Hawk HPS 5.0

[SVT Rob]

My car has just over 45k miles on it, original pads. When it was in the shop for warranty work, they told me I was down to 4mm on the front pads. I went ahead and ordered the Hawk HPS 5.0 pads. There is a complete night and day difference over the stock pads. What used to take me a little pressure to slow slightly now causes noticeable nose dive. I need to relearn the brake pedal.

I did find it interesting that the inner pad on both sides was more worn than the outer pad, and they both tapered towards the front. There was more material left on the rearmost portion of each pad.

Currently only have ~30 miles on them, I'll try and update after my trip to Texas and back in a few weeks. Anyone else have these vs the old compound, thoughts/impressions?

 

[vortecd]

You must have Brembos since your pads look different then mine. I just put on the Hawk 5.0's also along with slotted rotors last weekend. Cars does seem to stop a little easier. I didn't like the way the stock brakes were stopping at 130mph at the track

Anyone changing rear brakes, you do need a tool to push in the rear piston. Found this out after I had everything apart and had to go get one

 

[natedog_1959]

I ran the HPS pads on my SVT Focus and they were fantastic on the street and road course. They took a warm-up stab to work well in the rain or cold, but that is the price you pay with more aggressive pads.

 

[Zandura99]

I upgraded too, front and rear with the Stoptech cryo sloted rotors. Upgraded to high temp fluid. I noticed a huge difference, but still don't think that I can do a full track day with multiple 20 min sessions without going to a hawk race pad. Good news is that the compounds are compatible, so you don't have to turn/skuff the rotors from HAWK 5.0 to HAWK race or blue/black... etc.

 

[SVT Rob]

You must have Brembos since your pads look different then mine. I just put on the Hawk 5.0's also along with slotted rotors last weekend. Cars does seem to stop a little easier. I didn't like the way the stock brakes were stopping at 130mph at the track

Anyone changing rear brakes, you do need a tool to push in the rear piston. Found this out after I had everything apart and had to go get one

Yes, I do have the Brembo's.

I haven't done the rear pads yet, but I have one of those tools from when I had the Cobra. PITA to use, but meh.

Been doing a bit of playing, I usually keep a MagLite in the car for emergencies, and it sits next to the seat. It doesn't stay in place anymore, even with a light-moderate push-hold of the pedal. YaY brakes!! hahaha.

 

[Zandura99]

cool chart I found at work today:

http://www.hawkperformance.com/sites/default/files/Compound Graph.jpg

 

[SVT Rob]

Yea, I saw that on their website before I ever bought mine. Ultimately, I went with the HPS 5.0, as the only track time my car has seen is 20 or so 1/4 mile passes. It's more of a fun daily driver, at this point in my life.

 

[CobraRed_96_GT]

What the graph doesn't tell you is how damn loud the others are HP+ included

 

[burke985]

I have the HPS pads on mine and they squeal on slow stops and drives me crazy , ill probably replace them with stock pads since i don't road course and these are not needed. Id rather deal with brake dust than a squealing pad

 

[evanjp]

I just put the 5.0s on my front brakes (brembos) and I agree, they are a night and day difference. My stock pads were SHOT.

 

[Zandura99]

I have the HPS pads on mine and they squeal on slow stops and drives me crazy , ill probably replace them with stock pads since i don't road course and these are not needed. Id rather deal with brake dust than a squealing pad

something is wrong with the install, The HPS does not squeal. Its a pretty quiet pad, 1 level quitter that the HPS 5.0, which also does not squeal.

 

[Zandura99]

What the graph doesn't tell you is how damn loud the others are HP+ included

Yeah, the HP+ is loud, the new HP race is a bit better, but still a little squeak at slow stops cold. The HPS and HP 5.0 are really the end of the streetible pads, that is what most of us here at work use for daily driving with only a few guys using the new street race for daily driving. The Street race guys have a little squeal, but no issues with the HPS and 5.0 guys!

 

[CobraRed_96_GT]

Yeah, the HP+ is loud, the new HP race is a bit better, but still a little squeak at slow stops cold. The HPS and HP 5.0 are really the end of the streetible pads, that is what most of us here at work use for daily driving with only a few guys using the new street race for daily driving. The Street race guys have a little squeal, but no issues with the HPS and 5.0 guys!

