The OEM pads that came with my Ap acing kit were 90% gone after one track day. Since they didn't work that well and were only a street pad I switched to Hawk HP+, these are much better.

They are a little noisy on the street but they don't dust as much as the Ferodo's that came with the kit.

Now that it's cold up here they don't work as well either unless used a couple of times. If you are crusing for a while they cool off and lose their effectivness again. You have to pay attention and brake early. I am think of buying a street compound for the winter.

Just wondering what you guys are/have run at the track and your opinion on them!?

 

I had the Hawk HP+ on my miata. I loved them for Daily driving and Autox but they were terrible on the track. they would fade like no other. A buddy of mine uses the Porterfeild R4S for street and track use on his maxima and he loves them. I had them on my miata but found they didn't build up enough heat with my light weight car to be very good on the street.

 

I have HP+ and I hate them for daily driving and autoX but I love them on a road course? Strange that we have 2 vastly differing opinions on the same pad.

 

With stock brake rotors and calipers:

Originally with Axxis/Stillen Metal Master's. Pretty good street performance, but the squeaked quite a bit- a rather noisy pad. Never tried them on the track. Pretty dusty- every 2 weeks, wheels are brown.

Currently Porterfield R4S. Excellent street performance, bite when cold is pretty good. Quiet pads too (or maybe I'm just getting better with shims), but they dust like crazy. 3 days on a bad week, 7 days on a good week, til the wheels are brown.

At Buttonwillow, I ran R4S's for 1 session, R4's for 3 sessions.

Nabil destroyed his R4S's over the day- still braked very well for him, but when the pads get that hot they never fully recover.

First session, R4S's were nice, but subsequent sessions on R4's were MUCH nicer. Much more braking power as temperatures went up. Definitely better for the track than R4S's.

IIRC, the other guys with track experience prefer Hawk Blue's (aka HT8?) for the track over Porterfield R4's, I think.

My next set of street pads may be Axxis Ultimates, the SE-R guys love 'em.

 

I won't buy any more Porterfield products, I've been disappointed with their quality. They were a very good street pad, but I've seen to many issues with them for anything else. One of my rear pads actually cracked in half.

For the track, the Carbo-Tech Panther + is what I prefer. I can get almost 600 track miles out of them and they don't fade at all.

 

i'm real happy wiht my porterfield r4s pads.. but they do dust alot.

 

I love the HP+ on the track no fade and they bite real hard. Don't love them on the street but I am willing to accept the trade off.

I have the Stillen/Axxis pads on the back and noticed they are strating to crumble. Do we have any other options for rear pads? I notcied that Hawk doesn't have rear pads for us.

 

I used Performance Friction Carbon Metallics at the track. They were pretty decent. Next time I am going to try the Performance Friction ceramic pads. A friend of mine who does a lot of road racing tells me that these pads are some of the best on the market.

 

For track use I fully expect that your Carbon Metallics are preferable to the Silent Ceramics. And I'm taking this from comparisons of various pad criteria right off Performance Friction's own literature for three of their pads.

Compared with the Carbon Metallics, the Silent Ceramic trades away stopping power, pad life, pedal feel, and fade resistance to get quieter operation and less dusting. Pulsation and rotor life are approximately equal.

You might want to try PF's Z Rated pads instead. These are claimed to be at least as good as the Carbon Metallics are in all the above categories and then some in several (better for quiet operation, pulsation, rotor life, and dusting). Sorry I don't have any part numbers for you - all I got was a 1-page flyer (courtesy of an undercar magazine subscription).

Norm

 

The Ceramics from my understanding are a step above the Carbon Metallics. I went with the CM's for a street pad because the Ceramics dust more and make noise. For track use I am going to try the Ceramics. The model number is 526C.

I am going to ask my friend about them to check. He said look at the box to see what compound it is when I asked him last time. He said the 01 compound is the one to look for if available.

 

The really good stuff from Performance Friction isn't available for the Max. Hawk or CarboTech are what you would need to really take it to the next level.

 

Yea thats what sucks. I wish PF came out with some of their real pads for our cars. I hear the Hawks are pretty decent from members on this board. Then again, my friend who does tons of road racing says that Hawks arent that good. How much are Carbotech's and where can I buy them??

 

EBC Reds with wilwood 4 piston calipers.

they squeal like a whiny 4 year old on the street.

work too good on the track

 

$149 for a pair of front pads. These are a track compound and not good for the street. They last longer than any other pad I've tried on the track so don't let the price alone scare you. They can be ordered directly through Carbo-Tech at http://www.carbotecheng.com

 

Ditto for me. I've found the dusting to be comparable to other performance pads, though - no better, no worse. Sure, they'll dust more than an OEM organic; that's to be expected.

Mine haven't cracked or crumbled (fingers crossed) and have performed well on the track.