Hey fellas,
During my search to fins the best street and autocross brake setup (pads/lines/rotors), I seem to have a large brick wall (ouch...).

I had another post asking for comparisons between the Hawk HP+ and HPS pad, and I recieved mixed results. Some said that the HP+ is just too much for the street and others said that the HPS won't perform nearly as well in an autocross.
Well, now things are more complicated. I e-mailed Andy Lin at carbotech engineering the same questions and he suggested the Axxis Ultimate pads for the fronts (G2s get the shaft on all good rear brake pads). I have not heard a thing about these. I assume that they are in the same class as the Hawk HP+/HPS pads, but I don't know the specific optimal heat range, bite, or average wear. Hopefully Andy will read this and give some additional insight. But if not, could someone gives me the specifications for these pads? I think that they are relatively new, so I guess there won't be many responses from personal use (I could be wrong).

I guess it's down to this:
Brembo OEs, Goodridge SS lines (I may decide to use shrinkwrap tubing later, but many say it's unnecessary), and on of these pads.

Are the Axxis pads too much for the street? Or too little for the autocrosses?

Hehe...thanks for any assistance.

 

Sorry to clutter this post since I've never used the Axxis pads, but the Hawk HP-Plus pads are a wonderful street/autocross pad for meduim weight cars. They're very streetable.

 

the HP+'s aren't really that bad on the street. i just swap 'em out at the end of the season. i run axxis metal masters now during the winter but they kinda suck. heat up too quickly for my tastes. but i am switching to EX brakes, so those get to sit around and wait for when they go onto the 77 civic.

 

Au contraire
I would like to hear comments about any of the 3 pads. If they are all evenly matched then it may come down to the price.

Rexman: do you mean the summer season or the track/autocross season?

 

The Axxis Metal Masters pads are absolutely terrible IMO and aren't even worth putting on. Stick with your stock pads before going to those.

There are a myriad of other pads I'd recommend before them.

Porterfield R4S & Hawk HP-Plus just to name a couple.

 

I am a big fan of the HP+ pad for autocross/street use. The HP+ dust a lot, they squeal (though for whatever reason, they are now dead silent. maybe it's the cold weather?) and are harder on rotors than a stock pad. However, you'll be able to brake hard enough on the autocross course to lay nice, fat bruises across your shoulders that look suspiciously like your seatbelt/harness. I would not want any more stopping power on the autocross course. If it's cold out, the first 1-2 stops will feel like stock pads. After that, they bite very hard and have a high enough heat range that I very seriously doubt you will ever fade them on an autocross course. I'm a pretty aggressive left-foot braker, and even running 2 laps of a banked 1/3 mile oval, I never managed to fade them even left-foot braking through much of the turns. They won't cut it on a roadcourse, but for autox/street... if you don't mind the dust and noise, I highly recommend them.

 

I was looking for the best pads for street and autocross. I feel the best option(for me) might just be to keep the stock pads and get nice race pads for autocross/track. It isn't too difficult to change them when there is an event.
But your situation is a bit different since you want to get the full set-up.

I posted a topic awhile back about brakes and it was very helpful. you should check it out!

 

Portfield R-4S

great street/auto-x pad

Get the R-4 for a track event though
and then switch to R-4S when on the street

 

Most nice race pads won't be very autox friendly. IE, Hawk Blues, Carbotech P+ etc. At least, there are better options available. Autox pads won't cope with open track, ie Hawk HP+, Porterfield R4S. Another autox option is the Carbotech Kelated Metallic. I haven't heard a whole lot from users of that product but CarbotechAndie can educate you on that as much as you'd like

 

So i if you had to choose between Hawk HP+ pads or Axxis Ultimate pads (which no one seems to know anything about ) for street autocross, what would it come down to?

Also, I won't be able to have a dedicated track/street setup.

Please keep the info coming.

 

Simply from the advice I've gotten from Andie and everyone else, I would suggest Hawk HP+. I have heard nothing amazing about Axxis Ultimate pads and Hawk is both a reputable company and a company who has some strong proponents for the HP+ pads.

 

We are not talking about the Axxis Metal Master...this is the Axxis Ultimate...a completely different product. And yes, I agree, Axxis Metal Masters don't shake a stick at the other compounds mentioned.

The reason no one has heard anything good (or bad) about the Axxis Ultimate (NOT the Metal Master), is because it has not been available in the United States until very recently...it is a completely new product from Bendix of Australia.

The Hawk HP+ is a good street/auto-x compound, yes, but I feel it is also noisy and dusty. Our Carbotech Kelated Metallic is a dedicated auto-x compound, and is not recommended for street use. Before we started carrying the Axxis Ultimate, I recommended the Hawk HP+ for street/auto-x use (and still do for those applications that Axxis does not manufacture in the Ultimate compound). However, if the Axxis Ultimate is available for your vehicle, I recommend it over the Hawk HP+. Again, both are good compounds...the Axxis Ultimate will be quieter and less dusty, as well as more rotor friendly.

Andie


[Modified by CarbotechAndie, 2:01 AM 1/2/2002]

 

Consider the Porterfields (R4S) pads. Good bite when cold. Definitely will handle higher heat than the stock pads. I agree that they are not quite up to track use.

 

Hmmm...I might give these Axxis pads a try, and if they don't quite hold up to my standards then it's a learning experience and everyone will benefit from my mistake (and also send $5 each so I can get a set of HP+s) .

Andie: would you say that the Axxis Ultimate pads will perform as well as the HP+s on an autocross?

Thanks for all the info...




[Modified by GSpeedR, 12:55 AM 1/4/2002]

 

HPS or HP+... Also Ferodo makes a nice pad too if you can get them in the states ...DS2000's nice all around pad 0-550 C rating

 

The Hawk HP Plus will have somewhat more initial bite than the Axxis Ultimate, but the Axxis Ultimate is more streetable: more rotor friendly, less dust and noise, very similar stopping power, better cold stopping power, etc.

Either are good choices for aggressive street/auto-x. I haven't compared pricing to the HP Plus, but the Axxis Ultimates are very affordable, ranging from $55-$69 for the fronts, and $45-60 for the rears, depending on the application.

Regards,

Andie Lin

 

Andie: I've sent you an e-mail.