Agreed. For actual race use, you should be swapping in some real pads like carbotechs with some new high temp fluid anyways, then swapping the pads out to street composition after. So I don't get the allure of going 1 or 2 steps up to a noisy street pad.
A pad that is really up to street duty and road course duty doesn't exist. You're sacrificing somewhere.

Once you've done it a few times, it doesn't take more than a half hour. Leaving Hawk pads in the back for both uses is the real matter worth discussing.

 

[Zandura99]

Yeah I will be trying the Hawk Blue's in the front with the HPS 5.0 rear this summer... but only 20 minute sessions so we will see. The allure of running 1 brake brand (like hawk for example) is the ability to go from their street compound to their race compound without having a rotor issue. If the cake mix isn't similar in compounds... the rotor can repel the race pad and you have some serious issues! A few of my collegues here have had that happen first hand and the shutter is pretty intense. I agree with the focused pad. The one I wish they made for the non brembo cars is the HP race, its curve looks really nice and might work well on the street as well. A buddy of mine in a FRS is running them on the street and track and loves them... but less weight and horsepower so not a perfect comparison.

 

[CobraRed_96_GT]

Yeah I will be trying the Hawk Blue's in the front with the HPS 5.0 rear this summer... but only 20 minute sessions so we will see. The allure of running 1 brake brand (like hawk for example) is the ability to go from their street compound to their race compound without having a rotor issue. If the cake mix isn't similar in compounds... the rotor can repel the race pad and you have some serious issues! A few of my collegues here have had that happen first hand and the shutter is pretty intense. I agree with the focused pad. The one I wish they made for the non brembo cars is the HP race, its curve looks really nice and might work well on the street as well. A buddy of mine in a FRS is running them on the street and track and loves them... but less weight and horsepower so not a perfect comparison.

Agreed on the compound, I would normally use a brake prep kit in this case: http://www.amazon.com/Astro-Pneumatic-226-Complete-Surface/dp/B0081GKNCU

Or just run different discs for track use (goo idea anyways), but adds to the change time.

 

[lsxjunkie]

Bumping this up as it's time for my second set of front pads and first set of rears at 51k miles. I'm doing the whole shebang: pads and rotors all around. I already have a set of cheap takeoff rear rotors and will be going with centric blanks up front.

I want to get HPS 5.0s, but these are my concerns:

1. I've had standard HPS pads on my G35 w/Brembos and GTOs. In both cases, although I got more braking deeper in the pedal, the initial bite went completely to shit and I hated the way that felt. I really had to romp on them, but they'd suck your eyeballs out.

2. Ever since delivery day, my OEM Brembos have felt soft in the pedal. They stop great and have excellent initial bite, but I feel like there's no pedal feedback at all.

This car sees a lot of aggressive highway driving and backroad bombing, but no track time as it's my daily/only driver and I can't afford to stuff it into the SAFER. For those of you who have made the switch from OEM to 5.0s, is the pedal firmer than stock and is the initial bite comparable?

 

[SVT Rob]

Bumping this up as it's time for my second set of front pads and first set of rears at 51k miles. I'm doing the whole shebang: pads and rotors all around. I already have a set of cheap takeoff rear rotors and will be going with centric blanks up front.

I want to get HPS 5.0s, but these are my concerns:

1. I've had standard HPS pads on my G35 w/Brembos and GTOs. In both cases, although I got more braking deeper in the pedal, the initial bite went completely to shit and I hated the way that felt. I really had to romp on them, but they'd suck your eyeballs out.

2. Ever since delivery day, my OEM Brembos have felt soft in the pedal. They stop great and have excellent initial bite, but I feel like there's no pedal feedback at all.

This car sees a lot of aggressive highway driving and backroad bombing, but no track time as it's my daily/only driver and I can't afford to stuff it into the SAFER. For those of you who have made the switch from OEM to 5.0s, is the pedal firmer than stock and is the initial bite comparable?

Agreed, the stock Brembos (while better than the stock non-Brembos) were soft and lacked pedal feel. With the HPS 5.0 pads, initial bite was HARD. I had to relearn the brake pedal, because there was more grab than with the stock pads, and what I used to press to slow down, was causing appreciable nose dive and almost insta-stop properties. The pedal itself felt better, because of the initial bite, but I wouldn't say it was any firmer. There was just more feel.

 

[lsxjunkie]

Thanks. Ordered. They're 20% off w/ free shipping at Tire Rack right now.