05 Legacy GT - Autospecialty XP rotors and Pads and Hawk HPS Review

NOTICE:

 

1. If you are a racer, do not read this thread

2. If you spent more than 1 minute considering the type of oil to use in your car's engine beyond reading the owner's manual section on oil type, do not read this thread

3. If you think that bedding in process makes a material difference in the way your brakes work, do not read this thread

4. If you think the stock 05-09 Legacy GT brakes suck, do not read this thread

 

There are lots of threads analyzing pad compounds, the proper radius for the chamfer on the holes in drilled rotors and the proper arc and orientation of slots in slotted rotors - go read those.

 

Now that we have cleared that up :

 

For some foolish reason I put Hawk HPS pads on my car about 10,000 miles ago and they really haven't worked very well - they are terrible in cold weather, they always felt like the car had been parked in salt water up to the fenders overnight for the first 10 minutes and they braked OK. One good thng is that they had no dust. I checked the pad wear a few wweeks ago and they had plenty of pad left but they just weren't good so I looked for replacements.

 

I saw the Autospecialty stuff on ebay and it is cheap - $110 for front pads and rotors. I could tell that the parts are made by TRW and that they are somehow related to the PowerStop brand but I couldn't find any reviews, etc. I decided to forge ahaed so I bought the front pads and rotors and the $35 rear pads and some Raybestos rear rotors ($35 each).

 

The rotors look like, well rotors and the pads looked fine to - the pads had PowerStop printed on the back.

 

I did the swap this morning and the Hawks were all glazed and the middle pocket on each pad was jammed full of crap

 

The new stuff is working much better and is quite a value.

 

I will try to remember to update this thread once I have a lot more miles on the brakes.

Oh noez!! You did not get the DBA 5000 series rotors and race pads?? You are sure to die in a fiery car accident now...

 

On a serious note however, I run Autozone blank rotors and autozone "gold" pads on my 2.5RS. It's my rallycross beater and sees a lot of racing. The brakes are holding up fine after 2 years.

FYI when I wanted to upgrade my brakes I read a lot of reviews on the Hawk HPS and it seemed like they needed to be warmed up to work. Having had race type pads on my '81 Camaro, I didn't want that type of setup for my daily driver. With all the deer on our street I often don't get to the first stop sign without having to brake suddenly. I like to use the brakes as little as possible when driving, but when I need them, I want them to be there.

 

I was leaning towards Axxis Ultimates, but they weren't available for both front and rear. In talking to a brake vendor I came to find out that StopTech was phasing out Axxis Ultimates due to supply problems and replacing them with their own Street Performance pads (series 309 pads). These are very similar to the Axxis Ultimates.

 

They are an upgrade accross the board from the stock pads and have great initial bite. They are dustier than stock so far, but I haven't had them on for very many miles and I heard this may tail off a little. So far I am very pleased with the new setup (added new OEM rotors and Goodrich Stainless lines at the same time).

 

Since these are relatively new, I thought I'd throw that out as another alternative for those who use their car for mainly for real life commuting.

Thanks Rao. I wonder if all the positive reviews of the Hawk HPS are people focused on doing hard braking from 100mph repeatedly? It seems the more I read about them for DD, the more they aren't a good choice.

 

Shame. And yes, I am someone who considers the stock 05+ LGT braking to be sub-par....mainly because the pedal absolutely sinks to the ground under panic braking. Maybe it's simply a matter of worn re92s and maybe the factory used brake fluid that was cut with h2o.

 

Nice price on those rear pads and rotors. Let us know how they dust once they've got some mileage on them!

 

Joe

Well on the private test track that I have access too I did plenty of 100+ stops with the Hawk pads and they were noting to write home about.

 

As for the stock brake pedal being sinking - I have never experienced that, you might want to bleed the brakes and obviously the re92s are not going to win any awards other than the best parties thrown for Subaru executives

Nice

 

I've felt the stock brakes were fine....until the last 10k or so. I had my first panic stop when a school bus in front of me did the unexpected and damn if it didn't brake hard when I looked down at the radio for 1 second

 

Since then, I've done more hard stopping to repeat it. It's not on the floor, it's simply that the pedal sinks far down AND it feels like the braking power is decreasing or the car is not braking harder as it continues to sink. Hope that made sense.

 

Car will be off the truck 2 years of age this March. I'll drain and re-fill the hydraulic systems then or a bit after (got all the right fluids sitting around unopened, might as well). Going to try out that motive power bleeder to make my life easier

 

My OEM pads barely dust, which I love, but the pedal feel leaves something to be desired. Maybe it's simply fluid.

thanks for this review.... I have an 05 Legacy and was looking for inexpensive brakes for a car that is primarily driven by mty wife. I took the Legacy to the track once and came up with warped rotors for my efforts, but I have never felt that the braking performance (especially when it comes to pedal feel) was subpar... and i DO have a race car..... I have been driving the car for a week and had two panic stops last week and even got the ABS to engage in one of them JoePa... no complaints at all here with the stock brakes... JoePa I would recommend a competent brake flush to see if you can regain a good pedal feel. if successful then replace with a high quality fluid. If not successful, maybe you have a weakening brake master cylinder?

do you have a link to the ebay auction?

