brake pad choice..

[Lloyd_]

Re: brake pad choice..

So then the question is, why bother changing them at all? Why not run 'track pads' all the time? Certain pads (eg. Hawk Blues) are extremely hard on rotors when they are cold, but for the majority of pads, that doesn't seem to be an issue. Are we all that scared of some squeal and dust (or slightly worse than normal braking when cold?)

I think most race pads are supposed to destroy the pad or rotor or both at low temperatures, which makes sense. Plus race pads are expensive.

But it is a fair point. I have had DTC-30s on the rear of the car since the start of the 2013 season...

[ONdriver]

Re: brake pad choice..

Squealing and brake dust are the reason I do the Friday/Monday brake switchover along with the tires. Also a good time to do the exhaustive tech inspection which we all do before heading to the track... right!

[Tunermax]

Re: brake pad choice..

you run rs3's, why would you swap tires at the track?

day before swap brakes and tires, day after put it all back to your street setup. You will never get any measurable wear driving to and from the track on a tire like that

even if you were on rcomps I would drive to and from the track, only thing you shouldn't do that with would be 2 groove slicks.

only time I have ever swapped rs3's at the track was to take them off to put on hoosiers lol

Thanks for the insight! I drive my car everyday, long road trips, many of them to/from race events, which can be 2-3 hours away (one way).
I have no interest in accelerating the wear on my race tires, even though they are 'only RS3's', I"m going to milk these for as long as I can. No money for more tires.

I also literally cannot stand squealing breaks, so driving around on HP+ is simply not an option for me at all, even if it was only a 1hr drive to an event lol!

I'm picky.

[KLZEMX6]

Re: brake pad choice..

Thanks for the insight! I drive my car everyday, long road trips, many of them to/from race events, which can be 2-3 hours away (one way).
I have no interest in accelerating the wear on my race tires, even though they are 'only RS3's', I"m going to milk these for as long as I can. No money for more tires.

I also literally cannot stand squealing breaks, so driving around on HP+ is simply not an option for me at all, even if it was only a 1hr drive to an event lol!

I'm picky.

They are not going to wear on the 401. I bet you'd get less wear driving to shannonville and back then a half a lap going around the track.

And I dont think your hp plus will be squeeling when you're driving down the highwayy

[iamthewheelman]

Re: brake pad choice..

They are not going to wear on the 401. I bet you'd get less wear driving to shannonville and back then a half a lap going around the track.

And I dont think your hp plus will be squeeling when you're driving down the highwayy

You put HP+ in your old ITR right? Cause I still have them in here and they dont really make any noise, only a few peeps here and there. Even on my Civic I found that after a track day or two they didn't make any noise on the street at all. Same with my E30.

I am reasonably heavy on brakes and never had an issue with the HP+ on my other two cars, I dont think I will with this one. They are quite on the street so far, but obviously track performance has yet to be determined. Only issue is dusting, which they do quite alot, but I think brake dust looks cool....

[KLZEMX6]

Re: brake pad choice..

You put HP+ in your old ITR right? Cause I still have them in here and they dont really make any noise, only a few peeps here and there. Even on my Civic I found that after a track day or two they didn't make any noise on the street at all. Same with my E30.

I am reasonably heavy on brakes and never had an issue with the HP+ on my other two cars, I dont think I will with this one. They are quite on the street so far, but obviously track performance has yet to be determined. Only issue is dusting, which they do quite alot, but I think brake dust looks cool....

You bet that's what's on there, I never really understood it either, they always seem reasonable to me

[wparsons]

Re: brake pad choice..

It might have something to do with his caliper setup too... I know of a couple guys in the US with the same pads (Ferodo DS2500) that I have, but in an Essex BBK (so different pads, but same compound) and they squeal like CRAZY. Mine are all but silent, the odd very tiny squeal when totally cold, but no more noise than the OEM brakes on my wife's Camry make in the same conditions.

It's not just the calipers, because the same guys have found other pads (less aggressive for sure) that run silently, it also doesn't seem to be related to bedding them in because mine were silent on the very first stops before bedding them in, and the noisy ones have tried bedding tons of times with no help at all.

[Tunermax]

Re: brake pad choice..

As mentioned I have non floating calipers and yeah they squeal bad.
The only way to stop the squeal is to brake very hard, that will give me a few regular stops before they start squealing again. Then I need to do a hard stop again to put some heat in the pads

The good part though is to change pads I just pull two pins with pliers and slide the pads in/out. So changing from the non squealing OE pads to the HP+ is a cake walk. It takes longer to change a single tire lol

[Lloyd_]

Re: brake pad choice..

If you're going to change them anyway, try something else. The HP+ is great, but it is a street pad not a track pad.

[10gt61]

Re: brake pad choice..

If you're going to change them anyway, try something else. The HP+ is great, but it is a street pad not a track pad.

Lloyd, I believe you know your stuff, but curious as to why you say HP Plus is not a track pad? Or do you mean not a "track only" pad. Hawk website says HP Plus is ideal for autocross and track days, with high level of friction to produce "race level" braking.

[Tunermax]

Re: brake pad choice..

If you're going to change them anyway, try something else. The HP+ is great, but it is a street pad not a track pad.

A couple guys mentioned this to me last year! I took the advice of a fellow racer on the HP+ but they might have thought I'd be using them on the street also.
What would you recommend I switch up to?
Keeping in mind that I'm on RS3's that I don't want to turn into octagons

[wparsons]

Re: brake pad choice..

You have ABS, you won't flat spot a tire... and I'm sure that you can lock up the HP+ anyway.

HP+ is fine for a couple hot laps, but if you want something that'll take longer sessions you'll want a more track oriented pad.

IMO, wait till the HP+ are toast (unless you have a buyer for them) and try something more aggressive next year. I imagine that if you run the full season of OTA events plus AutoX you'll be needing new pads by then anyway.

[haikara2308]

Re: brake pad choice..

A couple guys mentioned this to me last year! I took the advice of a fellow racer on the HP+ but they might have thought I'd be using them on the street also.
What would you recommend I switch up to?
Keeping in mind that I'm on RS3's that I don't want to turn into octagons

Matt, you should look at DTC60 or HT10 if you plan to still run Hawk pads, your RS3s will be fine with them lol. I was going to run either one of those this year but because of my budget I had to cheap out and get the hp+ instead. The DTC60s may need too much heat though to work for autocross, something to keep in mind.

[nissannx]

Re: brake pad choice..

I use Carbotech AX6s on my RX8 daily driver with R1Rs (BTW, the R1Rs did okay in Monday's snow!) and no issues with noise. They're a good autocross pad.
Carbotech XP8s have more bite and a bit of dust - not really noisy.
XP10s and XP12s - not recommended for street use - they're dusty. They squeal. Brake power is great cold and better hot. And they're dirty too. I've used these with R1Rs, RS3s, G-force Rivals, RA1s, and R6s. I liked them with all combinations.

[Lloyd_]

Re: brake pad choice..

Lloyd, I believe you know your stuff, but curious as to why you say HP Plus is not a track pad? Or do you mean not a "track only" pad. Hawk website says HP Plus is ideal for autocross and track days, with high level of friction to produce "race level" braking.

I remember their language as being a bit softer in the past. It is a great pad but it will be marginal on a high power car even for just 3 laps.

It's not a bad choice if it is consistent enough for the driver - although the wear will be fast when they start getting hot they are massively easier on rotors and cheaper than "race" pads.