My last seriously fast car was back in the early 2000's. Back then I was using Hawk ht-10 pads which did an excellent job in dragging a heavy sedan down in the braking zone. Great/aggressive initial bite. Just as you felt the fronts start to lock you could let up a bit and catch them... they would taper off very little by the end of the brake zone.

Since then I've moved to a turbo miata. I've tried several typical "spec miata" pads which didn't impress me much. No initial bite. Carboteck, Performance friction, Hawk dtc-60. Does anyone have a recommendation for an aggressive pad selection that will not flat spot my tires?

I see that Hawk offers dtc 70's and dtc 50's as a higher bite pad. Anyone try them? 2004 turbo miata.No ABS, Prop valve, bbk/willwood fronts/sport rears. Roadracing/track only.

 

So I can only offer general advise as my on track experience with a naturally aspirated car with oem brakes. That said I have had nothing but good result with dtc 50 pads. They take a bit to get warm but once they do the pads really work. Just my 0.02.

 

I've read on here that Spec Miata guys use lower bite pads to avoid over-slowing for corners, hence why PFC 97s are popular. On my n/a car, with street tires, the PFC 97 is great and lasts forever (7+ track days w/ stock brakes). With your higher HP car, you need a different pad.
There are a bunch of threads with various opinions, but ou can't go terribly wrong with a high end brake pad like PFC, Pagid, Cobalt, etc. Give any of the vendors a call (like OG Racing, 949, or Good-Win) with the details of your car and they can make a recommendation. I personally plan on running the PFC 08 compound if i ever run slicks.

 

You said you wanted more bite but less likely to flat spot and those two things are mutually exclusive. What most of us want is a very linear pad where the more you push the more you get. Some pads have too much initial bite and then little additional force as you apply more pedal and those can be very difficult to modulate.

For a linear race pad with excellent cold and hot characteristics I've been using the PFC 01 and 11. I've also used one of the Cobalt offerings and found it to be a modern compound as well but it had less usable life because the rivets stuck into the pad area too much.

If you prefer lots of initial bite then you won't have to look further than the hawk blue compound but it is difficult on the finish on your wheels.

For reference, I'm using sm7 tires on a full weight car at 330whp. 11.75 Wilwood front/ sport rear rotors w/non-sport rear calipers and relocation brackets.

 

Too much initial bite is awful, especially in a light car like this. Get used to actually using the full range of the brakes, you'll go faster. You don't always want your face in the windshield as soon as you breath on the pedal.

 

Do you know if both those sizes are available in PFC 97 (or the present equivalent)? That might be a better choice with the BBK for the OP, who might be running less aggressive tires.

I know that my NB with stock brakes running PFC 11 had no problem with me locking up 225 Rivals on the track (RA). I suspect they might have with BBK.

 

PFC 01's with the willwood BBK. Would lock cold(225 RC-1) tires if I was overly aggressive, but I had to really try or panic to lock them once tires were hot.

 

HT-10s? I use em on my PTE car with no complaints.

 

I blew through a brand new set of those halfway through Saturday morning on a track weekend. PFCs last several weekends but HT-10 didn't last a whole day.

 

well as far as Hawk goes I would suggest you start with the Hawk dtc-60 but my opinion is based on my relatively slow car and I'm pretty sure my braking ability and set up is not fully optimized. others here have run dtc 60 and would agree they it get the job done. they are super cheap, wear pretty well, rotor friendly, have plenty of bite even when cold and tolerate heat well. I drive my car to the track fyi,which is not intended use for the pad but they f-ed up my wheel finish. for me, that is the cost of doing business but it may not be for you. to do it right, I would seek a slightly less aggressive pad with a little less bite because I'm always a little paranoid of lock up and flat spots. I've had no issues since I installed the prop valve but I would like to try other pads in hopes of better modulation feel, and INCREASED pedal effort. for reference I could easily do my braking in bare feet, very light which is not optimal, especially in competition where stress can lead to reduced fine motor control. my initial foot pressure is probably closer to where I would like my trail braking to be.

 

flavor of the year in SM has been GLOC 16/12 or 18/12. came from hawk dtc60/blues for years, really enjoy the 18/12 combo. food for thought

 

Raybestos ST-43 pads

 

Please, no. I'd rather use Hawk Blues. ST-43s are great when you need a pad to last 1.5-2x as long as any other compound, and are willing to sacrifice pedal feel, initial bite, release characteristics, rotor wear, and cold bite to get it.

 

 

Lots of people use the ST43 in the endurance world. Nobody uses them in the sprint race/club race world. Think for a moment about what that says about that pad

 

That Raybestos is not paying any contingencies?