)...

Did your pads get bedded in properly? Or maybe something else is suspect?

 

+1

It's been my experience that more aggressive bads need a bit of heat in them for ultimate bite. This may be what you are experiencing bamatt.

 

I looked at those, but their site did not state if they were front, rear, or both for the $115 price. I am assuming either front or rear. I was a bit tired when I looked, but could not see where they let you pick which set you want.

I want all 4.

 

I would still suggest Hawk Ceramic unless you are doing hard track days.
If you are, the still get the Hawk Ceramic and change pads for the track days. Track pads should be suited for the track. There really is no one-size fits all for track use.

 

That is kinda what I was thinking but to me needing warm up time isn't too good for street only driving & initial bite is what is going to keep me from hitting the car in front of me so I am not that impressed with the Hawk HPS.

 

I run the PBR ceramics on mine - not much difference on the street, but they hold up well on the track for HPDE

dust is dust, they all dust so the wheels have to be cleaned no matter what you put on there, but if you want a little more then stock performance, then go with the PBR - buy new rotors with that - for $40 a piece you cannot go wrong making that extra $80 purchase to get new components for each side of your braking system

 

I haven't used Hawk HPS pads, but have used track pads on the street. You don't always have time to warm them. Could be an exciting & expensive adventure. For street use I use street pads.

 

The HPS stands for High Performance Street so I thought they would have good initial bite for street driving but UGH you live & learn.

 

I am running the EBC Yellow Stuff. They recently changed the compound so there is less dust. they are ok for street and good for track. Only had them on for a couple hundred miles so I cant say how thry hold up But I am impressed with them from the start.

 

Never knew HPS meant High Performance Street. Learn something new everyday.

 

I haven't used the HPS on my MINI, but I've used them in the past on another vehicle. They should have a nice inprovement in initial bite over stock- you can definately tell a huge difference in performance once they are properly bed in. Out of the box prior to bedding in they definately are lacking. Same goes for the HP+.
For what its worth, I have just swaped over to Hawk Ceramics on my stock rotors for street use, the Hawk HP+ on TSW Rotors sure stopped nice (even cold) but my car is a daily driver- HP+'s make too much dust and noise for me, I'll save that setup for track days (and driving to and from). So far, the ceramics stop nice and I'm not missing the dust a bit!!!

Jason

 

Well MBE they will improve. I can hope at least I will say the HPS pads emit practically no dust at all. After 2 weeks & no washie my wheels look clean which is quite a shocker after having gotten used to the filthy-wheels-in-one day look of the OEM pads (well except for one of my wheels but I am having a caliper problem so it'd not the pad)