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Old 02-02-2005, 01:37 AM   #38
BlackDeuceCoupe
The Great Ape
 
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Join Date: Sep 2001
Location: Skull Island
Posts: 774
Well, I've had these things on my ride for about a week - around 800 miles on them - and I'm perfectly happy...

This has been a weird week, I guess. I've driven on the street and on the highway (day 'n' night), in dry conditions (70 degress and sunshine), and in flood conditions (tornado warnings - hail - 1/4 mile visibility, et cetera) - you name it.

'Bite' is the word for these pads. Backing out of my driveway in reverse, stone cold, they screech like a banshee when you first apply the brakes - but that's it. After that, going down the street, they are perfectly quiet. So, what does that tell me? These aren't Grandpa's brakes! They are the 'real' thing...

When you use these things aggressively, mashing down the pedal, they'll make your CiViC stand up on the front-end, but they won't throw the bias off enough to lock-up the rear wheels, even though you can tell they're right on the verge. LoL! What a great feeling these things have! No stiff pedal - no fad - no nothing - they just feel great!

Having read a lot of threads about Hawks, during the last week, I would judge that HPS +'s are the way to go, if you are into Autocross and so forth. They are reportedly a great street/track crossover pad. Sure, HPS +'s dust your wheels like crazy, with corrosive effects on your alloy wheels, and make more noise, et cetera, but you gotta do what you gotta do. Hawk 'track pads' are supposed to be even worse for noise, dust, rotor wear, and pad wear, so I definitely wouldn't suggest going that route unless you're planning on going to Daytona or Le Mans. However, for steet use, regular HPS's should work just fine for you.

For street driving, I give Hawk HPS's two thumbs-up, so far! They are definitely several notches above OEM organics, and afford a noticeable and marked difference in performance, without any downside. The jury is still out on rotor wear. HPS's are supposed to be rotor-friendly, but I have a hard time believing that at this point. They work too good - something has to be wearing somewhere. Whatever! Rotors are cheap...

By all accounts, these pads are supposed to be very similar to Axxis Metalmasters, Porterfield R4S's, yada, yada, yada. Who knows? I haven't tried them all. All I know is I like these Hawk HPS's just fine...
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Posted by BlackDeuceCoupe - 2oo0 Honda CiViC FBP HX cOUPe
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