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Gotta say....Hawk HPS brake pads are......

Meghan54

Meghan54

Lifer
Exactly what they advertise them to be.



Just did a "complete" brake job on our Murano (pads and rotors) replacing the stock Nissan pads that were on the thing with Hawk HPS pads and they rock!


Stopping is definitely shorter, faster and have to use less pedal pressure. *Did the pad "upgrade" because the Murano is towing a 2500# boat/trailer and the original pads' performance in stopping was somewhat lacking.


Don't think I'll have any complaints about the Hawks.




That is all.


🙂
 
Definitely good pads. I need to get off my ass and do a real brake job on car #3. The brakes are just so mushy compared to the other two cars.
 
These look interesting. My brakes are getting about to the point to when I need to change them, and I wouldn't mind a bit more stopping power.
 
Not a huge fan of the HPS myself.. I prefer the Stoptech Street Performance ones now. Better cold-bite and don't dust as much.
 
Imported said:
Not a huge fan of the HPS myself.. I prefer the Stoptech Street Performance ones now. Better cold-bite and don't dust as much.
Click to expand...

I will probably be going with Porterfield R4S's next time - great experience with Porterfield pads on the race cars.
 
Brake Pad construction is a trade off. You don't want it to grab too much or it will set off your ABS. You don't want it to wear out the rotors too fast. You don't want it to be temperature sensitive either and lastly you want quiet. You really can't get all this in one pad even though pad manufacturers will tell you differently. The HPS stands for High Performance Street and has many of the same components as their racing pads. I've noticed the HPS are not consistant from cold to hot. Their bite is much different when hot. I prefer a consistant brake pad. Likewise, stopping should not really be a problem on any modern car with ABS.
 
jlee said:
I will probably be going with Porterfield R4S's next time - great experience with Porterfield pads on the race cars.
Click to expand...

If I keep my daily driver long enough for a brake pad change, I'll probably try those out. Also considering the Carbotech 1521s as I've liked their XP10/8 for the track.
 
I have Brembo pads right now. They work amazingly, but they like to squeak if you go too long without using them vigorously. They're also awfully dusty.
 
I have never used them. Will have to give a try.
I've always liked the higher end Napa brake parts that I've used for years on my cars.
 
Raizinman said:
Brake Pad construction is a trade off. You don't want it to grab too much or it will set off your ABS. You don't want it to wear out the rotors too fast. You don't want it to be temperature sensitive either and lastly you want quiet. You really can't get all this in one pad even though pad manufacturers will tell you differently. The HPS stands for High Performance Street and has many of the same components as their racing pads. I've noticed the HPS are not consistant from cold to hot. Their bite is much different when hot. I prefer a consistant brake pad. Likewise, stopping should not really be a problem on any modern car with ABS.
Click to expand...
ABS has nothing to do with stopping distance. It exists to prevent lockup which in turn allows you maintain control of the car.

Also, I've never heard of an aggressive pad setting off ABS. If anything my experience is crappy tires are more likely to set it off when they break loose under braking.
 
Hope they work okay for your application. From what I hear they literally fall apart when faced with high temps, and are considered a safety hazard in my 2800 pound S2000. The stock pads are way tougher. Part of what makes the HPS "feel" grippy when you first step on them cold is what makes them completely useless when you actually need fade resistance. They rely too much on surface interlocking and not enough on molecular bonding to generate friction. That's also why they eat rotors in daily driving.

So you get a lot of people going "wow, these are great!" the first time they step on them. Then they wonder why the brake pedal does nothing after a lap of hard driving. There are people who actually bend their pedal assemblies desperately trying to get these things to slow a car down.

Your mileage may vary. But I'd do three or four hard stops with that trailer from 55 MPH on a nice quiet road before I set off on any trips just to be sure.
 
NutBucket said:
ABS has nothing to do with stopping distance. It exists to prevent lockup which in turn allows you maintain control of the car.

Also, I've never heard of an aggressive pad setting off ABS. If anything my experience is crappy tires are more likely to set it off when they break loose under braking.
Click to expand...
Possibly what he's saying is that the aggressiveness of the pad can cause people to lock up the brakes (or rather, engage ABS) by accident.
 
Well, a couple of days with the pads and I'm happy. They act quite nice cold....no grabbing, very easy to modulate and don't act too aggressive at all. Hot...they stop nicely.



