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Check out http://www.darksidemotoring.com/

My mechanic gave me their number and site information and I took it from there.

I was not able to find the pads on their site but I just callend and got the HAWK HPS fronts and rears for relatively cheap from them. I live in Cali and in los angeles so i had to pay the stupid 9.75% taxes but i paid around 150 OTD!!! for the fronts and rears. Street unit seems to be the only site i can find that is pretty close in price with them.

Make sure when you call ask for Eric and only him... he gives the best deals.

Also if anyone lives in san fernando valley area... if you need to get ur pads installed check out Midvalley auto repair off of Winnetka and Saticoy in canoga park 818.341.1424 ask for tony. He does pretty cheap high quality work... the guy use to professionally autocross supras and rx-7s in the 90s and has been in the auto industry for like 20 years and really knows whats going on and he is very honest.

Just so you know Midvalley wont be the cheapest in town but they dont give you crap work that you will have to come back and get fixed... and sometimes he will deal with ya if you're paying cash.
 
i just installed my HPS with new OE rotors. i agree with OP that there is virtually no initial bite. for my break in i did moderate braking to I-95 then I did some hard braking on the highway and then cruised for the rest of the hour drive to let the brakes cool off.

i am pretty disappointed because i like the initial bite and maybe it's because i am use to that initial bite but just feels like you have more control.

and honestly i would never sacrifice performance for aesthetics so brake dust is really no big deal.

i am glad i saw the reviews that also stated this issue cause i thought there was something seriously wrong with my braking system. it was actually scary because i had to do an almost emergency stop and i expected the car to stop when i hit the brakes but there is a delay until i really mash the pedal down. just feels like a soft pedal now-honestly i was driving my dad's Highlander and that's what the braking felt like slow and mushy.
 
driving again this morning i do agree the feel is more linear i guess i am just not use to it yet. i would still go back to OE after i wear this one down.

what is the noise complaint? is there one? i don't think i ever heard noise for the OE?
 
[quote author=cuzzinz link=topic=137864.msg3446857#msg3446857 date=1260217009]
Check out http://www.darksidemotoring.com/

My mechanic gave me their number and site information and I took it from there.

I was not able to find the pads on their site but I just callend and got the HAWK HPS fronts and rears for relatively cheap from them. I live in Cali and in los angeles so i had to pay the stupid 9.75% taxes but i paid around 150 OTD!!! for the fronts and rears. Street unit seems to be the only site i can find that is pretty close in price with them.

Make sure when you call ask for Eric and only him... he gives the best deals.

Also if anyone lives in san fernando valley area... if you need to get ur pads installed check out Midvalley auto repair off of Winnetka and Saticoy in canoga park 818.341.1424 ask for tony. He does pretty cheap high quality work... the guy use to professionally autocross supras and rx-7s in the 90s and has been in the auto industry for like 20 years and really knows whats going on and he is very honest.

Just so you know Midvalley wont be the cheapest in town but they dont give you crap work that you will have to come back and get fixed... and sometimes he will deal with ya if you're paying cash.
[/quote]

Or you can support the local vendors here for around the same price...

http://bigbrakeparts.net/searchResults.php?year=2008&make=MAZDA&model=3&sub_model=MazdaSpeed%20Models%20Only#

-G
 
I put in hps pads about a week ago and i did break them in
but at the very end of my stops or right when i start to release the brakes they make a creaking sound
any thoughts?
 
Just to add my $.02:

What bothered me most at first was the longer pedal travel to get the braking force I wanted, but I've found that it's actually a benefit. I do a lot of heel-toe, and I always found it difficult on the MS3 with the OE pads because, even at moderate to high braking, the brake pedal was still much higher up than the gas pedal. Now, the brake pedal is either level, or slightly below the gas pedal when I go to blip the throttle.

I still wish for a firmer pedal feel (I've had SS lines blow suddenly on me on my GTP, so I'm not keen on getting them for my MS3), but overall I'm satisfied.
 
I just order some HPS pads....stupid me I never bothered to read reviews...I think I am okay with a slightly mushier brake pedal feel so long as I can keep the pads and the rotors for a while longer. It makes sense to me that most high performance pads need some heat in them before the initial bite gets really strong, this is just one of the reasons why a track only pad should not be used in really cold weather for daily driving.

So that being said....it gets god damn cold here in the winters....would HP+ pads be a bad idea for driving in say -30 or -40 degree weather? And in warm weather how much better could the initial bite of the HP+ (compared to HPS) even be if your brakes are not warmed up yet?
 
^ street car, use HPS ... Going to the track? do a pad swap to HP+ ...

believe me you don't want any less bite than the HPS gets in cold weather... and be warned, HPS in cold temps before you get heat in them, or if they've cooled down from lack of use... may make your butthole pucker when you hit that brake pedal. It's not bad enough to not use them, I thought they were a good pad. only thing "worse" than OEM was that initial grab. they'll take more heat before fading too.
 
