DriveATransAm

i have newer rotors- sure stops, changed the front pads at the same time-hawks hps pads. i flushed the fluid- put the high temp blue stuff back in. this was all done cause i was getting a wierd vibration on the pedal on highway speeds. turned out to be a wheel problem. well, at any rate, i dont think my car stops adequetly on the expressway. i can get on the brakes hard enough to smell brake dust, but the car just doesnt seem to stop quickly from high speeds. is there any solution that doesnt involve a 2K dollar brake upgrade

SLowETz

iTrader: (12)

How's the pedal feel? Try re-bleeding the system again. Sometimes it takes a 2nd bleed to get all the air out. Good luck

trackbird

iTrader: (4)

We just put those pads on a 99 Mustang GT (a friends car) and they worked great, even from high speed and that car has 10.8 inch front rotors and little tiny rears (and weighs within 100 lbs of an f-body). Once those pads are bedded in, they work extremely well for an aggressively driven street car. A few weeks after upgrading the pads, my friend decided to lower the car and add Cobra front brakes (13" rotors) and didn't like the feel of the cobra brakes at first, we swapped on a set of Hawk HPS pads and it really stops now. It is not quite like a full race pad (I've used several), but it is close (for street duty) and makes reasonable dust (and that dust comes off the wheels).

Just my experience....

sawedoff

iTrader: (3)

I was having the same problem on my 150+mph jaunts on the highway. My car just wasn't satisfying me either on the "******* slow-down thing." So I went with Goodrigdge G-Stop steel braided teflon brake lines, that I got from the Tire Rack. That helped get rid of the spongy pedal. Next I knew that because on my 1LE, I had a pretty stock brake system, I couldn't use a super aggressive pad. So, I went with the Raybestos Brute Stop pads. They aren't the regualr service replacement pad that Raybestos sells. They are in use by the Secret Service motor pool, many ambulances use them, as well as police motor pools. These are not race pads, and they say that on the box. They are for severe duty use. These did help a bunch. I also am using a racing brake fluid called Neo Synthetic Super Dot, that boils at 610 degrees. I flush once a year. These things have helped my problem, and I can attest that they have helped in many highspeed car chases in the wee hours of the mornin' when the "man" (law) would light up my rear view mirror because I cruised by him at 150mph and he was a sore sport becuase he was a mile or two back and couldn't keep up. Drop me a private email, and I'll be glad to help you.

Guardsman

I have the HPS', and I have the same problem. They stop alright at moderate speed and brake apply, but when I stand on them, they almost give up.

Funny thing, though, is that at low speeds and hard brake apply, they will override the ABS and lock the wheels up. I'll feel the ABS kick once or twice, and then sliding. I have slid into two intersections because of it.

I've been asking about this, and they seem to be hit and miss. Apparently, the Hawk HP Plus pads are supposed to be better (makes me wonder why they sell the HPS' then).

When I put the HPS' on, I also installed stainless brake lines, and flushed the entire system.

trackbird

iTrader: (4)

That is strange. On the '99 GT, there was very little fade during a couple of back to back stops from 135 MPH (No, I wasn't driving. I wasn't even around, I got the report after they were tested....I didn't ask.....). I'm not sure what the problem is with your HPS pads, because they worked extremely well on the tiny stock 10.9 inch Mustang rotors and really well on the 13" cobra rotors. I will say I didn't expect them to hold up to "135mph abuse", but it appears that they did well. I won't say that they are "race ready", but you really don't want to drive on race pads every day (ask me how I know....), but they are every bit as good (under street conditions....even fast ones) as far as I'm concerned.

Just my experience....

trackbird

iTrader: (4)

A couple questions.

How did you "bed in" the pads? Did you just install them and drive them? Did you progressively heat cycle them as they broke in (a series of stops from 30 and then 50-60 mph)? You may have glazed them before they seated....but usually a series of hard stops from 30 will start to correct that (5-6 stops from 30 to 5, don't actually stop...)

