Hawk Blue pads at the Glen, or...

[Phil Rose]

...still "skimping" along OK with my G60 brakes.

Following the good experience my son and I had with Hawk Blue pads
(G60 brakes) last summer at Watkins Glen (while sharing a car), we
went with the Hawks again--last week. This time we brought two cars:
one (unchipped car) fitted with brand-new rotors and last year's Hawk
pads, while the other car (chipped) had good 2 yr-old rotors and
brand new Hawk Blues.

Once again we were pleased with this set-up. Quite adequate braking,
IMO, and little fade. On a shorter (tighter) track the fade might
become more obvious, but also then we might not be needing to slow
from 125+ mph (down to 60/70) 2X each lap on the Glen's straights. As
I reported last year, the pad wear seems remarkably slight--just
about 1 mm per pad (measured on both cars.) The "new" rotors still
look almost new (except for a bit of scoring); and the total amount
of additional rotor wear measured under 1 mm.

For those who would like real numbers--the re-used set of Hawk pads
now have a thickness of 10.8 to 11 mm, compared to new thickness of
13 mm. Now that's after the equivalent of 3 track events.

The Hawk Blues are nor cheap (list at $190 and  discounted to about
$130/set), but they're well worth the money IMHO, since they should
last for quite a number of track events and--might help to forestall
the need for an expensive brake upgrade. Note: I'm not arguing
against the obvious benefits from a good brake upgrade--just the fact
that G60 brakes can still do a decent job on the track--used with
appropriate pads.

On the street with G60s (cheap stock pads)--I hate 'em. We'll see if
the Mintex Red Box pads I just installed make any difference.

Phil

--

Phil Rose				Rochester, NY USA
'91 200q	(130 Kmiles, Lago blue)
'91 200q   (57 Kmiles, Tornado red)
	mailto:pjrose at frontiernet.net