I have the Cobalt GTS pads front and rear along with Brembo blank rotors all around. Normally they would squeal during the first 5-10 minutes of driving then go quiet once they heat up. Lately they have been squealing something awful. The rotor doesn't show any abnormal wear like pitting, grooves, etc. The pads have lots of meat left on them. I haven't removed the wheel for a closer look yet. My car saw the track 7 times last season with these pads. Not sure how long they are supposed to last or whether I'm due for a brake job. Again, everything looks normal at first blush.

I'm thinking that I should lean towards a "street pad" based on the time my car sees the track. The squealing is killin' me.

What other pads would you recommend for a street driven ITR that HPDE's about 6-8 times a year?

 

why not just drive on stock pads while not at the track?

<---whose GT-Spors squeal also.

 

Yeah mine squeal too (the old ones, I have the new ones to put on now too but Jetydosa was having some weird issues with those https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=1928790). But after 3 sets of GT Sports they've all squealed, esp when warming up/on the street, and personally I've grown to like it (other motorists do not ).

 

Pansy, you have an R... use the noisy pads. stopping -->

 

I would like to avoid swapping pads since I'm a white collar pansy and it's just more labour $$$ out of my pocket and time. Just wondering if there is a happy medium out there like the Hawk HPS or something that would withstand the harshness of road course driving but remain quiet on the street. I don't care about dust since I wash my car regularly.

<----who wants his cake and eat it too

 

all squeal:

- Cobalts GT sports
- Cobalt VR

- Hawk HP+
- Hawk Blue

- Gransport GS3 running these now! Love'm

No squeal:

- Stock

- Hawk HPS (better than stock, but no squeal - I run these on my TL)

 

My axxis ultimates on my S, squeel like a ****. It's great to have the top down, pull up next to a hot chick, only to have her look over at the noises...

My suggestion, bed the eff out of em. See if that stops it from making noise.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Dave_B &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">pull up next to a hot chick, only to have her look over at the noises... </TD></TR></TABLE>

Not that I'm concerned about the "chick" factor but this is kinda what I'm getting at.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Dave_B &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">My suggestion, bed the eff out of em. See if that stops it from making noise.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Tried this last night during a spirited drive. Didn't really do anything. The brakes still grab great, no doubt about that. Worst case scenario is I keep these for the track and get HPS's for the street and do the swap for track days.

 

hmmm...Maybe I don't notice it but I don't think mine squeal badly at all. In fact I think they rarely squeel. Did you use anti squeel on the backside of the pads. My first set I owned squeeled like a **** because I didn't apply lubri moly to the backside of the pads

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by BudMan &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">all squeal:

- Cobalts GT sports
- Cobalt VR

- Hawk HP+
- Hawk Blue

- Gransport GS3 running these now! Love'm

No squeal:

- Stock

- Hawk HPS (better than stock, but no squeal - I run these on my TL)</TD></TR></TABLE>

My GT Sport pads don't squeal. Well, maybe once in a great while just a hint of a squeal, but most of the time, they're silent. Same thing with the Hawk HP Plus.

&lt; shrug &gt;

 

Upon further reading I see that Hawk offers an HPS and a Ceramic pad that have a low noise quality. The HP Plus looks like more of a track pad. The Ceramic is like 3 bucks more than the HPS. I can only imagine that the performance of the Ceramic would beat out the HPS in terms of stopping power.

As for the anti-squeal lube, I'm not sure as I have a shop do the work for me. I would have to assume that they would've done so since the pads didn't squeal all last year; maybe a little but **** all compared to now.

 

I did not like HPS, I'd rather use stock for street/ light duty.
Time to take that white collar off and swap pads at track events.
It's not hard or time consuming

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by OG undercover &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Time to take that white collar off and swap pads at track events. </TD></TR></TABLE>

I hear ya

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Dave_B &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">My axxis ultimates on my S, squeel like a ****. It's great to have the top down, pull up next to a hot chick, only to have her look over at the noises...

