[quote author=MyZoom7 link=topic=137864.msg3024100#msg3024100 date=1238300293]
It matters, I didn't say that it was the end all. Initial bite matched with actual stopping power is how you make a great brake pad. HPS is lacking for a "Street" pad. They're better options out there, one of them being the ones that come with the speed3.
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And because they have a little less initial "bite" that alone makes them lacking on the street?? They stop the car just as well if not better than the OEM pads, with equal or more fade resistance and less brake dust production, at a much lower price...
I for one would rather save my money for things that are more useful to me than initial pad "bite" that doesn't really translate over to increased overall braking performance. I'll be using the HP+ next, which are still cheaper than OEM and if Hawk follows the same pattern in their MS3 pads that I've come to love in all their other pads that I've used on my previous cars, I doubt that I'll be disappointed.
Are the OEM pads better than most OEM pads? For sure. I think people are just getting way too hung up on the "bite" issue without realizing that initial, cold pad "bite" has very little if any effect on real braking performance. In fact, more aggressive pads almost always have less inital "bite" when cold than an OEM compound...
The HPS pads still have bite (especially once hot), they just don't have more initial cold "bite" than their abilities can back up.
Yes, the OEM pads are great street pads, and yes, they're better than most OEM pads I've used.
But, they're way more expensive than the Hawks, and they don't really offer me BETTER overall performance, so I'll use the Hawks, especially at the rate at which I use up my brake pads (I'll be giving the HP+ a go the next time around, since I'd like a bit more of an "upgrade" over the OEM-like overal performance of the HPS
). It's simply not worth it to me to pay all that extra money just for better initial cold "bite". For some, it may be. I'm simply saying that the HPS is a reasonable replacement pad for someone who doesn't want to spend OEM money, and it isn't going to leave them with a poorly braking car.
And a word on brake pad bedding...
It should ALWAYS be done, regardless of the compound, and especially when you're using new pads on new rotors. The brake rotors require a layer of friction material to be transferred to the rotor face in order to work properly, and a proper bedding procedure is the best way to quickly attain this result evenly across the entire swept area...