Brake pads STOPTECH or Hawk Performance
I have the Hawk HPS and they're a little less initially bitey but seem to stop just as well when I put the brakes on, which is nice for a daily.
My blew through the stock pads AND rotors in 25k.
Put on the StopTech pad rotor/pad kit and the Mountune steel lines.
While this setup had less bite than the stock setup, it was just as powerful and more controllable/progressive.
They also lasted WAY longer than stock, no squeal, and very little brake dust.
I personally find the stock brakes to be too grabby for me to comfortably heel toe. I switched to the Stop tech street pads and loved them.
I run the StopTech "Street" performance pads with EBC slotted rotors and can 100% vouch for each. Outstanding quality and performance. I really push my brakes on occassion and this combo outperformed my expectations which were fairly high to begin with. Bonuses- very low dust and zero noise.
My choices were EBC slotted front rotors and StopTech "Street" performance brake pads. Major improvement over oe in stopping distance and resistance to brake fade.
Pads, lines, fluid are a lot less and make a huge difference. No need to go BBK or retrofit unless like others brought up. Track it, Auto-X it, or push it on some backroads often. If you have the Performance Pack, the PP brakes are even better. I did an OEM+ refresh on my IS38 MK7. Stoptech slotted, Stoptech SS lines, Stoptech STR600 fluid, EBC Red pads. Still non PP factory rotor size, but brake fade comes on much further out for me now. Gives me a healthy window to enjoy pushing the car before fade kicks in. Tires matter and help more for braking difference. So if that's what you're chasing. Get a really good set of summer compounds on the car.
My favorite autocross pad is Hawk HP+, but they dust like crazy and some sets are extremely squeaky for some reason. But they are mad consistent in all temps (except track where they fade at high speeds like any street pad) and the bite is absolutely fantastic and easy to modulate.
I've been using Hawk 5.0 They're marketed as a "high performance street" pad. I've done track days with them and theyve held up but they're "street" enough that they don't take forever to get warm. Maybe it's my lack of experience with other pads but they are kinda dusty.
If you are dead set on not getting some Napa golds or whatever grab some Stoptech Steet pads. They are dusty as hell and wear pretty quick not in stop and go city traffic. I live in the sticks so lots of highway and running the stoptech steets on my Gx sedan they dust up bad and I swap them every 35k~. I do have the sport brake kit on it but I don't see the base calipers making much difference on dust and wear.
Complete ripoff. Subaru tried that years ago on my STI, I bought Hawk track pads and did it myself (as I would have done anyway). The dealer tried the ol' "These are high end calipers and the pads are much more difficult to change". I just said "Please stop lying to me, you're eroding trust between us" and left. Easiest brakes ever.
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