Carbotech specializes in high performance brake pads with emphasis on road race applications. Other pads tend to have a limited performance range at hot operating temperatures and wear into the rotors especially in cold temperatures. What sets Carbotech pads apart from other competition pads in our experience is good cold and hot performance characteristics as well as good rotor wear.
ScienceofSpeed Recommended Brake Pad Rating Sheet |
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cold performance | hot performance | rotor friendliness | noise & dusting | |
Hawk HPS | 6 | 6 | 8 | 3 |
notes: |
High performance street use - minimal dust/noise with improved performance over stock. Our most popular pad for most street driven vehicles. | |||
Hawk HP+ | 7 | 7 | 7 | 4 |
notes: |
Street/track/autocross use - slight dust/noise over HPS but better thermal resistance. Can be used easily on the street and track. | |||
Carbotech AX6 | 7 | 9 | 7 | 7 |
notes: |
Excellent choice for track use such as HPDE/driver's ed / time attack / open lapping days. Tremendous brake torque available in cold and hot operating conditions. More versatile operating temperatures than XP which should be used for dedicated track cars running endurance type events. Increased dust and noise but very rotor friendly. Can be used on the street for customers not minding the dust/noise. | |||
Carbotech XP | 6 | 10 | 6 | 9 |
notes: |
Recommended for dedicated track cars running in endurance type track events. Peak operating conditions biased towards consistent high rotor temps found in endurance events. Rotor friendly but not recommended for street use due to the limited brake power in cold conditions. |
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for comparison: |
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factory Honda pad | 5 | 5 | 9 | 2 |
Porterfield R4S | 7 | 7 | 7 | 5 |
Porterfield R4 | 6 | 8 | 5 | 6 |
Hawk Black | 4 | 8 | 4 | 8 |
Hawk Blue | 3 | 9 | 3 | 9 |
Based on our experience with testing various brake pad set ups on track, we recommend the following combinations: