All of the following pads were used with the OE rotors and calipers. After approximately 8 track days and 40,000 street miles, I finally replace the front rotors with another OE set.
Hawk HPS Brake pads
I started off with Hawk HPS pads since the car was a daily driver and track time was limited to the occasional autocross. These pads showed a mild improvement over OE. They were just as quiet but produced noticeably more dust than the stock pads. They had slightly higher initial bite than stock, but seemed to overheat and fade just as fast. At less than $110 per axle, they are a great entry level alternative to stock.
Hawk HP Plus
With track days becoming more frequent, I needed something to help with the fade that occurred after only 10 hot laps on a road course. Billed by Hawk as “autocross and club race worthy” I went through a single set of Hawk HP Plus pads and found them to be a noticeable improvement over the HPS. They clearly had more friction on initial engagement but something about the torque curve didn’t feel right to me. They would dig in hard for the first few seconds but they seemed to not want to grip any harder with additional pedal pressure. They also succumbed to a fair amount of fade after 15 hot laps. At only $130 per axle, I would recommend that anyone with a daily driver simply skip the HPS and use the HP Plus pads instead. With only a bit more brake dust and only a few squeaks now and then, these represent the best price for performance I can imagine for a street ride that also visits the track once in a while.
Performance Friction 01
When the Corvette was no longer needed as a daily currier, I moved to Performance Friction’s 01 compound. A few laps at Laguna Seca and it was clear these pads are in another league. They had greater initial bite and the high friction seemed to extend deeper and deeper as the brake pedal was asked to keep turn 8 from turning into an off track excursion. Lap after lap these pads proved to be consistent and easy to modulate with little to no fade, even after a 20+ lap session. Noted as one of the most popular club racing pad, it’s easy to see why. They carry a far higher heat operating range than the HP Plus and warm up after only 2 laps, yet don’t seem to be overly brutal on rotors. I have yet to autocross with these pads, so I’m not sure how they’ll perform when cold, but from daily driving my guess is that they will be slow to warm up and wont serve as an ideal pad for cold laps like that of a short autocross. Stopping distance on the street at low speeds is greater than the with the Hawks, they simply don’t like to be cold.
Dust is far greater than any other pad I’ve used, my street wheels show significant darkening after only a week of short drives around the block. Noise is also very obvious. These pads talk to you at pretty much any temperature while daily driving, mostly a light squeal when coming to a stop with gentle pedal pressure. Once up to track temperature they are either nearly silent or produce a more distinct metal on metal grinding sound. I’ve used these for two track days, or about 200 hot laps and for several months of spirited street driving on short trips. They are just now sitting at 1.5mm of material and ready for their first replacement set. Amazon currently carries the best price, around $280 for the front pads, manufacture part number 0731.01.15.44. I’m currently running OE Z06 pads in the rear but will likely move to these same 01 pads as well when they are used up.
It’s worth noting that these pads were installed at the same time as a basic duct system was added to my front rotors, so the lack of fade and overall improved track performance is surely a combination of the two items.
