[Tom Droze]

So far I have spent my Christmas vacation in the garage. I installed Stop Tech slotted brake rotors, Hawk HPS 5.0 brake pads, I painted my calipers and installed new spring clips which I had yellow zinc plated. Oh, as an added bonus, I installed a Cusco rear strut brace--which probably wont do much but it looks cool. Also pay attention to my OEM brake pads picture, as two track days took their toll on them.

[harendre7201]

Could u provide some more info about the rear strut brace price and how hard install was

[pinoye90]

Does anyone know if this fits on the e90 even though it's sated for the e92???

[Phil325i]

Originally Posted by Tom Droze

Oh, as an added bonus, I installed a Cusco rear strut brace--which probably wont do much but it looks cool.

You're probably right as your brace sits right under a steel cross member! But it would be nice to know if you did feel any difference...

[Tom Droze]

Originally Posted by harendre7201

Could u provide some more info about the rear strut brace price and how hard install was

The most difficult part of the installation was trying to figure out where to make the cuts in the trunk lining, which needs to come out to do the installation. There are two support brackets that are held in place with three torx bolts that are replaced with the support brackets for the strut brace. I made a cardboard template, which I used to mark the cutting area on the backside of the trunk lining. The trunk lining is plastic overlaid with carpet, so I used a cutting wheel on my Dremel tool to make the cuts. The cuts I made aren't perfect but they are close. The strut brace cost $235 and I found it at Mod_Bargains.

[justpete]

Originally Posted by Tom Droze

So far I have spent my Christmas vacation in the garage. I installed Stop Tech slotted brake rotors, Hawk HPS 5.0 brake pads, I painted my calipers and installed new spring clips which I had yellow zinc plated. Oh, as an added bonus, I installed a Cusco rear strut brace--which probably wont do much but it looks cool. Also pay attention to my OEM brake pads picture, as two track days took their toll on them.

Looks like you had fun! How do you like the slotted rotors? Thinking of reverting to them here in place of the Zimmerman blanks. Also, the pad damage is kinda scary...

[cdgatti]

Tom, I know I have said this before, but I think your list of modifications are great. You seem to strike the perfect balance between practicality and all out performance. Additionally you stay away from the more tacky mods!

[Tom Droze]

Originally Posted by cdgatti

Tom, I know I have said this before, but I think your list of modifications are great. You seem to strike the perfect balance between practicality and all out performance. Additionally you stay away from the more tacky mods!

Thank you for saying that. But mostly I need to thank the knowledgeable folks on this forum who have guided me along the way.

[Chrispy650]

How do you like the hawk 5.0 pads?

[Tom Droze]

Originally Posted by Chrispy650

How do you like the hawk 5.0 pads?

So far so good, though I have only put a few miles on them. The initial bite may not be quite as strong as OEM but the braking force appears to be more linear.

[tetsuo111]

How's the Cusco strut brace working for you? Does the handling feel more precise?

[Kgolf31]

Originally Posted by Tom Droze

So far so good, though I have only put a few miles on them. The initial bite may not be quite as strong as OEM but the braking force appears to be more linear.

Did you bed them?

If not, this can describe the bite being off.

HPS 5.0 is a pretty nice pad, IMO a much better alternative to HP+. The release is awesome and threshold is up here with HP+

[Tom Droze]

Originally Posted by Kgolf31

Did you bed them?

If not, this can describe the bite being off.

HPS 5.0 is a pretty nice pad, IMO a much better alternative to HP+. The release is awesome and threshold is up here with HP+

Yes, I did bed in the pads, I did 10 medium stops from 30 MPH and four hard stops from 40 mph.

[hassmaschine]

if you look at the chart it's obvious the HPS don't have the same cold performance as stock pads. But we don't really know what stock pads that is comparing to - BMW? Honda? Ford?

You might be disappointed with these on the track too. It looks like they've improved the HPS a little bit but it still doesn't really compare to a race pad. To me the HPS have always been something like an all season tire - not really great at any particular thing. I prefer OEM pads on the street and switch to race pads on a track. you don't have to swap rotors so it's really not that difficult. And if you destroy those HPS on the track by overheating them (like the OEM pads), then you don't save anything by running an "all season" pad.

[Kgolf31]

Originally Posted by hassmaschine

if you look at the chart it's obvious the HPS don't have the same cold performance as stock pads. But we don't really know what stock pads that is comparing to - BMW? Honda? Ford?

You might be disappointed with these on the track too. It looks like they've improved the HPS a little bit but it still doesn't really compare to a race pad. To me the HPS have always been something like an all season tire - not really great at any particular thing. I prefer OEM pads on the street and switch to race pads on a track. you don't have to swap rotors so it's really not that difficult. And if you destroy those HPS on the track by overheating them (like the OEM pads), then you don't save anything by running an "all season" pad.

Cold performance as 100*F, which is nothing honestly.

I don't think OP is looking to track for these pads. The pad is better than OE an HP+ IMO. It does bite as hard as the HP+, but for good reason.

The HP+ pads bite so hard it'll kick in ABS prematurely. Ask me how I know. As well, the actually don't release well, they will grab onto the rotor and when the ABS goes to actuate you actually lock brakes instead of the brake modulating.

Don't knock the HPS 5.0. Yes it's not a track pad but it's a much better improvement over OE

[Tom Droze]

Originally Posted by tetsuo111

How's the Cusco strut brace working for you? Does the handling feel more precise?

So far on the street, I have not felt anything different, though I wasn't really expecting much if any change. I suppose any benefit on the track probably won't be that noticeable either, but we will see. For me, it was one of those mods that was cheap enough, it was worth rolling the dice on, so I did it.

[Tom Droze]

Originally Posted by Kgolf31

Cold performance as 100*F, which is nothing honestly.

I don't think OP is looking to track for these pads. The pad is better than OE an HP+ IMO. It does bite as hard as the HP+, but for good reason.

The HP+ pads bite so hard it'll kick in ABS prematurely. Ask me how I know. As well, the actually don't release well, they will grab onto the rotor and when the ABS goes to actuate you actually lock brakes instead of the brake modulating.

Don't knock the HPS 5.0. Yes it's not a track pad but it's a much better improvement over OE

My primary objective was to get an improved street pad, as compared to OEM, and based on the research I did, the Hawk HPS 5.0 fit that bill. I do intend to do an occasional HPDE with these pads, but please keep in mind, I am not super hard on brakes given my current level of driving skill, and the two tracks I run on are also relatively brake friendly.

[tetsuo111]

Thanks for your candid feedback. I think some mods are subtle by themselves but contribute to the overarching experience.

[mmmnot]

Wrap the rear strut bar, looks so much better than that chrome IMHO.

[Tom Droze]

Originally Posted by mmmnot

Wrap the rear strut bar, looks so much better than that chrome IMHO.

Yes it does, and until I opened the box, I was expecting a carbon fiber wrapped strut bar. After the strut bar appeared in its chrome "birthday suit," I went back to the Mod_Bargains website only to discover a small disclaimer attached to your photo submission that indicated the bar in the photo had been wrapped by the customer. So. . .

[stashtrey]

Did you paint The brakes silver? Where'd you get the kit?

[Tom Droze]

Originally Posted by stashtrey

Did you paint The brakes silver? Where'd you get the kit?

Yes, I painted the brake calipers and I had the spring clips yellow zinc plated. I didn't use a kit, I used high temperature engine paint and primer, as it offered more color choices. Because our brake calipers are butt ugly I only wanted to clean them up and not have them be a focal point behind the wheel.