Rev. WAR

so i put in my new hawk HPS pads, w/ PWJDM rotors front and rear...they felt fine, and i did the recommended burnishing of them(i've done it probably a dozen times on previous cars)...all went fine...so after the cool down i went for a little drive...about 5min into the drive i noticed a brake smell i thought it curious, but i figured it was just from the burnishing...about 5-10min latter i pulled over after smelling it again...all wheels were fine except the driver rear...the wheel was at least 150* and the brake pads were smoking...no the e-brake wasnt on...the whole thing was super heated...i misted it w/ some cool water for about 10min and let it cool for about 1hr while waiting for the tow truck...

there was no noise or noticeable dragging...so after the tow guy said he couldn't tow me(too low for the flat bed)..i decided to drive around the block...everything was fine...no super heating...went home and on the way i did a few hard braking stops...nothing; all fine...WTF happened...I'll pull the wheel and inspect it in the morning...

pic for a click

ZDan

For one thing, you bought the wrong pads. HPS aren't anything like as good as stock honda pads. Softer pedal feel, less bite, WAY less tolerant of heat. I made the mistake of tracking these pads once. Within less than a lap they had nothing, worst pad fade I've ever experienced, accompanied by a very long pedal (fluid was fine). They only lasted for three abbreviated 10-min. sessions. Threw the stock pads back in (which aren't good track pads), and got WAY better braking response and tolerance to heat.

As for your experience in burnishing them, sounds like you have one caliper that's dragging or hanging up a bit. If the car wasn't pulling to one side under braking, probably not that big a deal. But rebuilt calipers aren't that much $$$, or you could rebuild yours.

RacerXI

Agreed on the dragging caliper.

jeggy

if you still have the old brake pads, check the pads that came off that caliper. check for even wear of the friction material relative to the metal backing pads as well as to pad to pad (inside brake pad vs outside brake pad). if they are not even, then you have a sticking problem.

as hecash stated, it's either the pads sticking on the tabs/ears or the caliper slide pins are seized due to lack of lubrication.

Rev. WAR

cool thanks...whats a good street pad, w/ the potential of a couple HPDE's a year..

cdelena

No good option... street pads are for street, track pads are for track. You can use track pads on the street with extra noise, rotor wear, and poor cold performance. Street pads on the track just make for poor braking and destroyed pads.

Rev. WAR

i know...then whats a good street pad...and a good track pad...i could always swap to a track setup pretty quickly anyway...

what have people in here had good experiences w/...

ZDan

Oddly enough, while Hawk HPS are the most craptastic pads I've experienced, worse than stock street or track, Hawk HP+ pads have served me very well. Highest coefficient of friction pads I've used, and work great even stone cold. They do dust a lot and make a lot of noise. However, they tend to quiet down after a hard track day or two. They last pretty well, too.

Mind you they aren't full-blown track pads, but I've never had any issues with them whatsoever at the track. Definitely WAY better than stock.

If you're just beginning to track the car, you might go with the HP+, or even OEM Honda pads.
What pad will ultimately work for you depends a LOT on driving style. If you are harder on brakes, you might need something strictly track-dedicated. I have run Carbotech XP-8s as street/track pads, but they do give up some cold effectiveness. Beyond that, you pretty much want dedicated street pads and dedicated track pads.

Rev. WAR

cool...i used to track several GTI's and i typically used HP+'s on them(w/ the exception to running a full tack setup on a MKII)...i have noticed the pedal being "softer" w/ the HPS's...wtf

but yes i havent tracked my particular ap1 S2000...but i have had some track time in my buddies AP2...he was on stock pads that weekend(ehhh)...they were dead by the end...i know there different beast's(ap1 vs ap2)...but it will be a fun learning experience w/ the car...

Rev. WAR

upper pin was seized... whacked it a few times...lube'ed it up...all better...