JPS02

I have an '01 Firehawk with 46K miles and I need to change the front and rear rotors and pads. I was hoping to get some advice on the best performance pads and rotors combination.

I don't race my Firehawk, it's mainly street driving and it's all stock right now. I might do some moderate mods later, but nothing crazy. I drive it five days a week and I am looking for the best stopping power with a controlled amount of brake dust since I have the chrome 17" Firehawk rims. I do not want to change the calipers but I want to do this once and do it right.

The OE GM parts are only $200 cheaper than the following Brembo cross-drilled rotors and Hawk pads I found on TireRack. Is this the best set up to install? I was told to stay aware from ceramic if I want the best stopping power, is this true? Is there a cheaper place to get them from?

1. Hawk Hi Performance Street 5.0 brake pads
2. Brembo Sport Drilled rotors

http://www.tirerack.com/brakes/resul...1&autoModClar=

Also, I want to bleed the system and the GM dealership will only use GM Dot 3 brake fluid. Is this the best fluid to use?

Should I install braided lines? Goodrich has a kit on TireRack's site.

TIA!

J.P.

farmington

iTrader: (14)

stay away from drilled rotors. I got new Bendix OEM type rotors from rock auto for $120. Using Hawk HPS pads

JTtransAM

I'm in the same boat as you, same rims. I was wondering the same thing since I'm due for new pads and rotors soon. If you do decide to do the calipers while you're at it, I'm pretty sure the c5 calipers with brackets works for these rims.

The Guz

iTrader: (8)

My dad daily drives his 02 Z28 and he went with centric rotors (blank carbon one's) with Wagner thermo quiets. It's a good combo and doesn't have a lot of brake dust. Those Hawk pads will drive you crazy with brake dust.

JPS02

Thanks everyone for the feedback. I am still doing some DD before I make the purchase.

Midnight02

iTrader: (8)

Here's the scoop -- drilled and slotted rotors on these cars should be viewed as an appearance mod.

If you're looking for best stopping power at the best price, stick with a blank rotor. Centric is good, Best Brand has a good reputation (however I have no experience) and I've had good experience with NAPA Premium rotors (even with the demands of a track car).

As for pads, you can stick cheap parts store ceramics and the rear and you'll be fine. You want a low dust pad here and don't have to worry about sacraficing stopping power because the bias on these cars is heavily weighted to the front.

I'll defer to others on the front pads. You want something more aggressive than a parts store ceramic on the front. I've run just about everything in the Hawk line -- I love the performance and feel of the pads, however they are terrible with brake dust. I haven't ran the Hawk 5.0, however they're supposed to offer similar/slightly better performance than the HPS pads (a good street pad) albeit via a different compound. I would ask around to see how bad the dust is.

dailydriver

Did they just recently come out with these to compete with the Stop Tech street performance pads??

While we're on the topic of Hawk brakes, has anyone here used their 'multi-sipe' rotors yet, and if so, how did they hold up, and did they get any stress risers/cracks in them from hard use?