Hawk Performance Ceramic pads on the track

marcusus · Postby **marcusus** » Sat Jul 25, 2015 11:14 pm

Just wondering what experiences people have had with the Hawk Performance Ceramic pads on the track, and in general? I've currently got HP+ on there, which I know will give me better braking than the ceramics, but for the amount I track the car (club days only), the amount of dust and rotor wear is probably not worth it.

I just want to make sure I don't get a massive difference in braking performance on the track (and the street) if I change to the less aggressive pads.

Regie · Postby **Regie** » Sat Jul 25, 2015 11:24 pm

I had hp+ then went to hps. That lasted about a month. I'm back on the hp+ now.

I'm sacrificing the extreme dust for a great pedal feel

marcusus · Postby **marcusus** » Sun Jul 26, 2015 12:04 am

How did the HPS stack up? I'm expecting a performance drop on the track, but the street is where I'm most concerned with it as that's the vast majority of my use.

Regie · Postby **Regie** » Sun Jul 26, 2015 12:23 am

The HPS felt like I was pushing into a wet sponge clamped to the plus.

I was amazed that the difference would be that much.

marcusus · Postby **marcusus** » Sun Jul 26, 2015 11:06 am

That's quite the difference. The HP+ do stop well, but you practically need to clean the rims every week to keep them looking OK.

MattR · Postby **MattR** » Sun Jul 26, 2015 2:58 pm

I use the HPS pads front and rear on my NA6 for track and street use with slotted rotors.

They work fine for me and am quite happy with them.

marcusus · Postby **marcusus** » Sun Jul 26, 2015 3:47 pm

MattR wrote:I use the HPS pads front and rear on my NA6 for track and street use with slotted rotors.

They work fine for me and am quite happy with them.

How do they go on dust?

Postby **beavis** » Sun Jul 26, 2015 4:42 pm

marcusus wrote:Hawk Performance Ceramic pads on the track.

I would never recommend Hawk ceramics for the Track.
I'd suggest using HP+ at the very least for a street/track car as they will work fine on the street and will work on the track.
If you're concerned with dust, wash your car.

MattR · Postby **MattR** » Sun Jul 26, 2015 5:38 pm

The dust they produce isn't too bad. On the road rims hardly any for normal driving, or a spirited run. On the track, I just wiped the rims down when I changed them over.

Brake dust is a low priority for me compared to how well the pads stop the car, so I'm probably not the best to ask about dust.

marcusus · Postby **marcusus** » Sun Jul 26, 2015 11:06 pm

beavis wrote:
marcusus wrote:Hawk Performance Ceramic pads on the track.

I would never recommend Hawk ceramics for the Track.
I'd suggest using HP+ at the very least for a street/track car as they will work fine on the street and will work on the track.
If you're concerned with dust, wash your car.

Cool, thanks for the info.

I've had plenty of pads in the past that weren't as aggressive as the HP+ and they were fine on the track with much less dust. I'm just trying to find that perfect fit for my situation. Maybe HPS might be worth trying instead of the ceramics.

Postby **beavis** » Sun Jul 26, 2015 11:12 pm

marcusus wrote:I've had plenty of pads in the past that weren't as aggressive as the HP+ and they were fine on the track with much less dust. I'm just trying to find that perfect fit for my situation. Maybe HPS might be worth trying instead of the ceramics.

I'd be concerned the ceramics wouldnt cut it on the track.

marcusus · Postby **marcusus** » Mon Jul 27, 2015 12:06 am

beavis wrote:I'd be concerned the ceramics wouldnt cut it on the track.

Yeah. I haven't been able to find too much info about people running them on the track. Admittedly, I haven't dug very hard yet, but It'd be good to hear some info first hand from people on here.

Charlie Brown · Postby **Charlie Brown** » Mon Jul 27, 2015 12:05 pm

I'm running HPS on the road up front, EBC Reds down the back.

I haven't found them to be mushy like Regie (I'll take your almost new ones off you Regie) and I'm using slotted rotors on the road.

They are low on dust, much lower than the Reds on the rear but DON'T use the HPS on the track. They overheat and the pad material will be ripped away from the backing plate.

pie5 · Postby **pie5** » Mon Jul 27, 2015 2:51 pm

Charlie Brown wrote:I'm running HPS on the road up front, EBC Reds down the back.

I haven't found them to be mushy like Regie (I'll take your almost new ones off you Regie) and I'm using slotted rotors on the road.

They are low on dust, much lower than the Reds on the rear but DON'T use the HPS on the track. They overheat and the pad material will be ripped away from the backing plate.

When you say don't use them on the track, do you mean don't use them with R-Spec Tyres and/or lots of laps?
What about a club track day 5-6 laps per session and regular road tyres?
Are they suited to this type of use?

marcusus · Postby **marcusus** » Mon Jul 27, 2015 8:21 pm

Charlie Brown wrote:They are low on dust, much lower than the Reds on the rear but DON'T use the HPS on the track. They overheat and the pad material will be ripped away from the backing plate.

Is this speaking from experience Phil?
I'm quite surprised at how flimsy they are, considering they're supposed to be pretty reasonable pads. Eg I've run EBC green on the track and never had this type of problem, so I'm surprised the HPS have it.