Pads - front vs rear, diff compound?

[BigD]

I'm shopping around for Hawk HT10 pads and this one shop I called was pretty shocked to hear that I am putting them in the rear too, saying it's normally too aggressive for a rear pad.

Is there anything to this? Should I get a tamer compound like HP+ or something for the rears? I certainly wouldn't mind because they're expensive as hell in HT10.

FWIW this is a track-only car.

[JGood]

I don't think so. I personally run HT-10 front/HPS rear, but have heard of many people running HT-10 all around. Whatever works best for your setup / driving style with your expectations of pad life, temperature, etc... You may have to experiment.

[asubimmer]

There isn't really a right answer for this. In most cases you would want the same compound on all corners. But sometimes you do want to use diff compounds depending on your specific setup. Like stated above, just try a few out and see what works best w/ your car, track, driving technique, etc...

[BigD]

Cool, thanks! I have RX7/Corrado fronts and stock E30 rear. My braking style is fairly conservative - I'm definitely not the kamikazi style, but when I do brake I brake pretty hard, I never warp rotors on track cars. I guess the main concern that was raised in my head from the guy saying this is perhaps I could run into rear bias issues with so much brake torque on the rear end. Although with the RX7 fronts I may already have a front bias anyway. I'll do what you guys say, try the HT10s and if I'm locking up the back I'll try something else, or try to change the bias.

[Hick]

HT-10s front and HP+ rear would be the wrong thing to do, if i have this right.

HP+ are for autocrossers so you would be running a more agressive rear [with heat] may cause the rears to grab more than needed.

[BigD]

HP+ is more aggressive than HT10? HT10 is a racing compound

[JGood]

Pads aren't "more aggressive" at all times. HP+ is a cooler pad, giving better bite and modulation at lower temps (autox), while HT-10 is a hotter pad, giving better bite and modulation at higher temps (track). Figuring out what temp range your brakes will be in is the key thing to do. With your bigger front rotors, that hard to say.

I haven't heard of anyone running HP+ on the track in a competition environment, HPS is probably about as cool of a pad as you'd want to use, and depending on your power/driving, you may see fade with them. Don't forget, there are many good options besides Hawk, too. I've stuck with Hawk because I like the price, availability, and I'm used to them - and know they work well.

[nando]

HPS will melt on a track. don't even think of using them.. I killed a brand new set of F/R HPS in four 30 minute sessions, and my car isn't especially fast and it was just an HPDE. lol.

[Charlie]

HP+ will melt on a track. don't even think of using them.. I killed a brand new set of F/R HP+ in four 30 minute sessions, and my car isn't especially fast and it was just an HPDE. lol.

You need some ducting bro. I ran HP+'s for a while on track with no real ill effects. I still run them in the rear with HT10s up front.

-Charlie

[nando]

Woops, error on my part. I meant HPS.

[JGood]

Yeah, sorry, I also had HPS and HP+ backwards. HP+ would be closer to a 'track pad' then HPS.

[nando]

I currently have hawk ceramics on the back, and want to get a set of front HT-10s (have another set of rotors I can use for them too). I just hope the rear pads can take the abuse, but it can't be any worse than my experience with HPS all around. anyone think this is a bad idea?

[BigD]

Pads aren't "more aggressive" at all times. HP+ is a cooler pad, giving better bite and modulation at lower temps (autox), while HT-10 is a hotter pad, giving better bite and modulation at higher temps (track). Figuring out what temp range your brakes will be in is the key thing to do. With your bigger front rotors, that hard to say.

I haven't heard of anyone running HP+ on the track in a competition environment, HPS is probably about as cool of a pad as you'd want to use, and depending on your power/driving, you may see fade with them. Don't forget, there are many good options besides Hawk, too. I've stuck with Hawk because I like the price, availability, and I'm used to them - and know they work well.

By aggressive I mean the torque (at operating temperature). I'll start with HT10 all around, see how that works. I have a hunch it'll be perfect.... famous last words.

WRT Hawk, I've always wanted to use their product. I remember reading in one of Carroll Smith's (RIP) books about brakes and pad compounds, that until Hawk came on the scene, it was unheard of to be able to have high torque and rotor longevity. Then Hawk came on the scene and changed all of that, and that's all he ever used in his race cars and teams that he consulted.

[Lance Racing]

Many of the Spec E30 guys at the NASA nationals in 2008 were running Hawk DTC-60 front and HT-10 year. The DTC-60 is considered an improvement to the HT-10. The HT-10 is now considered sort of an older pad. Not that there's anything wrong with that. I'm usually about the last guy in the paddock to move up to newer pad compounds. LOL. I like consistency and don't like swapping pad compounds all the time.

[jlevie]

If you were going to run dissimilar pads, you'd want the most aggressive pad in the rear to gain back some of the braking in the rear that the bias valve takes away. PFC06 pads in the front and PFC01 pads in the rear works fairly, except that the inside rear pads run too hot and loose material at an alarming rate (read shedding it off the perimeter of the pad). And I'm not sure that running 06 pads up front might take away a little too much front bite. After one Enduro the inside rear pads were reduced to a contact area not much bigger that a quarter, so they were definitely getting too hot. And obviously the car felt a little unsettled under hard braking...

After trying dissimilar pads I've gone back to the same pads front/rear (PFC06 in Enduro's and PFC01 in Sprints).

My recommendation is that you use the same pads on both ends of the car.