I am looking to replace the brake pads on my 1990 Miata that is used in Auto-X and light track duty (not used on the street) the car is using stock size brakes and I am not interested (at this time) of upgrading to a larger brake system.
Thanks, Paul
It’s been a while since I’ve had to buy pads for a Miata. I do remember all the problems my dad had with really heavy duty pads in his street/track Miata. Car didn’t want to stop in the winter months around town. When I first ran my Spec Miata, I still had the street pads in the previous owner had in from pure street driving. Even on the VERY short Daytona infield only course, I ran out of pad (started at 2/3rds) at the end of the first day.
I would pick the hardest pad you can still stop well with on the street. Rotors for Miatas are relatively cheap compared to pads.
I've heard hawk hps in front and hp+ in back is good. That's what I plan to run as right now I've got hp+ on both sides and the fronts are just way too dusty for me. I've got a stock 92 (well 15in kosie K1s, ECS contis., and a roll bar) that sees good weather driving, 3-4 autocross, 2-3 track weekends a year.
+1 for Hawk HP+
Stop tech for autox, but I don’t think the track guys like them bee the hawks. FWIW, my stoptechs are fantastic for autocross, and I absolutely PUNISH my Miata on the mountain road near my house.
I had good luck with Hawk HPS on the street and for light track duty. They weren't up to faster pace, though. I went to Wilwoods before trying HP+.
The problem with stock calipers will be thermal capacity and pad tapering if you start going faster.
Hawk Street/Race pads worked pretty well for me on the semi-DD '90 NA6. They bite pretty hard even when cold and worked fine at Laguna Seca.
They also dust more than a dust bunny factory.
Thanks for al the input, going to look into the hawk pads.
In my experience (track and street, don't know anything about auto-x), any "dual duty" pad is going to suck at everything. You won't have good bite when it is cold and you will overheat on track. I would recommend a second set of pads and rotors for track. Since you have to pull the wheels and calipers to check the pads before the event anyway, it's not that much effort to swap the rotors and pads at the same time. A second set of rotors is ~45-50 from rock auto. The benefit is your street pads work well on the street, your track pads can be designed for the heat of the track, and you won't wear them out nearly as fast as a compromise pad. For track, I am a fan of the G-Loc R10 front R8 rear (95 Miata, stock brakes, stock engine, NT01's).
I daily drive a 1.6L '90 Miata with Hawk HP+ on the back and EBC yellows on the front. It's also my track car and I didn't run out of brakes.
Lots of brake dust but that's the way it goes. Great initial bite and I thought it was fine when the weather was 40 here in Michigan this past spring.
I think Hawks are on sale for the 1.6L cars on tirerack.com right now.
I picked up a set of Porterfield R4S on FM's recommendation for my Exocet and have been happy with them. They're recommended as an all around pad and OK for light track use. The Exocet is a lighter car, but they have been fine for fairly hard track use, work well when cold for street and AX, and the dust isn't bad. I have also used Carbotech AX6 and XP8 on the street (which Carbotech doesn't recommend). They seemed to work fine when cold, but were noisy and the dust, especially on the 8's, was bad.
Hawk HP+
tomtomgt356 said:In my experience (track and street, don't know anything about auto-x), any "dual duty" pad is going to suck at everything.
In my experience, the Hawk HPS is a good street pad that will tolerate light track use on a Miata. Work well when cold, little dust, and quiet. They are not up to continued fast laps on 200TW or better rubber. I used them on NA and NC Miatas, and Subaru Legacy GT.
Porterfield R4S. I've never paid a lot of attention to the Hawks after a new coworker overheated them on a warm-up lap and went straight off turn 1 of a 1 mile track.
If you really want to stop every single freakin' time no matter what, Performance Friction PFC97. It's what I ran on the rally V8 Miata. They'd stop in a hurricane. They'd stop on a kart track when the tires were melting. They'd always stop. They destroyed rotors at about a 2:1 rotor to pad ratio and they'd make an unholy mess on the wheels sometimes, but they would always, always stop.
NA Miatai have a strong front brake bias. In order to get the car to brake evenly (and get proper rotation for autocross), you want a grabbier pad on the rear. That’s why the tried and true recipe is HPS front pads and HP+ rear pads. I put that on my CSP prepped 97 and ran it for 5 season of AX and two track days at NCM.
I never “ran out” of brake running Hoosiers on track and the new owner of the car is still using the same pads today.
In reply to Rodan :
"Suck at everything" may have been a little harsh, but there are compromises. I've seen new HPS pads over heat in the first session of the day. Yes they can work on track, but you have to be conscious of how much heat you are putting into them. Most pads that can handle the heat of track use will squeal and dust on the street which is a compromise.
i'm running Pagids that i got from a forum member here and they've been great for street and track but the noise, my God that squealing has ruined my car. Anybody have a track day/autocross/daily pad that doesn't run-fingernails-down-a-chalkboard every time you consider touching the brake pedal? I'm considering Hawk DTC30s i think but i know very little except for what i learn reading here and the yousetubes
sorry, NB1 Miata, stock, non-sport (although i may get sports if its recomended)
In reply to KyAllroad (Jeremy) :
The brake pad bias discussion does depend on application. Most spec miata people, and most of the track miata people I have talked to, run a grippier pad in the front. It's kind of like the rear sway discussion. Most autocross people don't run a rear bar while most track people do (from my experience/research/discussions). Different problems (courses) require different solutions.
As others stated, more aggressive in the rear. Especially if you don't have anti-lock brakes. On my NB1 autocross car I've got HP+ on the rear and an old set of CarboTech 1521 on the front. Can still lock up the front during hard braking. Don't do track time but works on the street.
I prefer to manage my front/rear bias with an adjustable prop valve. If that's not enough rear, I go to different rotor and piston sizes in the rear. Mismatched pads are the last resort for tuning.
If your track pads squeal all the time, they're not daily pads :) Think of pads like tires, you're not going to find a winter tire that works well on the track so the same will be true of your track pads. Autox is a lot easier on brakes so you can get away with that.
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