Should I buy 2 sets for front and back, or just one set for only the front Brembo brakes? If so, what pads should I use for the rear brakes?

 

Neither.

Read up on Hawk HPS/HP+. Lots of noise complaints.

I have not used them, but would not touch them with a 10-foot pole based on overall user reviews/comments.

However, some do like them and have minimal noise complaints; although those people seem to be in the minority.

 

I actually am using them currently . It's been 10k miles, and they're starting to really screech, and I don't want to damage my rotors so yeah.

Do you have any suggestions? I don't mind noise much (it is a plus if there is no noise though), I just want maximum stopping power for the money.

 

Besides better tires ....


Racing Brake ET Series (300 or 500) or StopTech.


Contact vendors Excelerate or Mr HeelToe.

You probably don't need rear pads. If they're quiet and have life left, I'd leave 'em be. Something like 70% of brake force goes to the fronts.

 

I would roll the Akebono pro act. I put those on 2 cars so far and they are great.

 

oops they only make rear

 

dont forget SS brake lines as the oem one are rubber and over time they expand when you brake,. SS ones cant expand there for over time you wont get the spongy brake fade feel.

 

But would I get the same pads for rear if I were to change them? I assume I need to change them because all four wheels are noisy when braking, and it's a pretty awful sound (high pitched, so no grinding as of yet, but want them changed just to be safe).

 

Consider the stoptech street performance pads. I like them for daily driving. Not much different than oem except half the price and slightly less dust. I am local to you, you can check out how my car brakes with them if you'd like.

 

I went EBC green stuff all at one time and they've been great for the past 2 years.

 

Thanks guys, I will look into it.

No one has answered whether I need 2 sets of the same or 2 sets of different pads for front and rear lol.

 

^ I would go with a matched set if replacing all pads. The big question is: do you really need the rears yet? If not, then wait on buying the rear pads. I have to agree with the comments on those Hawk pads. I had the LTS pads (made of same compound as HPS) and those suckers screeched at low speeds really bad. A high pitch squeal that drove my wife nuts but I was oblivious to. Went back to OEM pads and no problems.

I bought the Hawk HP Ceramic and will be installing them this next year.

Good luck!

 

Does the type s brake pads fit 04 tl with brembos?

 

^^^yes sir.

 

I used to run hawk hps on the rear of my race prepped FC3S, and hawk blue on the fronts. These are very smooth quiet pads...after about 5 hard laps. Oh, and I ended up wearing out rotors as quickly as pads. These are racing pads that need to be hot to work properly. FWIW I'll be going with the stoptech on my TL.

 

I had hawks and I got rid of them. Worst pads for the money for daily driving... They were always loud and never grabbed unless is was scorching hot.

Ppl don't understand that good pads don't mean good all the time. They mean they are good when u are racing, which is never for my CL lol... So I buy just crappy base line stop tech/powerslot pads and they have lasted almost two years now and are less than half done.

 

I just got hps pads and love them so far. Before when braking from 80 to 50 they would over heat and shake. Not anymore, and I did multiple high speed stops to bed them in.

 

U live in virginia, it gets cold.. When winter comes u will see how little brakes u have. Unless my car is just shitty lol... Winter brakes just don't bite u gotta put like 3xs the pressure to get the same bite.. Super frustrating for me at least

 

+1 for stoptechs pads/rotors. Only fronts where needed at the time but I bought the set from one of our vendors here (excelerate.com). Much cheaper than my local dealership even after I include shipping + labour.

 

I've had HPS and HP+ on an RSX before. I dont find them to be that bad in the winter.

The HPS barely makes any noise. I find they make noise after you heat them up. Nothing compared to the noise of the HP+

HP+ makes a very loud noise all the time.

 

I have a 07 tl s. and I just put stoptech pads on my this weekend and they work good. no squeaking yet (knock on wood) hopefully they wont

 

Those are the pads I got on my car and never once have made any sort of noise.... Ever.

I don't even use lube on the shims for the pads. I find it collects dirt, gums up then actually causes everything to bind once the pad is half worn in. I have done this for 5 years now and no ill effects.

I dunno about you guys but ever time I buy pads regardless of the brand they are too tight and won't slide into position in the caliper without force... I always grind down the ends of the pad tabs till all he paint is gone and u see fresh metal.... Then they slip into the caliper gracefully and still don't have a hair of wiggle room. I had to do this with other aristo, ford f150 , cobalt, honda accord..... U name it... I dunno why it does not just fit properly cause if u just ouch them in it will lead to binding, extra heat and premature wearing of everything.

P.s make sure the rear caliper sliders are not binding...

Two days ago I found my rear caliper sliders were almost seized and I was just able to pull them out and save them.... This also will lead to I ever pad wear... Where the front pad grinds down more and on an angle.... And so I needed to get new pads to correct that, or else it Would pooch the rotor

 

I would never run Hawk pads for the street or for the strip. There are too many better pads for the money. You can get the same or better performance without the downsides (noise, cold weather grip, rotor wear, etc). The Hawk name is very well known but it's kind of like the Optima of the brake world.

Just remember that pads have no effect on stopping distances, tires do. The pads will help with brake fade after repeated hard stops and noise and all of the other stuff mentioned but not stopping distances. There's no advantage to the high performance pads unless you're fading your stock pads.

The rears run just about as hot as the fronts on these cars so if a high performance pad is needed on the front, it should be used in the rear too. I've had the rears over 1,000F.

If the pads require excessive heat to stop squeaking and then the squeak comes back after a day or two of normal driving, they're too aggressive for your use. A transfer layer has to be laid down on the rotor for proper performance and wear reduction. This layer requires heat to be laid down and if the pads are too aggressive you never end up with a transfer layer. The rotors will be very shiny, an almost mirror finish. Rotor and pad wear will be excessive, several times higher than if there was a transfer layer. The most common symptom of a lack of a transfer layer is noise during braking that will go away for a while after your work them hard.

10,000 miles of street use is way to quick for a set of pads to wear out. Something is mis-matched.

A BBK is a way around all of the tradeoffs. You can run a more street friendly pad with it and still have better fade resistance than stock brakes with a more aggressive pad. The initial cost is pretty high but you can get better performance without the tradeoffs.

 

I had Hawk ceramics and they SUCKED. Noisy, horrible bite, quick to fade. No experience with HPS, but I'll never try another Hawk pad. EBC Reds were better than the Hawk ceramic. Currently running RB ET500 and they're the best of the three.

 

I have Hawk HPS on '07 TLS. They squeek sometimes when light on the brakes at slow speed. They have lasted 40k+ so far as a daily driver.