Is anyone out there using the hawk blue compound for track days with r-compound tires? I'm to the point where both the car and the driver have been developed beyond the capabilities of the OEM pads. Being a big Hawk fan, having used HPS and HP+ pads on numerous cars with great results, I'm looking at trying a dedicated race only pad on my 06 MCS. My idea is to run HPS pads on the street, and switch over to race pads at the track. It sounds as if the Blue compound would probably work well for me, I'm usually not on the track for more than 20-25 minutes per session, I think the more agressive race pads maybe more than what I need. Does anyone have experience with this compound? Are there any issues to be worried about when it comes to swapping from one compound to another, with transfer layer on the rotor?

Thanks,
Jason

 

another question for those "in the know"....
how well do the HP+ pads hold up to track day duty with race tires? I'm guessing that they'd probably be just fine on street tires....but with the added braking ability of my RA-1's they may not be up to the task at hand....purely my guess....any input???


Jason

 

I have a great deal of experience with the Hawk 9012 (Blues) and I would not suggest running them at all. And more importantly DO NOT use the HP(anything) on the track. They are street pads, you will ruin the pad and the rotor.

The reason I suggest not using the Blues is becasue they are VERY aggressive on the rotor when they are cold. They will bring a small rotor like the MINI's down to minimum thickness in a matter of days. They also leave a ton of corrosive dust all over the car.

Pads I would recommend would be the Hawk HT-10's (the pad Nuzzo Motorsports use on their Grand Am cars) or the Hawk DTC-60's as they are the only ones that come in the D0939 (MINI caliper's FMSI) pad shape. The DTC-70 is a great pad and the DTC-60 is supposed to be a notch below. The other option is the Ferrodo DS300. All of them have an operating temperature that will work on the track.

And then in the rear use the stock pad or Axxis Ult or a high performance Hawk street pad.

 

Thanks Duane! If you wouldn't mind, I would like to pick your brain just a little more....
Why would you be worried about the Hawk blue pads being hard on the rotors when cold for a track only pad? Seems to me that they would spend most of their time at elevated track use temps.

Why do you suggest OEM or high performance street pads for the rear? Wouldn't I want fronts and rears to have similar CoF to preserve my balance? In stock form, the car is going to be set up with too much front bias for safety....race pads up front and stock pads in the rear would only make that worse...no?


Thanks,

Jason

 

The Hawk Blue is an antiquated pad. It is very good at removing material from a rotor when it has pad deposition, but as a track pad the composition is pretty outdated. As a dedicated track pad, it won't be a problem with the cold. But for the money, it is not the best track pad.

Very true, the system is biased towards the front. But since a large amount of weight is in the front and the rear pad is so small, it is not super critical. I was talking to the mechanic of one of the SRT-4s that ran in World Challenge last year and they ran a Hawk street pad in the rear the entire season. Plus it is a pain to switch the rear pad.

 

I've been using PF97 front pads and have been very happy with them.

Gary
05 MC
06 MC