Hawk HPS Brake Pads: Advice

bmoney · 03-08-2009, 08:54 PM

I'm getting ready to replace my brake pads and rotors (will be using OEM rotors).

Read a lot of great things about these pads but have also read negatives such as: quite a lot more dust than OEM, tend to be very noisy (dry or wet conditions), significantly put more wear/warping on rotors and take a while to warm up.

Any advice on the pros and cons, as well as using them with stock rotors and calipers will be greatly appreciated!

Also I just need them for street use, won't be doing any track runs.

zmanoside · 03-08-2009, 09:43 PM

I put these on my car about 2-3 months ago and love am. A LOT less brake dust. There are quite a few people on here that use them and love them. Pads are an easy job.

Vew · 03-08-2009, 11:32 PM

I've experienced more dust, but it's hard to tell. Didn't have much issue with increased noise. Usually use disk brake quiet on the backings of the pad. I don't see how pads could significantly increase warping on rotors, especially on non-track conditions.

bmoney · 03-09-2009, 01:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zmanoside

I put these on my car about 2-3 months ago and love am. A LOT less brake dust. There are quite a few people on here that use them and love them. Pads are an easy job.

Most of the complaints I've read are the break dust and noise, but those have all been on other cars. I've been trying to find feedback from people who actually have them on their WRX. So great to hear you like them!

bmoney · 03-09-2009, 01:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vew

I've experienced more dust, but it's hard to tell. Didn't have much issue with increased noise. Usually use disk brake quiet on the backings of the pad. I don't see how pads could significantly increase warping on rotors, especially on non-track conditions.

I don't see either, that's why I wondering if anyone has heard of that or has had that happen to them with the HPS pads.

Thanks for the input vew! Appreciate it!

mosc · 03-09-2009, 04:18 PM

In my experience, the HPS pads put out less dust and noise than stock pads. HPS brake dust is actually pink. Many people attribute normal grime to brake dust but that's not the case. I've never seen somebody's wheels peppered pink and HPS pads are widely used so I'd say any dust issues with those pads are over-stated. Hawk makes a lot more capable pads that are going to be dusty and loud but HPS pads are pretty tame. You should be fine.

Vew · 03-09-2009, 07:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mosc

In my experience, the HPS pads put out less dust and noise than stock pads. HPS brake dust is actually pink. Many people attribute normal grime to brake dust but that's not the case. I've never seen somebody's wheels peppered pink and HPS pads are widely used so I'd say any dust issues with those pads are over-stated. Hawk makes a lot more capable pads that are going to be dusty and loud but HPS pads are pretty tame. You should be fine.

That actually explains a lot.. The redish/orangish dust on my wheels show up really well on my black finish of my rims.

baller_v24 · 03-09-2009, 09:10 PM

not to mention the brembo pads are different than the wrx pads. mosc and z noticed less dust than the stock brembo pads, maybe it's an sti thing.

i know i see quite a bit of brake dust from the stock brembo pads. then again the inner portion of my wheels are black.

jwtarbaj · 03-09-2009, 10:57 PM

I have HPS at all 4 corners. I find they have a great deal more dusting than stock. The dust is definitely black. I wax my wheels(the gold Rotas) and they are darker in appearance after about 1 month or so. With the wax job I can wipe the dust off with a rag easily. I too tried to apply ample anti sqeek (provided with the pads by Hawk) andthey are not too noisey.

The Hawk STI pads must be very different compound from the Hawk WRX replacement. I seem to remember them being a charcoal or dark grey color when I installed.

bmoney · 03-10-2009, 01:40 AM

Thanks for all the feedback so far guys... I really appreciate it.

sailpuff322 · 03-10-2009, 09:15 AM

In my experience, the hawk pads put out significantly less dust than the Brembo pads, Brembo is notorious for putting out a lot of dust because they are softer pads, but that's part of what makes them so good. I have always heard awesome things about Hawk pads especially for running on the street, the only thing is you have to make sure you set them properly right off the bat per the instructions, or you can run into issues

bmoney · 03-10-2009, 01:03 PM

looks like I'm going to go ahead and go with the hawks. thanks again guys!

sleepr · 03-10-2009, 09:06 PM

I have Hawks on my fronts and I would say I see the same amount of dust, and a bit of a squeak when I start to touch the brake pedal. I think they grab only marginally better than stock pads, when you really get on your brake pedal.