Took the boat out yesterday evening to test the pads out in the use I put them on....stopping the trailered boat in repeated stops. They worked very well and had no problems, again, with modulation, being too aggressive or setting off my ABS (?).
 
thomsbrain said:
Hope they work okay for your application. From what I hear they literally fall apart when faced with high temps, and are considered a safety hazard in my 2800 pound S2000. The stock pads are way tougher. Part of what makes the HPS "feel" grippy when you first step on them cold is what makes them completely useless when you actually need fade resistance. They rely too much on surface interlocking and not enough on molecular bonding to generate friction. That's also why they eat rotors in daily driving.

So you get a lot of people going "wow, these are great!" the first time they step on them. Then they wonder why the brake pedal does nothing after a lap of hard driving. There are people who actually bend their pedal assemblies desperately trying to get these things to slow a car down.

Your mileage may vary. But I'd do three or four hard stops with that trailer from 55 MPH on a nice quiet road before I set off on any trips just to be sure.
Click to expand...
Huh. I can honestly say I've never heard anything remotely close to this about HPS pads. People in Subaru circles seem to love them and they were huge upgrade over stock pads on our WRX.

That said, my wife and I tend to be very easy on our brakes. My Legacy GT had about 100k on the stock pads with lots of life left when I sold the car.

I guess I'll have to poke around some and see what other opinions I can find about these pads before I keep using them.
 
NutBucket said:
Huh. I can honestly say I've never heard anything remotely close to this about HPS pads. People in Subaru circles seem to love them and they were huge upgrade over stock pads on our WRX.

That said, my wife and I tend to be very easy on our brakes. My Legacy GT had about 100k on the stock pads with lots of life left when I sold the car.

I guess I'll have to poke around some and see what other opinions I can find about these pads before I keep using them.
Click to expand...

I've seen HPS and HP+ literally melt firsthand, but that was during track use (WRX). I've had HP+ severely fade on me at Road America (GTI). Exceed the 800 degrees they are designed for and they WILL melt. Same goes for any pad though, take it beyond it's limits/intended application and you will have problems.

That being said for street use with a small trailer they should be fine. HPS will exceed the bite and temp range of his stock pads. If the stock pads weren't melting for him, then the HPS won't.

I still use HPS for aggressive daily use. Hawk DTC-60 front and HP+ rear for the track. I haven't had any rotor wear problems with any Hawk pad and that includes track duty.
 
Meghan54 said:
Stopping is definitely shorter, faster and have to use less pedal pressure. *Did the pad "upgrade" because the Murano is towing a 2500# boat/trailer and the original pads' performance in stopping was somewhat lacking.

🙂
Click to expand...

This most likely would of happen with any pad/rotor combo because your old ones were shot. HPS pads for the nissan application seem to be hit or miss. Most get them because of less brake dust. A common complaint is a poor cold weather bite but great when warmed up. I had no beef with them but they are on the rear of the my G35 so i cant say if they are better or not.

HPS were $50-75, I used on my older maxima and later i went with Raybesto pads for $20-35. Comparing 3 month old pads, i cant tell the difference. Both were solid feeling.

Either way, a new brake pad will always outperform one thats near end of life.
 
Meghan54 said:
Well, a couple of days with the pads and I'm happy. They act quite nice cold....no grabbing, very easy to modulate and don't act too aggressive at all. Hot...they stop nicely.



Took the boat out yesterday evening to test the pads out in the use I put them on....stopping the trailered boat in repeated stops. They worked very well and had no problems, again, with modulation, being too aggressive or setting off my ABS (?).
Click to expand...

:thumbsup: Always pays to make sure any new brake setup is working before you really need it. 🙂 Happy trails!
 
thomsbrain said:
Hope they work okay for your application. From what I hear they literally fall apart when faced with high temps, and are considered a safety hazard in my 2800 pound S2000. The stock pads are way tougher. Part of what makes the HPS "feel" grippy when you first step on them cold is what makes them completely useless when you actually need fade resistance. They rely too much on surface interlocking and not enough on molecular bonding to generate friction. That's also why they eat rotors in daily driving.

So you get a lot of people going "wow, these are great!" the first time they step on them. Then they wonder why the brake pedal does nothing after a lap of hard driving. There are people who actually bend their pedal assemblies desperately trying to get these things to slow a car down.

Your mileage may vary. But I'd do three or four hard stops with that trailer from 55 MPH on a nice quiet road before I set off on any trips just to be sure.
Click to expand...

Not sure why anyone would use the HPS for track days - they're clearly not track pads but stock drop-ins.

They're fine for street driving, though like you mentioned a bit hard on the rotors. Compared to most stock pads, they're probably an upgrade though the S2000 has good factory pads so it wouldn't be an upgrade.

Not a fan of the HP+ either - ok for lapping days but so darned noisy.
 
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