Has anyone here used these pads? I am wondering what people thought about them and if I combine them with X-drilled rotors what type of performance gains could I expect?

 

I've got the Hawk pads on my 1st Gen. They're incredible. I would seriously consider going without drilled rotors unless you are after the performance look. The Hawks (I believe I'm running HP-Plus) alone, in the front, make a hell of a difference in stopping power.

That said, get ready for the dust. I can hit my brakes hard once at the end of a ramp from ninety or so, and my wheels are dusted.

 

I couldnt' agree more. I run Hawk HP+ on my Miata. I was extremely impressed when I went for the test run (compared to the previous pads) and am still happy with them today.

What will you be using them for? Are you auto-xing or just street driving. I you're just looking for better pads for the street, you may also want to consider the Hawk HPS pads...a little lower grade pad, but not as much dust or rotor wear as the HP+ pads.

As far as drilled rotors go, don't waste your money, there's no performance increase with what you'll be using them for.

 

Any links on where I can buy them?

 

http://www.tirerack.com

 

Try Precision Brakes Compay, http://www.precisionbrakescompany.com

These guys are smaller than Tire Rack, all they do is brakes, and they're very cool.


Jim

 

hawks have great stopping power but keep in mind they will wear the rotors faster as a result

 

That depends on which Hawk pad. The HPS, which work good on the street and for autocross, are nearly as rotor friendly as the stock pads. The HP+ is a little more aggressive, and better suited for high temp applications, such as lapping days or high-hp or heavy autocross cars.

At colder temps, aggressive pads can seriously wear the rotors. Full race pads (like the Hawk Blue or Black) are almost like lathes at street temps. I had Porterfield R4 pads (they sent me the wrong pads), and they machined 0.060 from each side of the rotor in 3k street miles (and a couple of autocrosses and one solo trial). But when they were hot, they were amazing.

 

would you say the hawk hps pads are as good or better than oem? I was quite happy with the oem pads but the hawk hps are cheaper and is why i am consiedering them.

 

they did not produce alot of dust and they seem to stop the car well. "better" defined as in braking distance and brake fade is decreased.

 

you are correct as i was assuming they were discussing HP+ pads

 

I loved my Hawk pads when I had them. I had TRD brakes on my Celica GT-S, and they were just rebadged Hawk brakes.