Brake Pads

David Spratte · **Posted:** Sat Nov 08, 2003 4:33 pm

A buddy of mine is looking to replace the brakes on his Maxima. Yes, he's auto-xing the Maxima. He's started his search at tirerack, so he's a got a question on the Hawks and I trust the people here more than Random Bob on madblingtunerz.com.

Here's his question:
I will need a brake job soon and am looking at pads. Got any knowledge on this? I'm looking at Hawk HPS and HP Plus. HPS are high performance street, Plus are street plus autocross. Given that the cost of the pads are negligible, do you think the autox pads would have dramatically reduced wear, so much so that the benefit is wiped out?

TIA

Patrick Wellenius · **Posted:** Sun Nov 09, 2003 2:22 pm

Don't know about pad wear, but rotor wear could always be a concern with performance pads. Sucks to drop some coin on nice rotors only to have them chewed up by aggressive pads after 3 events...choose wisely. Also, the Hawks squeal like a pig - might not matter to you, but there it is.

Rob Keehner · **Posted:** Mon Nov 10, 2003 1:10 am

PFC's! Cheap easy quiet and work great. Mine were 35 bucks at Autozone. They are hard on rotors though, i've replaced one set allready due to cracking.

Kevin Allen · **Joined:** Thu Aug 28, 2003 6:42 pm **Posts:** 3479

Tell him to talk to Matt Nicholson. Figured he would've already spoken up here...

RodneyWright · **Posted:** Sun Nov 16, 2003 8:59 pm

I can use some advice on brake pads as well. Time to replace the ones on the bimmer, lot of front end shimmy. What is the hot ticket for street and occasional auto xcrossing? :?:

Joel Heywood · **Joined:** Thu Aug 28, 2003 5:51 pm **Posts:** 108

Not that I autocross the bmw much but I like the PBR metal masters for street use. I have also heard good things about Axxis Ultimates.

Graham Jagger · **Joined:** Fri Aug 29, 2003 12:53 am **Posts:** 1718

Rob Keehner wrote:

PFC's! Cheap easy quiet and work great. Mine were 35 bucks at Autozone. They are hard on rotors though, i've replaced one set allready due to cracking.

I vote for the PFC's also. Same reason. Readily available at Autozone. They last and the dust cleans off pretty easy. You can also look at PFC-Z. More expensive but better for higher speed use.

Only drawback I've found to PFC is they need a little warm up to get working. So on cold mornings they don't bite as well right away.

Graham

Rob Keehner · **Posted:** Mon Nov 17, 2003 1:01 pm

I second the cold pad symptom. But they still grip very well on my car when cold. I have no problem hitting the abs when they are at normal highway speed It just takes a bit more pedal pressure.

RodneyWright · **Posted:** Mon Nov 17, 2003 4:49 pm

What exactly does PFC stand for or is that the manufacturer name? I'm assuming it stands for performance friction ...something.... :oops:

Aaron Buckley · **Posted:** Mon Nov 17, 2003 4:52 pm

Performance Friction Carbon Metallic... Just a brand that AutoZone sells, and they're supposed to be quite good. They don't make them for any of the cars I drive.

If I were you Rodney, look for Pagid pads. They're great pads, with awesome modulation and good wear patterns. They dust a bit more than most, but they are worth the braking power. - AB

RodneyWright · **Posted:** Mon Nov 17, 2003 5:45 pm

gggrreeaatt....

Now I'm looking at either.....

Panther Plus from Carbotech
Padgit
Hawk blues
PFC

Isn't life great to have so many choices? This isn't like grabbing stuff for the Cutlass, now I have to THINK about what I buy. OK, in your humble opinions, if I have 90% normal street driving and 10% autoxing, where would you place your money?

Don't know if I want to go to the hassel of swapping pads at events. Do you swap pads and rotors before events? If you do, what combination of pads work for you for street and autox?

I guess I want my cake and eat it too.... good (cold and hot) braking, lower dusting (the current pads create tons of dust, so anything will be an improvement) and not eating rotors every few months.

Additional thoughts?

Rodney
(braking challenged)

Joel Heywood · **Joined:** Thu Aug 28, 2003 5:51 pm **Posts:** 108

Mark the hawk blues off your list. Those pads will not even come up to temp on the street or autocross.

Vincent Keene · **Posted:** Mon Nov 17, 2003 7:04 pm

We had the Panther Plus on the Talon which worked great for the track so Ryan says as he was driving not I. However they had too much of an initial bite for Auto-X making modulation a big issue on a non ABS car. In other words it was easy to lock 'em up and flat spot the race tires.

We've now switched to the Bobcats and we are very satisfied with them for Auto-X/street use. These are easier to modulate and avoid lock up.

I use the PFCM on my Z-24 for the track and daily driving and they do quite well, especially for the price. I'll get the Panther Plus for VIR next year though.

Bottom line....call Matt at Carbotech. It's his job to know and he can help you the most.
:thumbsup:

MikeWhitney · **Joined:** Wed Aug 20, 2003 9:15 pm **Posts:** 4724

Ten thumbs up for Axxis Ultimates for street and autocross. I have them on both BMWs and the Miata. Dust like hell but awesome coef of friction and fabulous modulation. Work fan-damn-tastic cold too.

Matt @ Carbotech sells them. They're cheap.

Pagids for BMWs are a close 2nd in my book and can take very limited track abuse, but they don't modulate as well and dust even worse.

MikeWhitney · **Joined:** Wed Aug 20, 2003 9:15 pm **Posts:** 4724

A few other quick comments --

I have never liked MetalMasters. From what I hear they used to be great but were changed a few years ago. They chew rotors too much and don't work well cold or modulate well. Also stay away from PBR Deluxe or anything organic.

I never messed with any of the Hawk street compounds since I found great pads at a lower price (Ultimates and Pagids).

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