74 replies to this topic

[Alex Bolanos]

You know what they say opinions are like A%$*&le's everyone has one, So I will share mine. I run the blues front and rear, I try not to use them often but when I do they are there. I like to trail brake and do not find it difficult to modulate them at all. I like to late brake when I need to and they are good in that department. They wear like Iron for me. I can almost get a season out of them.

I did also try the carbo's and did not like them, took to much pedal pressure to stop the car and messed up my pedal alignment on heal toe. I did not get much life out of them either.

I personally do not care what kind of dust a pad throws off, its a race car to me not a show piece, and since rotors only cost 20.00 I could care if they are hard on rotors. When I uses to track a P Car yeas ago, I was concerned about rotors when the cost me 350.00 each.

I may try the DT 60 this year at some point as I am continually trying to use as little brake as I can. I have said for awhile now, the only difference between me and my competitors who are faster is that they use less brake than I do.

This is my experience as well. Blues front and rear, never really had a reason to switch. I've driven cars with Cobalts and immediately remove them as I enjoy things like modulation and pedal length which they don't provide. I may try the DTC60/30 combo for research purposes.

[Sphinx]

One piece of advice that I learned the hard way. If you ever think you've got the wrong brake pad on, make sure that it isn't a bad caliper. I had professional racecar engineer watch my video and diagnosed my spins at 10A at Road Atlanta as being due to too much brake bias to the rear. So, I went from blue/blue to blue/blacks. Turned out that it was a stuck brake caliper. Right symptom, wrong diagnosis.

Will need more seat time before I get that one figured out as far as which rear pad I prefer.

[iambhooper]

+1 on the ST43's! I ran them on the CRX for year's, and put them on the SM as soon as the Hawk's wore out. They wear great!

[Tom Sager]

We test brakes almost every year and will so again this year to figure out what works best with the Hoosier.

I agree we might find on the SCCA side that the tire change might cause a bunch to try other pads and potentially switch.

[Gatoratty]

I have been using the Hawk DTC-60 front and DTC-30 rear and like the modulation and the wear. They also seem to be good on the rotors. Hawk has just started selling rotors as well.

[Clayton L]

Man, I am more confused now than I was when I first started reading this thread. I have no opinion yet as I'm looking for my FIRST set. I may just stick to Hawk Blues as it seems like everyone has used them initially.

[William Bonsell]

Man, I am more confused now than I was when I first started reading this thread. I have no opinion yet as I'm looking for my FIRST set. I may just stick to Hawk Blues as it seems like everyone has used them initially.

Don't be confused. Any race application pad will do the job. It's just going to come down to what is best for you as you gain more experience and how much are you willing to spend. I used Carbo's my first year, but switched to Hawks this year., Just like them better. I run Blues for sprints but switch to blacks for enduros. But you know, it's all good!!

Bill-

[dstevens]

Man, I am more confused now than I was when I first started reading this thread. I have no opinion yet as I'm looking for my FIRST set. I may just stick to Hawk Blues as it seems like everyone has used them initially.

The take away from the thread for you should be that you'll have to try some to see what's best for you. Lots of people start with Blues. I've made my first set DTC 60/30 because that's what I know from circle track. Might be that I change to something else later on, who knows. If you haven't raced before your learning curve is going to be much more involved than the nuances of the different pads.

[Blake Thompson]

I have been using the Hawk DTC-60 front and DTC-30 rear and like the modulation and the wear. They also seem to be good on the rotors. Hawk has just started selling rotors as well.

i tried the 60/30 combo early this year and while I was more comfortable in the car I found I was .2/s faster on the 60/60. Why did you chose that combo?

[jordonmusser]

We have tested a TON in our Grand-Am/ World Challenge Camaros. Our favorites were Pagid and Cobalt, but when you add in the service and support Cobalt offers it was a no brainer for us. The guys over there worked with us to fine tune the compounds to be perfect for a tricky brake system (same size rotors front and rear, no bias adjustment, heavy car, decent power and sticky tires). We actually started developing pad compounds with Cobalt for our customer-cars and only ONE person of dozens of people we have switched over has had anything negative to say. And I have my opinions on why he didnt like them :-p We sell a lot of cobalt mail order with rave reviews.

