I like the Greens...I've had the rotors glowing such that they cast shadows on the ground and the pads were physically on FIRE and they still stopped w/out protest. They dusted like stock, but were quiet. Hawk: They have everything under the sun...which one are you talking about? HPS and HP+ are the major 'street' pads...they are 'meh' but they get the job done under sporty conditions. They make noise too.
I just put HPS on from the stock pads with lines and super blue fluids. The braking feels much better. The stock pads used to always make me think, "my old Altima's brakes were better." Now, the brakes feel like they should on a stock WRX. I'm sure the HP+ will give you a whip lash, but I didn't wanna bother with the noise and dust. So that's a + for Hawk brand.
If you ever plan to drive your car hard the Hawk HPS's are not for you. They didn't even make a full day at at the track for me.
HPS or HP + are both good street pads, if you want to do any sort of auto crossing in addition to your daily driving look at the HP+ pads. More demanding applications require better pads...obviously.
if you think your nissan brakes were better, you`re DEFINITELY not driving your car hard enough. nissans have that crappy 'initial bite' thing that makes people think that it's working hard, but when you really press the pedal, well, it doesnt work hard :rofl: i dunno, i think wrx ABS system is so natural, and i like how it kicks in late, so when you`re really in trouble you can steer, but it will brake as hard as you need to. as far as the ebc vs hawks, i was in the same situations, but i got the hps fronts for $70 shipped, and other than the brake dust (like crazy!!!) and minimal noise (when it's cold, it needs to get warmed up a bit), it's fine.. i feel like it's got better response compared to stocker and it shows on highway driving (at high speeds, it rubs off speed quicker than stock), but when you really step on it, it doesnt bite as well as the stockers. i used to be able to lock up the fronts, but maybe it's because i have hankook RS-2s now :keke: i heard that EBCs arent rotor friendly, but if you`re gonna use the car for more than just regular sprited driving, i`d say go with EBC, and for street use, go with a stocker replacement rather than the hawks.