Brake Pad for Novice Driver

I started tracking my car and will need to replace the brake pads soon.  I am a novice and do not come close to the car's limits but hope to change that soon.  I was using the OEM pad and never experienced any fade.  I am really slow.  

The car is a momentum car, around 240 hp and 3000 lbs. including driver.  The track days are 3-4 20 minute sessions.  The car will be used mostly for track and the occasional weekend drive, but need to drive 40-200 miles to the track.

My preference would be to use one pad.  Not much room in the car for a floor jack.  I'm also really lazy.

Given my skill level and needs, is it okay to stick with the OEM or similar?  Or should I go with a dual use pad like Hawk HP+ or EBC Yellow Stuff?  A full track pad feels like overkill and a poor match for my current talent level.

Unless you plan to swap pads back and forth for track days, I think you'll be fine with any of the "Sport" type pads like Hawk HP+ or Stoptech Sport.  Full track pads like DTC's or GLOC G-8 will be noisy and miserable on the street, and you aren't driving at the level where you need them yet.

For a budget option I'd recommend the powerstop track day pads that you can ge through rockauto if they are available for your car (don't forget the 5% discount code through this site!). I've used these as well as the track day spec pad and have been very impressed for the price. I've also used the Hawk HP+ as well as the discontinued street/track pads and these compare quite well for a lot less money. The track day works well on the street (good bite from cold) but also handles a lot of heat, there are the typical drawbacks that you get with a pad like this, mainly dust and some squealing. The track day spec pad does not work as well from cold, it needs to some heat to work but on track they come alive with a very consistent performance.

Don't forget to change the fluid as well to get some fresh stuff in there, ATE Typ 200 is once again an affordable option that works well in this type of application.

I use HP+ on my "track day" RX7 (240 hp, 2500 lb). I do 6-8 track events a year. Each event is usually 3-8 20 minute sessions. Outside of track use the car gets occasionally driven to the local Cars & Coffee and for quick shakedown runs to get fuel and make sure everything's good before a track day. I'm getting about 1 year out of a set of pads. They are dusty and noisy on the street but so far plenty capable at my skill level on track. I do potentially see myself outrunning them in the future, though. I've read some claims that Hawk's HT-10 pad is streetable but I'll cross that bridge later.

ShinnyGroove (Forum Supporter) said:

Unless you plan to swap pads back and forth for track days, I think you'll be fine with any of the "Sport" type pads like Hawk HP+ or Stoptech Sport.  Full track pads like DTC's or GLOC G-8 will be noisy and miserable on the street, and you aren't driving at the level where you need them yet.

My Carbotechs (same as GLOC), weren't noisy on the street but they were crazy dusty. But the dust washed off easily and wasn't corrosive. 

In reply to z31maniac :

Carbotech/gloc seem to have varying noise levels.  Seen some guys say they make no noise, others cant get the squeak to go away on the street.  I happen to be one that cant get rid of the squeak.   Either way, Im not sure id recommend them yet is driver isnt fading stock pads. 

You might be fine with EBC Redstuff or Porterfield R4-S

Hp+ are pretty good!

If the stock pads are fine then keep using them.

As an aside some of us would kill for your momentum car; we're in 100hp cars........your car is a rocket! 

Depends on what exactly the car is, but for that weight and power if it's got reasonable sized brakes then the porterfield R4S will probably satisfy you for a long time. They're a bit weak on initial bite but have plenty of stopping power once you get a bit more pedal pressure. They're not quite "real" race pads but can tolerate more heat than any other "street" pad I've tried, while being dead silent and not tremendously dusty in normal use. They tend to wear kind of quickly especially if you're running them hard, but they're also usually pretty cheap so it balances out.

That all said, this year I went to swapping to R4 (the "real" race pad version) for track use and they're so much better. But it'll probably be at least a few events or a year or two, if ever, until you get to a point where the R4S are really holding you back. But most any "track" pad can be swapped in before the event and driven there just fine (albeit incredibly noisily in most cases) so no need to bring a jack with you and swap on site.

In reply to Jnntrp865 :

The key words are didn't experiance any fade.  So OEM is fine.  I'll bet he's racing with OEM brake fluid as well.  
The first thing required is fresh fluid.   Then if fade starts to show up go to a DOT 5 fluid.  
  Only when it's fading with that fluid start changing pad material.  He clearly doesn't need different.  It won't be faster.