Brake Pad Question...

[Jedi1]

It's been awhile since I purchased auto cross oriented front pads. My last set were Hawk HP Plus. I've looked at the HP Plus and HPS. Would the HPS be the better street to autocross solution or would the HP Plus do the double duty thing just as well? Or, is there a better solution that I don't know of?

HELP!

[nicktcr]

The HP Plus might be a bit tough to get hot enough to have proper bite at an autocross, as they are geared for road racing more so...a more street friendly pad might be easier to get to a proper working temp at an autocross.

[JohnW8]

I run carbotechs now but last time I used Hawks I used HP+.

They dust quite a bit but are good for AutoX.

They work like an on off switch. So as a side effect you get really good at brake control

[Jedi1]

How are the Carbotechs at modulation? The Mini demands the ability to trail brake quite a bit. I don't remember the HP+ being that much of a light switch, but I had them on a 3400 pound car.

[TouringBubble]

HPS would likely be fine for the Mini. Most of the Evos run Ferodo DS2500s which are a great hybrid pad.

[ZX3Focus]

I love Hawk HPS for street/frequent autox/occasional track time. I haven't found that a low-power lightweight car like a Focus really needs much more pad than that.

[JohnW8]

How are the Carbotechs at modulation? The Mini demands the ability to trail brake quite a bit. I don't remember the HP+ being that much of a light switch, but I had them on a 3400 pound car.

The Carbotech are incredible. Great initial bite and can take a lot of heat. You want more brake push a bit harder. A bit pricey but they'll last for years on my car.

[claym]

I usually use different compounds front and back to help with brake proportioning (usually a stickier pad on back since most cars have a front brake bias). The Carbotechs are really dusty but the best autocross pad around (and for the price). I would use a HP+ for a minimum pad, and not a fan of the HPS...

[Jedi1]

thanks folks. All advice taken in and a decision shall be made today.

[Cholewa]

I ran the HPS's on the rabbit and they were meh. They did a great job of keeping up a strong bite after repeated hard stops (think threshold brake exercise in TDC, 4-5 times hot lapping) but they were crazy dusty and on the whole I didn't really see any notable improvement in stopping power from the stock pads.

[aufoxy]

If you haven't made your decision yet, I currently drive on HP+ pads daily, and I love them from autocross. Someone described it well when I saw in a review "retina-detaching stopping power"... but they dust a lot and, at least on my car, are incredibly noisy. I've decided I dont care if I can stop that fast. haha