I never really liked the brakes on this car (1991). I have tried Oem and Hawk HPS and HP+. I bought a used set of Cobalt Friction pads, XR2-Front and XR3-Rear w/85% remaining, off of eBay for $29, sanded the glaze off of them, bedded them in, and the difference is night and day. They dusted bad during bedding, but at the track the dust wasn't too bad but still more than the Hawks. Cold performance was excellent and they had almost no fade when hot (I brake short and hard and use ATE Super Blue fluid). I used the backing plates off the Hawks, chamferred the pad edges (top and bottom) with a file and there was no noise or squealing at all. I don't know how long they'll last, but according to their website they are supposed to be easy on rotors. With these pads, my car's braking is excellent. WOW, what a difference!
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Cobalt Friction Race Brake Pads - Best I've Ever Used!
- Thread starter pgilliam1
- Start date
Ya thats alot more aggressive than the hawk street pads you were using.
- Joined
- 1 December 2009
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- 622
Kind of an Apples to Oranges comparison for sure 
Both companies have a fantastic line of pads out there... unfortunetly HAWK does not have much to offer for the NSX rear
I use HTC-10 and Blues (F/R) and love the combo, and would LIKE to go up to DTC-60 in the front but since HAWK doesn't make a more aggressive rear, I shall stick with what is currently working fantastic
Both companies have a fantastic line of pads out there... unfortunetly HAWK does not have much to offer for the NSX rear
I use HTC-10 and Blues (F/R) and love the combo, and would LIKE to go up to DTC-60 in the front but since HAWK doesn't make a more aggressive rear, I shall stick with what is currently working fantastic
The front of the car does most of the braking. You might get better performance from a more aggressive/higher temp front pad despite the pad aggressiveness split F/R.Kind of an Apples to Oranges comparison for sure
Both companies have a fantastic line of pads out there... unfortunetly HAWK does not have much to offer for the NSX rear
I use HTC-10 and Blues (F/R) and love the combo, and would LIKE to go up to DTC-60 in the front but since HAWK doesn't make a more aggressive rear, I shall stick with what is currently working fantastic
0.02
Billy - Do you know of some literature I can read where I can get an idea of how to roughly understand the brake bias difference with mixing up pads front to rear as opposed to going with bigger diameter rotors? I know piston sizes play a big role but let's leave that out of the equation for now.
I'm curious if going with say a Stoptech front kit (HPS pad) and stock rear NA2 (HP+ pads) would be a cost effective method of getting closer to the stock brake bias or is it not even worth it to try. Per your recommendation the brake bias proportioning valve is not high on my list...
I guess my question is.. how effective is pad selection for controlling brake bias?
I'm curious if going with say a Stoptech front kit (HPS pad) and stock rear NA2 (HP+ pads) would be a cost effective method of getting closer to the stock brake bias or is it not even worth it to try. Per your recommendation the brake bias proportioning valve is not high on my list...
I guess my question is.. how effective is pad selection for controlling brake bias?
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Kind of an Apples to Oranges comparison for sure
Both companies have a fantastic line of pads out there... unfortunetly HAWK does not have much to offer for the NSX rear
I use HTC-10 and Blues (F/R) and love the combo, and would LIKE to go up to DTC-60 in the front but since HAWK doesn't make a more aggressive rear, I shall stick with what is currently working fantastic
I like everything about the Cobalt pads except the dust. How is the dust on the HTC-10 and Blues?
The Blues dust like crazy (normal for a track pad) but the dust is corrosive, you can't leave it on your wheels or paint or it will eat through it. And if it gets wet and dries..... PITA. And lastly, Blues are very, very abrasive to the rotors when cold. I actually have a set of F/R blues that I use when needed to remove pad deposits. I put the Blues in, take it out and do a few stops (letting them cool between stops) and you can actually hear them grinding on the rotors. I would NEVER run Blues on the street - your rotors won't last very long.
- Joined
- 1 December 2009
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- 622
My sentiments exactly. I LOVE The blues on the track, fantastic stuff, but on the street, they will destroy your rotors and leave tons of dust. They need to be operated at their designed temperature for sure.
Billy, I already tried more aggressive fronts but I ended up stress cracking rotors way more frequently. This issue has virtually eliminated since switching to the HT10's. Infact, pad wear front to rear is near identical which is very convenient
As i've progressed in driving, i've found I need the brakes less and less haha!
As far as HT10 dusting, they do dust alot as with most track pads but the dust is quite a bit more manageable than the BLUES. I really wish they made the HT10 for the REAR of the car so the DTC60's wouldn't cause such a FR bias issue.
That being said, one more event on these brakes this season, hopefully they will yield another good day!
Currently in 3rd place for both my NASA TT-A classing and UMS Time Attack TA-B classing. One more good performance in the Time Attack will yield a 2nd place finish for the year. Not bad for a stock internally engine NSX with suspension and tires / brake pads.
Next year can only get better!
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