Here is all the stuff that fits the GT

 

http://motors.shop.ebay.com/brake_overstock/m.html?_nkw=legacy+05+gt&_sacat=&_trksid=p3911.m270.l1313&_odkw=&_osacat=0

Hawk HPS works great for my DD in NYC. Weather varies a lot also. But I see you're in Chicago so you shouldn't be a stranger to traffic and freakish weather either. I guess it really boils down to having different tastes/tolerances/preferences. For example, you said that the HPS doesn't dust a lot. I find that it dusts a huge amount. I washed my car one day, and 3 days later, there was a very noticeable layer of dust all over my stock rims.

 

Another reason I can't wait for the warm weather to put on my new gunmetal rims. Can't see the dirt!

Man I hate saying this everytime, but once you warm the hps pads up they are great. i have used then on tracks and they are much better than stock ones, im sure the hp+ are better, but i like the hps pads once they are warmed up.

I, too, have had the HPS pads for a while, and they certainly feel much better than stock. They haven't been a problem for me in these cold weeks we've had in MA... even for the first stop...

Interested in hearing more on this deal.

 

Buying brakes this week, and if I can get front rotors included for the price of HPS f&r pads alone, I'm gonna jump on this too.

did you send in your brake dust for analysis?

 

you have to check out the forum at www.bobisthebrakepadguy.com for brake pad OCI's

 

I usually take a sample every week I negotiated a package deal with the engine oil, transmission fluid, diff fluid and wheel bearing grease.

dyson or blackstone?

 

I'm surprised you don't get your clutch dust analyzed more often.

both obviously -

 

 

I forgot the clutch dust I do that with the monthly transmission rebuild

I, too, have had the HPS pads for a while, and they certainly feel much better than stock. They haven't been a problem for me in these cold weeks we've had in MA... even for the first stop...

 

 

Could people be comparing different pads here?

 

One guy is saying zero dust, another is saying they dust a good amount. One person says they need to warm up and then are great, another says they are good on the first stop.

 

Seems like different compounds are being reviewed....

I think the HPS pads are worse than OEM with stock rotors - it's the initial bite especially when wet with HPS that has me worried. I'll definitely look at these when replacing pads/rotors next.

The topic of initial bite always comes up for our cars. People place way too much emphasis on initial bite. If I want my car to lurch forward, I'll stomp on the brake pedal quickly and sharply. I don't want or need my car lurching forward at the slighest touch of the pedal.

The topic of initial bite always comes up for our cars. People place way too much emphasis on initial bite. If I want my car to lurch forward, I'll stomp on the brake pedal quickly and sharply. I don't want or need my car lurching forward at the slighest touch of the pedal.

 

I don't think it's just our cars, it's brakes in general. I had Axiis Metal Masters on my previous Legacy and the first stop when it was really cold outside was scary. It felt like stopping a car with wet rotors. I actually got in the habit of lightly braking a few times just to heat them up after leaving the house. Needless to say, I'm never buying those pads again.

I think the HPS pads are worse than OEM with stock rotors - it's the initial bite especially when wet with HPS that has me worried. I'll definitely look at these when replacing pads/rotors next.

I may have to agree with you there - the HPS pads are horrible when they get wet. Went though a car wash, and when I came out, the pads were terrible... nothing a little riding-on-the-pedal doesn't fix, but certainly alarming at first.

 

But, I still say that the cold doesn't seem to bother them that much, at least for me.

 

As for the conflicting reviews, keep in mind, these are not objective... everyone has a different frame of reference, so what's "bad" for one person may be "good" for another.

 

As for initial bite, I don't care about that... just give me linear pedal feel and strong braking... these pads do that. For that matter, I "tested" the stockers on dry ground, full braking... they never locked up the wheels. With the HPS, the ABS kicked in...

I never have a problem with them wet either. Driven through snow, rain, heat, cold, etc. :shrug:

both obviously -

 

 

I forgot the clutch dust I do that with the monthly transmission rebuild

 

Only rebuild the transmission monthly to go with your daily engine rebuilds? Seems a little neglectful dont you think?:lol:

 

-Pierce

After about 5000 miles, I am getting rid of my Hawk HPS pads.

 

I bought the HPS pads on the recommendations of some here. I have to say that if it is especially cold, raining or the road is wet they just plain suck. First thing in the morning or afternoon or if you are driving on the highway and haven't used the brakes in last few minutes are when they are the worst.

 

Hit them in a hurry under these conditions there is about a 2 second delay before anyone is actually home.

 

And yes, I can ride them occasionally to keep them dry so they work. I can also rub my crotch occasionally to keep it semi-hard. Just-in-case.

 

There is nothing worse than hitting the brakes hard when you really need them and the car traveling an extra 50 feet before they start to kick in. To put it in terms you may understand, that's an extra 3-4 cars or the back half of the school bus you'll plow trough before your brakes decide to wake up.

 

No thanks. I like my anal sphincter just the way it is. Shut.

 

 

Kyle