Brake Pads: EBC Reds or Hawk HP Plus?

[codemunky]

I'm deciding between both...anybody had experiences w/ any? How about the regular HP? Any views on Mintex? I currently have stock calipers.

Thanks.

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[DBAsteve]

Hawk HPS-F are a good all round street pad. Some people have hassles with EBC , but not all.

Steve

[sajohnson]

I got the HP Plus pads after reading the Car & Driver brake test.

I can only say that compared to the stock pads they are less prone to fade and have a better initial bite. No noise issues but lots of dust. The dust comes off fairly easily though. So far so good. My experience confirms what Car & Driver stated in their article.

[Dolphin Overton]

I have the Reds. THey are incredible. I have no experience with th Hawk pad, but heard they are excellent as well.

[sajohnson]

My impression is that there are probably several pads that are better than stock in many ways. They are also probably about equal in terms of performance. I went with the Hawk HP Plus only because I at least had some objective info from Car & Driver. Of course it may very well be that Hawk and C & D have a cozy business agreement but their testing seemed legit.

What would have been better of course would be if they had tested other replacement pads with the stock rotors and calipers. Of course that might have shown that you can spend less money and still get good performance. This would have upset any 'business relationship' they may have with Hawk.

That said, at least they did use the stock WRX brakes as a baseline. I don't have the article in front of me but basically the Hawks were clearly better than stock (shorter stops, less fade) and actually as good or better than some of the 'big brake' kits for the first couple stops. It was only when they got into _repeated stops_ from 90 mph, that the big brakes really showed their stuff (almost zero fade).

It seemed to me from reading their test that the Hawk HP Plus (or equivalent) pads would be the best choice for all but maniacal street driving. I mean, how many of us come to a complete stop from _90 mph_ several times in quick succesion? On the other hand, the big brake kits seemed to need to be warm to work their best. Some of them had fairly long stopping distances on the first or second stop -- NOT what you want on the street. I've found that the first stop can be important.