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Hawk Blue brake pad ramblings

A few weeks/months ago Carl Buckland sang the praises of Hawk Blue brake
pads for use at the track.  Since I found myself burning up a set of
MetalMasters every track weekend, I figured I'd give the Blues a try
to see if I could save some money and increase braking efficiency.

Here's what I found (which tends to confirm what Carl posted):

  - The work REAL good when hot.  They never fade and when you press the
    pedal its like "throwing out the anchor".  My braking zones got shorter
    by about 20% (vs. MetalMaster).

  - Dust is greatly reduced.  No kidding.  One of the experts commented
    that with Hawks, the dust you do see is actually rotor dust.  I was
    concerned about rotor wear, so I measured the rotors with a micrometer.
    After about 230 track miles, the RF rotor lost about 0.006" and the
    LF decreased by just over 0.003".  Someone else heard I was using Hawk
    Blues and said, "Hawks will eat your rotors.  Use Cool Carbons."  Several
    thoughs flashed through my head: Bon-Ami, Zymol, GOOD-TIMES...

  - They are loud - in more ways than one.  On the track, they make a course
    grinding/scraping noise when applied.  If your're just loping around
    the pits you can hear the rish-rish-rish as the pads rest loosly next
    to the rotors.  If you drive them cold around town they will squeel
    a lot.  No, its more than that.  It actually sounds like a pen full of
    stuck pigs tied up under the wheelwells.  I attracted a lot of attention
    in town when I went to buy gas.

  - From the looks of the pads I will guess that I will be able to get at
    least four more track days out of them.  That makes them slightly more
    economical than Metalmasters plus I get the increased performance.

  - Additional bonus: I got to talk with TC Kline and Randy Pobst on the
    phone.



- -- 
Dave
kroth@domain.elided