Project Civic Si: Street/Track Brake Pads for Our Street/Track Car

Brake pads are good. They grab the brake rotor, turning kinetic energy into heat, thus stopping the car.

Sadly, though, there isn’t a brake pad that does it all. There just isn’t one that’s progressive and dust-free at cold temperatures and also suited for the 24 hours at Le Mans.

That’s why brake pad companies offer a variety of compounds. …

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Would the HPS 5.0 hold up at the FIRM? 

aw614 said:

Would the HPS 5.0 hold up at the FIRM? 

Good question since that track can be hard on brakes. I'm asking someone at Hawk right now. 

From Hawk:

“HPS 5.0 is a street pad that can handle abuse. A driver might be able to get away using them on the track for a short period of time on a lighter car. More than likely one will see brake fade.”

That makes sense as Daytona is easy on brakes. And we didn’t brake at the 1. 

For the FIRM, they recommend HP+ at a minimum up front--or be easy on the HPS 5.0 pads and not push it in every corner. The tradeoff for that extra performance offered by the HP+? Some dust and noise on the street. 

I used HP+ on my ZX2SR.   Worked good on track but not the best for street, they need heat.

I even used HPS on easy tracks.  Never a Problem.

I run the 5.0 on my Fiesta for autocross and generally like them a lot. For track night at Pitt Race, I went to the + for more stopping power. They generate a lot more dust, but hauling down for turn 17, I didn't want any surprises. 

I have just gone to a Ferodo pad on the front based on some recommendations for the FiST. First outing will be Sunday, I am looking for more ultimate bite without sacrificing modulation. If I don't like it, I can have the 5.0s back on between heats. 

Yeah, I can see the 5.0 autocrossing nicely--good modulation. 

There's talk in the upcoming issue about the carbon-carbon brakes used at Le Mans. I learned a lot while putting it together. I guess I realized that carbon brakes heat up so quickly, but I didn't think about how they shed heat just the same. 

I'm wondering whether I'm going to regret trying the HP+ on the MGB, but they don't do the 5.0s for it (yet?), and I tried and failed to get any info from Hawk (a couple of emails and a phone call went unanswered). Their little spider charts are great, but you can't overlay HPS and HP+ directly (or any street vs motorsport pad comparison, though you can certainly flip back and forth, squint, and jot down notes, assuming the scales are similar).

Guess I'm looking forward to finding out just how noisy/dusty they are and whether that ambient-to-100-degree-operating-window is vital, as they really do seem like the best functional match, even with the MGB's light weight. Autocrossable seems like a good low-temp indicator, and having the headroom to be totally up to track work on a light car is awesome.

In reply to David S. Wallens :

I realize this blog post is almost two years old now, but in case other 17+ Si owners find their way here, it appears that HP+ is (still) not yet available for the 2017+ Si front caliper.  HP+ is available for the rear, but not the front.  I inquired through a vendor last year (a strange year, for sure) and got a "maybe sometime" answer on availability.  Have checked around periodically since then, but I still have not been able to find HP+ fronts available yet.  Here's hoping the 11th gen Si shares the same caliper, maybe then...

In reply to estatz :

Thanks for the update, and I still miss our Si.