[quote author=justint5387 link=topic=137864.msg3822033#msg3822033 date=1286549126]
If you are gonna pad swap for track, may as well get something better than HP+. I live in CA, so HP+ works for me all year round.
[/quote]

What he said. The lack of stopping if HP+ 's get cold (like winter in OH) will not be good. Just keep that in mind.
 
[quote author=rossisboss link=topic=137864.msg3823124#msg3823124 date=1286642306]
[quote author=justint5387 link=topic=137864.msg3822033#msg3822033 date=1286549126]
If you are gonna pad swap for track, may as well get something better than HP+. I live in CA, so HP+ works for me all year round.
[/quote]

What he said. The lack of stopping if HP+ 's get cold (like winter in OH) will not be good. Just keep that in mind.
[/quote]

Have you tried the HP+ in the winter?

-G
 
[quote author=mazdabrakes link=topic=137864.msg3838123#msg3838123 date=1287938258]
[quote author=rossisboss link=topic=137864.msg3823124#msg3823124 date=1286642306]
[quote author=justint5387 link=topic=137864.msg3822033#msg3822033 date=1286549126]
If you are gonna pad swap for track, may as well get something better than HP+. I live in CA, so HP+ works for me all year round.
[/quote]

What he said. The lack of stopping if HP+ 's get cold (like winter in OH) will not be good. Just keep that in mind.
[/quote]

Have you tried the HP+ in the winter?

-G
[/quote]

I had the HPS pads... they had that "oh shit" delay between jamming the pedal and actually getting good stopping power where they were building up heat... I guess I assumed the HP+ is the same but takes longer to get heated up... correct me if I'm wrong.
 
[quote author=rossisboss link=topic=137864.msg3845392#msg3845392 date=1288562244]
[quote author=mazdabrakes link=topic=137864.msg3838123#msg3838123 date=1287938258]
[quote author=rossisboss link=topic=137864.msg3823124#msg3823124 date=1286642306]
[quote author=justint5387 link=topic=137864.msg3822033#msg3822033 date=1286549126]
If you are gonna pad swap for track, may as well get something better than HP+. I live in CA, so HP+ works for me all year round.
[/quote]

What he said. The lack of stopping if HP+ 's get cold (like winter in OH) will not be good. Just keep that in mind.
[/quote]

Have you tried the HP+ in the winter?

-G
[/quote]

I had the HPS pads... they had that "oh shit" delay between jamming the pedal and actually getting good stopping power where they were building up heat... I guess I assumed the HP+ is the same but takes longer to get heated up... correct me if I'm wrong.
[/quote]

Nope, the HP+ is much better in that area.
 
then I stand corrected. I just remember the cold stopping of the HPS and read somewhere that the HP+ was a similar pad compound but higher temp. resistant... so I assumed. oops.

I didn't like the HPS in the winter because if you cruised for a while without braking and then needed to panic brake they had to build heat again... stock for winter was much better on the MS3.
 
[quote author=roman86s link=topic=137864.msg3402824#msg3402824 date=1257402093]
i had HPS on for about a year now, im still realy happy with them. They work amazing after a little brake in!
[/quote]

++

I think a lot of people throw them on expecting them to just work. Proper brake in is definitely key.

-G
 
[quote author=mazdabrakes link=topic=137864.msg3846956#msg3846956 date=1288703502]
[quote author=roman86s link=topic=137864.msg3402824#msg3402824 date=1257402093]
i had HPS on for about a year now, im still realy happy with them. They work amazing after a little brake in!
[/quote]

++

I think a lot of people throw them on expecting them to just work. Proper brake in is definitely key.

-G
[/quote]

I did the bedding process on my HPS immediately after install. so I never would know what they felt like without it... all I know is that for the price they are some very good brakes. for winter I'd suggest something more immediately grippy in the cold though.
 
fuck me, how did i not see this thread >.<
I just bought these for the fronts (ceramics for the rears), and now i'm regretting my decision.... it gets cold here, and in the winter my current pads have next to zero bite. In fact, my ebrake cant even hold me stopped when they're cold. I have a bad feeling these HPSs aren't going to be any better.

What IS a good pad, that has good bite in the cold, and doesn't make too much dust?

Should I even bother putting the HPS pads on? Can anyone actually comment on how they handle in rain and snow?
 
they are NOT a horrible pad for winter driving... just keep in mind that you'll have that half a second or less where heat builds up to full stopping power. it doesn't take long, just that the OEM MS3 pads didn't do it...

also keep in mind that the E-Brake on these cars is weaksauce... it's not got a shit load of clamping power to begin with. what pads do you currently have on?

and in rain or snow the HPS will do just fine, no funny handling characteristics, I had them on for about 10,000 hard miles, I liked them overall.
as far as a good initial bit pad that will hold up decent... I like the OEM MS3 pads up front a lot... just that they dust pretty heavy, but for me any brake pad dusts heavy. wheel wash once a week or else I have gunmetal colored wheels with silver painted accents.
 
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