Hawk pads suck!!!... I've had the same for a while now and they are really noisy - the dust sucks and they are just not as good as others (stopping power)

 

There are many different kinds of Hawk pads, some of them are very good.

- Andrew

 

I'd say for the price the HP+ pads are decent but by no means a great pad. Initial bite is horrible for a guy who tracks the car, if you don't believe me go try out a set of carbotechs you will never want to run HP+'s again. Now for the noise omfg these pads drive me insane. I've had them on for 2 track events, bedded them several times, installed on brand new rotors.. they never shut up for more then a day. They are so loud I honest to god fear getting pulled over and ticked for loud brakes. Every where I go people stare any time I push the brake pedal down. Absolutely positive my neighbors hate me to death.

 

I know all too well exactly how you feel!

 

How is the stopping power compared to the factory pads in DD situations? If i wanted to DD the ceramics and run a race pad would i need a seperate set of rotors?

 

Nah, should be able to run both on the rotor. The first few stops on the race pad should clear off any old pad materials.

 

^ word.

- drew

 

I've got the Hawk HPS's and they were terrifyingly loud for the first few months! I'm talking scary loud. I get home late and I too am sure that my neighbors hated the !@@$ out of me. So here's the weird thing: it's been about 3 months and now they're getting quiet. Pretty close to the noise level of my OEM Brembo pads were. The HPS's feel fine to me, good brake feel and good stopping power, but I would not get them again because of the awful noise. it's Ferodo's for me next time.

 

I took my EVOVIII RS out today at PIR for a track day. I had replaced my HPS with HP+ in anticpation of needing better brakes and I am realy glad I did. I already have R1 concept rotors, dot5 fluid and stainless lines. I got in 5 sessions of 4-5 laps each and the brakes were really hot after each session but they showed no signs of fade while driving. Ferro-carbon is the way to go on the track.

I agree with the other posts that the HP+ is not a track pad, but it is one of the few that you can drive to and from the track and still have enough braking for serious driving in limited quantities. If I were going to get more laps than 4-5 at a time, I would question the HP+ but they are as good as you can get for some street and some track type driving. They generate enough heat to stress your entire braking system.

If anyone is going to take their EVO to the track that isn't already properly prepped, I would strongly recommend high temp DOT4 or better brake fluid to cope with the heat as well as stainless lines for some security/peace of mind. The heat from the pads turned the red paint on the stock calipers very dark. That kind of heat is too much for DOT3 fluid or rubber lines. Regardless of pad choice, plan on replacing pads and rotors quite often if you want to take your car out for track days. These parts get used up very fast

 

it might be that you need the rotors resurfaced, my old pads barely put some wear on my rotors, then i switched to the hawks and they were noisy *** ****. After having the rotors resurfaced the noise was gone.