So I put on Hawk HPS pads with Power Slot rotors and everything was great...I could stop on a dime, but in the last few weeks I've noticed my brake peddle feels real spongy. It almost feels like my brakes are failing if I have to brake hard...I've tried and I can't even induce ABS. It sucks...I thought maybe I had air in the lines, but I had them bled and there was no air. I'm going to take my wheels off and scuff up my rotors this weekend and probably bleed my valves...I heard something about a fast bleeder or something like that...anyone experience anything like this? Please advise.

 

When I had the hawk HPS I felt like I was going to die. At first they seemed ok, then they wouldn't stop the car for **** until they got heated up.

I quickly got rid of them.... for the stoptech stage 2 kit

the axxis ultimates are OK for the street.... but I'm probably going with something better next time. Maybe project Mu or something.

 

I mean, I can drive 15 minutes on the toll road at 80 mph, that should heat the pads up enough to stop, but man, there is something wrong. I think I've either got air in the line or I've glazed over the rotors. I'll have to get some sand paper out and scruff them up and bleed the lines. It's pissing me off bc those things would stop on a dime before.

 

? you only heat the brakes up by using the brakes

driving for 15 minutes on a toll road without using the brakes won't do anything to heat the brakes up

it sounds like you did not properly bed the pads in

Hawks Bedding instructions for the HPS: Burnishing Instructions

After installing new brake pads, make 6 to 10 stops from approximately 30-35 mph applying moderate pressure.
Make an additional 2 to 3 hard stops from approximately 40 to 45 mph.
DO NOT DRAG BRAKES!
Allow 15 minutes for brake system to cool down.
After step 4 your new pads are ready for use

to properly bleed the brakes, either use the old school gravity method (takes 2 people), or get yourself a Motive Power Bleeder:

http://www.z1auto.com/prodmore.asp?m...ng&prodid=2741

The pads happen to work quite well, but 95% of people don't bed them in at all...and as a result, the initial bite they feel goes away quickly, and poor "cold" performance rears its ugly head right away.

 

I followed the bed-in procedure to the letter, and I also have very poor cold braking performance with these pads. I'm not real happy with them right now.

 

+1 on the Motive Power Bleeder. I picked one up from Adam @ Z1 last week cause I felt my brakes were a tad soft. Worked like a charm and was so easy to use. My pedal felt great at the track last week. Even used it again after the track day since I boiled my fluid a little bit. This thing is almost foolproof if used correctly. I can't believe I didn't get this thing earlier. I'd pass on the speedbleeder screws IMO because I've had mixed experiences with them. They worked fine on my stock calipers but they were utter crap on my Stoptechs. Let air back into the system on two of the four screws.

 

It's not like I wake up in the morning and my car is at the toll road and I drive 15 minutes and thats it...I mean, there are plenty of stops. plus stopping off a hard off ramp exit. I'm sure they get heated up plenty.

I did my bedding in, but did more like 40-60 mhp regular braking and then did some hard braking from the same speeds...about 4 or 5 of them. After I did that, they were ridiculous, but since then they've became a little weak. I'm going to sand down the rotors a little bit and try to bed them in again this weekend probably. Hopefully that works.

 

I just installed my HPS today with new rotors and followed the bed-in procedure set by Hawk. I will post the results in a few days once I get to drive it more.

 

I bought the HPS brake pads not that long ago but have not installed them yet. Reading these comments makes me feel like I don't want to install them at all. Does anyone have anything positive to say about the HPS.

 

I've used HPS pads on a few different cars and have been very happy with the performance. I've bedded them in every time and haven't had any issues for the life of the pads.

I normally will run hawk blues on track, so my HPS's only see street use.

 

If the pad film is not evenly transferred to the rotors [what some call bedding] the friction coefficient of the combination will be lacking.

Rotors [cast iron grade 2 or better] will have a bare coefficient of 0.31 or less without pad film...............vs 0.35-0.4 depending on pad material

That equates to 30% LESS FRICTION! For the same pedal pressure.