But like others have said, any of the listed pads/compounds will get you around the track safely and quickly. Or I guess since we are talking brakes, slowly?

[trey]

From this discussion and threads on the old site , sounds like I may need to try some Cobalts

Somebody confirm my assumptions :

- I'm currently on the Hawk DTC / HT Combo , not sure what was on the car when I bought it , but it suited me better
- I'm not a fan of the outstanding initial bite , but I do like the modulation and release
- I'm struggling with front lock up / flat spots
- I feel like I'm overslowing the car on the Hawks
- I spent many years in SRF , pads on SRF require much more pedal pressure than anything I've driven on a miata
- Yes , I trail brake , so I need something that you can modulate and has smooth release

My experience has been that there is substantial time to be gained in finding a pad that works for your style. When I was in formula cars , I remember picking up 1.5 seconds by going from a pad with high initial bite to a pad with less bite all around.

Is the Cobalt my pad , or should I try something else ?

[Caveman-kwebb99]

IMO cobalt has the highest initial bite but is great for modulation.

[Jim Boemler]

I had a lot of the same impressions you describe, and found that HP Plus suited me very well. People will pooh-pooh them as a "street" pad, but they held up nicely for me.

[trey]

IMO cobalt has the highest initial bite but is great for modulation.

More bite than the Hawks ? ... Scratch that .... What do I need ?

Jim , I used the HP+ on a dual purpose car , but never considered it for a race application ... I will say this , they were great on a 99 street car ( heavy ) , maybe that's an option , but in ITA we need to be able to outbrake non miata competitors because there's no way were going to beat them on the straights

[Ron Alan]

but in ITA we need to be able to outbrake non miata competitors because there's no way were going to beat them on the straights

aaaaah...i think our goals are the same in SM

[Gatoratty]

Started with Hawk Blue/black pads, then tried the DTC-60/30. Like the modulation better and the wear is great. Tried the DTC-60/HT-10 combo and went back to DTC-60/30. I have a set of DTC-60 rears I may try next.

[trey]

So , which of the common SM pads are have the least initial bite and still provide the driver with solid modulation and release ?

[Rob Burgoon]

So , which of the common SM pads are have the least initial bite and still provide the driver with solid modulation and release ?

Carbotechs I think are what you're asking for.

[Gatoratty]

I was told by the Hawk engineer at PRI to try the 60/30 combination for the Miata. Tom Fowler had also tested pads and had arrived at the same result. Hawk made a custom set of HT-10 rear pads for me when I had more rear pad wear than the front. Didn't like the feel so went back to the 30 for the rear. I am having some rear end wiggle under heavy braking into the hairpin at Sebring and might try the 60 rears to see what happens. Hawk service is great and their engineers will work with you if you can give them feedback and rotor temps etc. I now use Hawk pads on my street 99 and my 99 Dodge 2500 diesel and am really pleased with the results.

i tried the 60/30 combo early this year and while I was more comfortable in the car I found I was .2/s faster on the 60/60. Why did you chose that combo?

[Caveman-kwebb99]

More bite than the Hawks ? ... Scratch that .... What do I need ?

Jim , I used the HP+ on a dual purpose car , but never considered it for a race application ... I will say this , they were great on a 99 street car ( heavy ) , maybe that's an option , but in ITA we need to be able to outbrake non miata competitors because there's no way were going to beat them on the straights

I use Cobalts, as I have said several places throught the forum it took some getting used to them but now I love them. I used them in the PTE NASA national championships, I could out brake almost everything on the track. There is no way I could have gone nearly as deep with Carbotechs. My suggestion is to try Hawk Blue and see if you still need more initial bite. If you want more initial bite than the Blues then change to Cobalts xr3 front and xr5 rear.