After about 15,000 miles, I got tired of the dusting and wear of the OEM pads. I replaced them with Hawks (the OEMs had 1/4" left.) I'm now at 38,000 and thought, "well, it must be time again." But when I took off the tire and compared the old Hawks to the new set I bought, there was virtually no difference - maybe 1/32 worth of wear.

Man, this is definitely a worthwhile investment. No dusting, outstanding performance, and they last. For $65 bucks per set, you can't beat that!

 

I was thinking of buying those, wasn't sure if it's worth it. But I guess that answers my question!

 

Are you talking about Hawk HPS?

If you are, not a big fan of Hawk HPS. They lack intial bite and hard to stop when weather is cold or raining. HPS pads need to warm/heat up before they start performing/biting.

There are lots of mixed feeling about Hawk HPS here on the forum. Some people love it and some people do not. I personally DO NOT like them due to lack of performance, especially when cold.

I still have almost new Hawk HPS sitting in my garage that I am not using. Took them off because I did not like the way it performed.

They only great thing about Hawk HPS is that they have very low dust.

Just my opinion.

 

you're right, they don't bite as hard as stock. I though that I'd put them on wrong

 

No you did not put them on wrong . That just the way the HPS pads are.

Like I said before, Hawk HPS need to heat up before they start performing/biting. Unfortunately on street, sometimes you don't time for your pads to get warmed up.

 

So...they're about the cheapest pads out there, they last longer than stock, dust less than stock, but don't brake as well as stock at low temperatures (I had no problems at higher temps). Pretty much sums up my experience with them.


Still not recommended IMO.

 

"Are you talking about Hawk HPS?

If you are, not a big fan of Hawk HPS. They lack intial bite and hard to stop when weather is cold or raining. HPS pads need to warm/heat up before they start performing/biting...

... They only great thing about Hawk HPS is that they have very low dust."

Agreed.

The HP+ are much better but noisy for the street.

I"m trying set of Axxis Ultimates for this summer. Apparently they're more like the HP+ without the noise.

 

That's disappointing... I was just about to order a set because I'm sick of seeing my front wheels go from silver to black in about 3 days' time. Looks like I'll have to just keep cleaning them

 

I felt the same way, but in retrospect there's no way I'd ever have switched from OEM to Hawk if I new what I was getting myself into.

Next up is the Stoptech stage 2 rotors / SS lines / Axxis Ultimate pads, I'm hoping for the best.

 

I much prefer Axxis Ultimate over the HPS pads. They do dust a lot more though, but I am willing to make that trade for better "bite" and feel. They are inexpensive as well, about $100 for a complete front/rear set for non-Brembo.

 

Maybe because I'm in N Cal, where the temps rarely go below 50, I haven't experienced the cold problem. They're always kinda warm. Maybe rust belt people have different issues.

 

Possibly, but during the summer I find they behave like they're cold if it's wet outside and you haven't used them for a couple of minutes (ie: on the highway).

They're a great street pad, but very little 'performance' IMO.

Just be mindful of their characteristics if you're in an emergency situation. :-)

 

I'm in socal, and they were worse when we had a few really cold winter days. Plus, the problem was much worse when the pads were freshly installed. After like 1k miles, they started to brake a little better when cold. Yes, I bedded them in as per the instructions on stoptech's website.

Still, performance is pretty bad in general and definitely doesn't stop as well as OEM until they get hot. "Hot" as in, how the brakes get after pressing the brake pedal 80% to the floor from 50-0. I'll admit it is a little "fun" sometimes zooming along residential streets and abruptly stopping. But on the freeway, the brakes cool down due to all the airflow and almost every brake feels cold. And on the freeway 70-85mph is where I actually feel that there is some level of danger using hawk HPS, not on the street <40-50mph.

 

I put some of these on and have been completely satisfied with them. I think they brake very well and haven't noticed any less stopping power. Of course, I have brembos so it might be different.

The stock non-brembo brakes on the pre-06 Z's are a little puny for the weight of the car. I personally would be more concerned about he brakes than the pads if I had them...

 

I don't like them at all. I am switching to EBC Red Stuff pads.

 

i like the pads, but so far i have a different problem then all of you (i think)

i had them on for about 15k miles now, and i have noticed more dust than when i put them on originally. so i ordered a new front set and took them to get changed (nowhere to do it here at school), and the guy called me back and said i didn't need to replace the pads, they had hardly worn down at all. instead, the pad was so hard that they were eating into my rotors. new problem. felt my finger along the rotor and sure enough you could see and feel where it was wearing it down... new rotors for me... yay.

 

phils inc has the axxis front and rear for the brembo brakes for 100 plus shipping