The HP+ is a "dual purpose" pad. It is claimed to be suitable for "lapping days" and moderate track use. It is also more aggressive, works slightly "less well" when cold, will make more dust, noise and increase rotor wear. There is no free lunch (my race pads destroy rotors, but it stops like it hit a brick wall). Many people don't want to "chew up rotors" (and certainly not if they spent a million bucks on Eradispeeds) so they would not be happy at all with those pads.

The HPS will have a higher initial "bite" than the stock pads. This is why you are sliding into intersections on the abs. But, as they get hot, they will start to taper off (lose bite) which is why you "can't stop" from 140. It is a bit of an illusion, the car has "evil brakes" around town but on the interstate (or where ever....I'll not ask) at 140 mph, they suddenly feel less aggressive and "the car won't stop". I suspect that they will stop your car every bit as well as stock pads (if you started measuring distances). I think your braking problem may just be the result of the "friction curve" (the graph of pad friction at each temperature....tapering off on the hot end) of the pads.

Or, you have a more serious braking issue and it needs to be checked thoroughly and soon.

Just my thoughts....

Eric 02z

Your stock breaks will stop that car hard...122 from 100. Going to a HPS or HP+ pad will help that but also remember if you have 5" tires on the front that is not gonnna matter.

Are you running 11's with a 275 tire ??

Guardsman

I bedded them per Hawk's instructions, took them out on a back road, and did some easy 35 mph stops, then some nice hard stops from higher speeds. They worked alright for a few days, but even then, I noticed that they reacted differently than other pads I'd used, i.e., less braking at high speed, but the torque increased really fast as speed decreased.

I've never had any pads behave like this before, and I've used Raybestos Ceramic Stops (what I had before the HPSs, and they're adequate, but I wanted something a little better) and Super Stops (stop like a champ, but they wear out in no time, and squeal like a SOB....wear and noise were so bad, I ran mine to the backing plates. They were so noisy, I couldn't notice the difference between the wear indicator and the pad (snapped one of the indicators clean off), and they wore out in half the time of any other pads I'd had, so I wasn't expecting them to wear out. Good thing I had good rotors, I used them for one more set).

Anyhow, these HPSs scare the crap out of me. I first noticed their "shortcomings" when I was going downhill at about 60 or 70 mph, coming up on a sharp 90*+ turn, and I got on the brakes, and it felt like they turned to wax. I was literally standing on the brake pedal, I could feel it flexing, but the car barely slowed down. Then, the sliding into intersections started happening, again, something I've never had happen before.

I'm used to running at street speeds in town (35-50mph), and being able to hit the brakes, and make hard turn into a driveway, etc. Not with these. I tried that once, and at first, the pads didn't want to stop, so I was heading for the curb, and got on them hard. Then, they locked the wheels up. I came within a couple of feet of running up the curb.

Again, I've done this type of driving before, without any problems, and with various types of pads. They makes the transition form barely slowing the car, to locking the wheels up, very fast, so there is no time to react to the change in friction. If the change was more gradual, they'd be easier to live with, but they've given me too many pucker moments, so they're coming off the first chance I get to change pads.

Maybe I got a set that has a bad temperature/friction curve??

Anyhow, I had used some KVR Carbon Kevlar on the front of my other Camaro, and I really liked the way they stopped, so I'm going to try a full set of the KVR pads, or Porterfield R4S', I'm debating which brand. A little difference in price, but not much (around $70 difference for a full set).

trackbird

iTrader: (4)

Hmmm.

I thought the problem could be that you were not used to a pad with such aggressive initial bite. Those grab pretty well when you first get on the pedal. They will teach you not to just "mash the brakes" real quick (you will be sliding, as you already know). At higher speeds they feel more like a stock pad, but they do seem to get a little more aggressive as you slow down. I have really liked them so far (the times I've driven that car). I know that Glitch77 on here just installed a set and seems to really like them (On a Z-28). I run Carbotech Panther XP's all the time, so the HPS don't seem that aggressive to me (the seem "perfect"). I'm not sure how to explain your pads....

Guardsman

DriveATransAm...sorry, I mean to hijack your thread, but I'm having (it seems) the same, or least a similar problem with the same pads. I don't know, maybe we got the one out of a thousand sets that have a glitch? Or a lot that got a bad batch of friction material??