Time for brakes

[kreitz3]

I am in need of some new brakes. :shootsself:

I think I want to go with either the Hawk HPS or HP Plus pads. I have heard good things about them. I hardly use them for RallyX, and don't AutoX enough to warrant buying an "autox" pad. But my concern is how much I abuse my brakes on the street. I don't speed too much, but I like to take the twisties. So I brake late A LOT and REALLY hard. So I want a pad that will take that daily abuse.

As far as rotors go, I have actually heard good things about the Duralast rotors from AutoZone. I would like to have the money to buy better rotors like the DBA ones with the kangaroo paw ventilation design, but they may be out of the budget (though I haven't priced them yet).

So my question is, what do you guys recommend and who is the best to buy form?

:guitarist:

[Corruptmotors.com]

Buy the best you can afford, the Hawks are good pads, never used the autozone rotors, but i think they offer a lifetime warranty.

[BlackParis]

I use 20$ Autozone pads and rotors... after alot of repeated high speed stops on pavement, they suck... Fine for Auto-x, and overkill for gravel with no ABS :-)

hmm.. after 6 80-0 stops the coating on the pads caught on fire and the rotors glowed red for several minutes ...

Looked like this:
http://a694.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/84/l_88ace92074d8c5040a9e06e8f2973bdd.jpg



HOWEVER:
The following is a quote from a local friend of mine, someone who tunes ALOT of subarus and owns his own shop doing so...


I hear all this praise for Hawk HPS pads.

But my experience has been quite the opposite. Compared to other pads of comparable cost, THEY SUCK.
My guess is that the people praising the pads haven't tried any other high performance pad. I could be wrong about that.

The HPS pads are the worst pads I have ever had on my subarus. They have a stiff pedal feel with very little stopping power. The initial bite is almost impercievable until they heat up. Then they have a very narrow temperature band where they give good stopping power. They over heat soon after and suck again.

Axxis Ultimates and Porterfield R4S are the two best pads I have ever had on my subarus. My wife's LGT with WRX rotors and calipers (smaller than the LGT brakes) and Axxis Ultimate pads will outstop my STi with the factory Brembos.
Plus the cost of Axxis Ultimates is very low compared to most other pads.

I don't remember what car you have, but if you have an RS or 02 WRX style calipers, here's a great deal on these pads. http://www.gruppe-s.com/Subaru/subbrk.htm

Oh and if you haven't already, change to 02WRX rotors and caliper brackets. The extra inch in diameter makes all the difference in the world. The factory rotors work GREAT with either of these pads. No need for slotted or drilled. That just gives the rotor places to crack and the pads somewhere to deposite material and squeal like crazy. High performance pads like these don't have the severe "out gassing" that factory style pads have and therefore don't need the slots or holes. Plus many of the aftermarket slotted rotors (like DBA 650's) are made of a material that is too hard for efficient braking on the street.
But ... he isn't a gravel going guy....

[kreitz3]

I have had my brakes smoking before on a drive through some nice twisty roads. But I was keeping up with the STi's w/o any problems.

[rollo]

I've had Hawk HPS pads on the Evo since killing the stock pads in about 18k miles. They've lasted great (30k on them and still material left) and I've been happy with their performance (same as OEM really, except a bit less noisy). I recently got DBA 4000 slotted rotors, Motul 5.1 and SS lines all round.. it seems like a good setup, more progressive (i.e. less touchy, easier to modulate) than OEM. I reused the pads since they still had life and I'm cheap, but I have some Hawk ceramic pads in the wings, which I bought just to see how well they'd work really (never tried ceramic pads before).

As for the negative comments towards Hawk, I dunno - I have Mintex on the Corrado and I had EBC Green Stuff on our old A4 and they seem comparable at least, although it's impossible to compare between such differing cars. Certainly the HPS didn't seem any worse than the OEM setup (and the Evo has great OEM brakes). I've never tried Axxis or Porterfield though.

I got my brake stuff from CVR Motorsports via evolutionm.net this time - look on 'the N site' cos they're a vendor over there as well.

I know my experience isn't specific to Subaru, but really brakes is brakes. I'll be interested in the results cos I gotta do the Legacy's brakes soon.

[UP2MTNS]

I'm a big EBC fan. I've had EBC Green and I currently run EBC Reds and have yet to get them to fade.

I have cheap ebay rotors that have done really well for me, but I think that's just luck. but hey, at $100 for a pair of slotted rotors, and no issues 50K miles later, the risk paid off. LOL

[Drew84]

I just last Saturday put Hawk HPS in my car. I like em, I had them in my Civic too. The HPS+ is deffinatly too much for the street I've heard, squeak alot throw a lot of dust, hard on the rotors. Really a light track day pad. HPS seem to be a nice fast street, auto-x pad. I put auto zone rotors on my civic. No problems.

[BorkedWRX]

I'm a big EBC fan. I've had EBC Green and I currently run EBC Reds and have yet to get them to fade.

I have cheap ebay rotors that have done really well for me, but I think that's just luck. but hey, at $100 for a pair of slotted rotors, and no issues 50K miles later, the risk paid off. LOL

I dunno, I had EBC reds and I thought they were CRAP! (IMHO) (They were absolutely DESTROYED after a track day at Laguna Seca)

I now run AXXIS Ultimates with Stoptech slotted rotors and SS lines on all 4 corners, WAY better feel than stock.

[kreitz3]

Thanks for the input guys. Keep it coming!

I have heard good things about the EBC pads as well. I will have to check them out.

I have also heard good things about the AXXIS pads. I will check those too!

[UP2MTNS]

I dunno, I had EBC reds and I thought they were CRAP! (IMHO) (They were absolutely DESTROYED after a track day at Laguna Seca)

I now run AXXIS Ultimates with Stoptech slotted rotors and SS lines on all 4 corners, WAY better feel than stock.

I've never run them on the track, so I can't say either way.

I do know EBC went through a design re-vamp a few years ago and they've gotten much better since....maybe that's why. who knows.

SubieGal review:
http://www.subiegal.com/productreview/ebcredstuff/ebcbrakes_redstuff_review.htm

[BorkedWRX]

I've never run them on the track, so I can't say either way.

I do know EBC went through a design re-vamp a few years ago and they've gotten much better since....maybe that's why. who knows.

SubieGal review:
http://www.subiegal.com/productreview/ebcredstuff/ebcbrakes_redstuff_review.htm


Yeah, it's been like 4 years since Ive used EBC pads, it sounds like they are much better from what subiegal says.