Hey everybody, I'm in the market for some new front pads and rotors. I want to put them on my self so I'm hoping to spend around $200 total for parts. Does anyone know some good brands/websites/models to get? As far as the pads go I'm not too picky other then I probably want ceramic. The rotors on the other hand, I think I want slotted but not drilled. any suggestions? Thanks.

 

On pads, I would suggest Hawk HP streets. I have those on both my RX7 & my 6 and love them. Rotors you would have to shop around.

-Sheldon.

 

I have heard that Hawk's throw off a ton of dust and wear down very quick because they're mostly a track pad, have you found this to be the case?

 

Slotted rotors go for no less than 150 a set and the fronts are atleast $20-30 more than the rear, so you might wanna bump your budget up to 350 maybe even 400 with pads and rotors. Ill tell you this, a buddy of mine built his 3 (all motor making about 315whp) for autoX, road course and mountain climbs, he said that its unnecessary to get bigger rotors let alone slotted ones because the speed he achieves is not high enough for it to make a difference, you just need a good set of pads.

 

well you're about the 3rd person to tell me that so I guess I'll ditch the slotted idea. So now its just a matter of pads. With expensive rotors out of the picture i can spend more on pads. Any suggestions? I will say this I live in the Baltimore-DC metro area so traffic is horrible. That also means that at least a few times a week I find myself slamming on the brakes at about 75mph not because I'm not paying attention but because some idiot just cut across 3 lanes because he didn't know his exit was up. So I am looking for a good quality pad that will last and give me stopping power.

 

Spending money on ceramic pads may not be in your best interest. Why? While ceramic pads do seem to have more stopping power than semi-metallic/organic compound pads, they also seem to need to be hot before they stop well. I actually rear ended someone shortly after I put ceramic pads on a car (first time for this car) a couple of years ago. This particular event happened after driving several miles on the highway on a cool morning and then coasting down an off-ramp. The driver of the vehicle in front of me made to pull out on the cross street and then at the last minute stopped. I jammed on my brakes and..., little if any deceleration was initially detected, and that was almost immediately followed by a 10 mph bang into the rear of an old/gnarly SUV. Over the next few weeks I experimented with the brakes when they were cold and sure enough, I found that immediately after applying the brakes, not much would happen. After say, half of a second, they would start to grab, and then after another moment or two, they would really start to grab.

In the end I pulled them off and went back to semi-metallic brake pads that restored the virtually instant braking response of that car.

Why did I recount this story for you? Because of your comment about driving in heavy Baltimore-DC metro area traffic.

 

Hawk HPS pads for sure, my friend had em on his cobra and brake response was immediate and it went from 80 to 20 pretty dam quick, the stopping distance was consistent with each stop

 

+3 for Hawk HPS. I don't have them on my fronts but do have them on my rears. The OEM rear pads on the first couple year models made way more dust than the fronts, so the HPS was a super upgrade for me dust-wise on the rear pads. Some people complain about them squeaking, though I don't really notice them doing it after the first braking in the morning..... which all pads do as they scrape rust buildup off of the rotor face.

 

Sounds good. per usual everyone has been very helpful thank you very much. Finally anyone know where to get some hawk pads at a good price?

 

Just my thoughts.
I have used the semi metallic pads from Advance Auto for over 30 years and find them more than capable of stopping me.
I have done quiet a bit of mountain driving and only had break fade from pads I had installed by a shop. I had told them to install a premium pad and I got the cheepy.
Needless to say I got my money back and bought my own pads and installed them myself.
I replaced everything on the front breaks on my old Deville last year and it still stops very good. Not quiet as fast as this light Mazda, but good for a big car.