My suggestion, bed the eff out of em. See if that stops it from making noise.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I think most pads on S2ks squeal.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by OG undercover &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
Time to take that white collar off and swap pads at track events.
It's not hard or time consuming </TD></TR></TABLE>

Definitely. Its about a 5-10 minute job at the most

 

Every brake pad I've ever used except stock has squealed. I just get over it. It's funny to get random 's when they do it though by someone who knows why they are squealing.

 

copper slip on the back of the pads might help

 

Im on my second set of AXXIS ULTIMATE brake pads and I havent had any squealing. Great pad. I dont have any experience with any other brands but Im happy with these. I do some hard braking with the car even though i dont take it to the track but I havent had any problems with these pads.

As others stated, you may want to make sure your brake pads have the anti-squealing lube and that you perform the proper braking procedure for your pads.

http://www.hawkperformance.com...hp#Q5


Modified by BLITZ at 1:35 PM 3/21/2007

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by nsxtasy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

My GT Sport pads don't squeal. Well, maybe once in a great while just a hint of a squeal, but most of the time, they're silent. Same thing with the Hawk HP Plus.

&lt; shrug &gt;
</TD></TR></TABLE>

I've had the same experience, but it's been quite awhile since I used GT Sports on the street..

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by white rocket &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">The HP Plus looks like more of a track pad.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Not really. It's a street/track pad. Similar in performance and noise to the Cobalt GT Sport.

However, this is not to debate semantics and terms. The fact is, brake pads vary along a continuous spectrum. In general (with very few exceptions), the more aggressive the pad (higher coefficient of friction), the higher the chance of noise. True track pads like the Cobalt Spec VR and their replacement, and the Hawk Blue, are more aggressive and noisier than street-track pads like the GT Sport and the Hawk HP Plus, and those latter two pads are more aggressive (and possibly noisier, although I haven't experienced it) than street pads like the HPS and the stock pads.

I'm a lazy guy and don't want to bother changing pads at the track (also eliminates problems with bedding and rotor surface deposits). So I like using the most aggressive pad which rarely if ever squeals on the street. I've found that the GT Sport (with the HP Plus a close second) is the best pad to meet this objective.

 

A little off topic but how bad do the GT Sports dust? I mean I'm still going to get them anyway but I was a tad curious.

 

Thanx for all the info guys . I will have my brakes looked at closer later this week and see if there is any reason to change any parts. If they are good then I'll be happy that I have kick-*** brakes that will stop on a dime and are still safe for the streets . Besides, chicks dig squeaky brakes

However, if the pads are due for a change then I'll look into the Hawk HP+ or HPS.

 

Pull the caliper, grease the slide pins, lube the backing plate (if you still run them, I don't) and put it all back together. Also, dunno if was asked, nor mentioned... but did you resurface the rotors as well at the same time?

 

Thats weird, I know it doesnt help you but my GT sports have never squeaked once since I installed them last year.

 

Dave suggested that I re-bed the pads since my car was parked from Oct.31st last year until mid-Feb this year. I only took it out a couple times for a very short distance during that time.

I will give it a shot tomorrow and see if it helps. Thanx Dave

I am curious if there could be a problem that I can't see right away. Looks like the pads have lots of meat left and the rotors look like they are wearing normally. No grooves or anything.


Just to clarify, these pads and rotors were brand new and installed last March. 7 track days and street driving until the end of Oct last year.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by white rocket &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Dave suggested that I re-bed the pads since my car was parked from Oct.31st last year until mid-Feb this year. I only took it out a couple times for a very short distance during that time.

I will give it a shot tomorrow and see if it helps. Thanx Dave

I am curious if there could be a problem that I can't see right away. Looks like the pads have lots of meat left and the rotors look like they are wearing normally. No grooves or anything.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Hell, I thought your mad street racer, ankle breakin old *** would have done that already. Get out there and DO IT!!!

BTW, how is that kankle doing these days?