Nighthawk04

iTrader: (2)

The HP+ is a nice pad but its full abilities can rarely ever get used on the street. Also, the HP+ takes longer to warm up than the HPS, which means that the HPS's initial cold bite for those of us who live up north will be much better than the HP Plus' initial cold bite. Lastly, given the more abrasive compound of the HP Plus, it will chew through rotors more quickly.

As far as the shims go, if they're coming loose just use more grease between the shim and pad.

TSX 3Pedal

It that price ($240 shipped) only for the front set? If so, how much for the rears also?

Thanks

Asahi

I've used both HP+ and HPS and neither has any significant need to be warmed up. Neither is a track specific pad and the biggest heat difference between an HPS and HP+ is that the plus will fade less at high temps.

The HP+ compound has never rapidly chewed up a rotor of mine and privide much better initial bite even in the winter. I'v run them year round and same with the HPS and the HPS just wasn't worth the money.

All of that said the Cobalt GT Sport has slightly better bite than the HP+, way better modulation and is easier on rotors. They also lasts longer.

Nighthawk04

iTrader: (2)

Damn, I ran HP+ pads with the Baer kit on my Eclipse and they killed the brand new 13"x1.1" rotor rings after 9,000 miles. Cold bite in the freezing Chicago winters was horrible until after I got 10 - 15 hard stops in. The HPS on the other hand has been used with a new set of the same rings for the past 15,000 miles and the rotors still have loads of thickness. Cold bite with the HPS is great initially and requires no hard stops.

I will say that the rotor break-in and the pad bed-in processes for both sets of rotor rings and both sets of Hawk pads was exactly the same. Almost the same external temperature, exact same test area, no part of break-in/bed-in process was significantly different.

In terms of the driving that I did, some stop-and-go, some highway, some autoX, I noticed a very little difference between pad performance at high temps..

Nighthawk04

iTrader: (2)

Yeah, $240 is just for the front. The same rotors and pads purchased through TireRack total just around $310, so average savings is about $70. As far as rear PowerSlots and HPS pads go, I'm not sure how much they cost. I'll shoot her a PM to try to get the price.

dom

Moda, did you go with Cross drilled Brembo's? Tirerack has a Bembo replacement rotor for $57 each, I'm guessing thats what you purchased?

Also wondering if anyone knows who makes the OEM rotors. Mine are warped to high hell as well and I want to be absolutely sure I don't buy the same rotors.

Nighthawk04

iTrader: (2)

I just got the price from PPS for rear PowerSlots and Hawk HPS's.....$158.13 shipped! Same combo costs $221.44 shipped through TireRack. $63.31 savings for the rears + $53.66 savings for the front = $117 cheaper via PPS than TireRack.

Bill Hook

There's obviously a temp diff btwn. SE TN and Chicagoland. Andie Lin of Cobalt mentioned to me that he rates Ferodo DS2500 as probably the best cold temp high-performance pad with axxis ultimates and gt-sports less about equal for cold temperature stopping. I've found that gt-sports can take temps into the teens w/ little incident, but I adjust my driving accordingly. I do believe HPS will take about OEM operating temp ranges, whereas high-performance pads are pretty much not very good below freezing. Temp. can affect adherent vs. abrasive friction and cause differences in wear.

Asahi

I suppose the pad temps would only e evident on track with extended use. I've actually ashed a set of HPS's on my Integra Type-R and put over 30,000 miles on a set of HP+.

I still like the Cobalt GT Sport the best. I called Andie at Cobalt tonight and he said he thought the GT SPorts for the TSX were readily available. He's supposed to send me an email now that he is back in town and let me know pricing and such.

Asahi

Dom, before you bother replacing the rotors try scuffing the rotor on both sides with a coarse sand paper. Warpage is often misdiagnosed when it is actually uneven pad material transfer onto the rotor allowing different grabbing forces.

The scuffing should remove the material and allow the pad to re-bed.

Asahi

ALways good advice from Bill and I've only been here for a week

moda_way

Yeah, I went with the plain vented Brembos up front. I just found the part number for the rear solids from Brembo. Took them a while.

As far as OEM, I'm sure Honda Japan has a contract with some... and I'm 99.99% sure it ISN'T brembo based on the cooling profile of my new brembo fronts.

dom

After doing dome reading around here yesterday I'll probly have the rotors machined and have new pads put on before going to new rotors. The rotors I have on only have 20K on them so I'd hope there still useable.

Bill Hook

I use Garnet paper, as I've heard that aluminum oxide can actually stick to the rotor in sufficient quantity to become loci for judder and noise issues, even after being cleaned off with solvents like acetone, isopropanol, etc. Al oxide is okay for sanding pads, AFAIK, as many already contain it in their formulations.

Bill Hook

Machining, as you probably well know, reduces mass of the rotor. If the rotor has pad smearing issues, then you've prematurely "worn" out some of the rotor's life by machining and created an increased likelihood of thermal stress from the reduced mass, probably leading to more pad smearing issues as the rotor runs even hotter. If unchecked, these smearing issues will differentially "temper" the rotor so that some areas are harder than others and wear less, becoming high spots, thus leading to even more judder. This difference in temper goes fairly deep and can't be machined away, as the brakes will start wearing unevenly as soon as they're back in use.

Sometimes machining works, but I either just sand or junk my rotors.