Hawk DTC60

#1

At the last event at Buttonwillow in April I switched the front pads from the Hawk HT-10’s to the DTC60.

I didn’t really notice anything during practice but during qualifying it seemed like in the heavy braking areas the grip would go flat. During the race it seemed like the fronts would go into “ice mode” under heavy braking. I never felt the ABS kick in. Not very confidence inspiring. It really took alot of pedal pressure to get some bite. I thought I had done the standard break-in on the pads but they ended up being very spooky.

Needless to say I switched back to the HT-10’s and everything was beautiful again.

Apparently I missed something here (Mister obvious). Was it a lack of heat in the pads after the straights? Should I close off all openings in the front valence? Or, should I try again now that the temps are approaching 100.

Chris

#2

Did you install new rotors at the same time?

This sounds like a bedding-in issue to me. What did you do to bed them in? I tried some PFCs for the first time this weekend during the 3 hour enduro. I didn’t get any proper bedding done on the pace lap so I got the same symptoms you are describing after a few laps. The ABS isn’t kicking in because the tires aren’t sliding.

I bet that unless you have really incompatible deposits on old rotors, they will be fine for your next session.

Unless the air temps in April were sub-50 and/or the straights are >1 mile, I wouldn’t think excessive cooling is the issue.

#3

Thanks Steve

The rotors were not new, they had a race weekend at Infineon with the HT-10’s on them.

I’m going to give them another try. Any special recommendations for this weekend when they go back on?

#4

[quote=“cdonnelly” post=57918]Thanks Steve

The rotors were not new, they had a race weekend at Infineon with the HT-10’s on them.

I’m going to give them another try. Any special recommendations for this weekend when they go back on?[/quote]If you can sand off the deposits and go a good bedding before you head to the track, I’d try that.

If not, I bet you will be fine simply switching to the DTC60s now that they have had some time to cure.

Just to be sure, give Hawk a call and ask a technical person how compatible the deposits on the rotors are between HT10 and DTC60.

#5

I run DTC60s on my e36 track car. I have been running DTC60 on the front for past two years.

I know exactly what you mean by the ‘ice mode’.

The pads work great until they don’t. At the most critical time during a really hard braking, the grip will just go away. I don’t know if it’s due the the temperature or some other factor.

After scaring myself couple of times, I have learn to either use the pad at less than 100% or not to stay at the 100% level to too long.

I would go back to PFC01s but due to the cost, I am staying with DTC60s.

#6

i had this problem and it lasted the life of the pads, very scary coming into hard braking zones at thunderhill and i would have to push as hard as i could physically push the pedal to get the car to slow, but it wouldnt give me the problem on light braking. i talked to Tony Zwain and he described the same thing with the DTC60 and recommended just switching pads. one of the things i thought about and am still not sure it makes sence, but these pads may not have good release characteristics and such the car tries to kick the ABS on and sort of “Locks out” the brake pedal because the pads wont release as fast as the ABS is pumping the brakes, which is why you wouldnt feel the pedal pumping, however i still dont know if the ABS was coming on. that being said, i really dislike this pad and have since switched, unforchunately i am still getting traces of the problem with raybestos st43 pads. i really liked the feel of the hawk blue pads but i hated everything else about them. if anyone knows of a higher temp pad that feels like the blues, please let me know, i really want to feel confident with my brakes!

#7

Isn’t the HT10 supposed to be between the Blues and the DTC60? That is what I am running all around currently, and I have no complaints. I’m planning on trying the DTC60s in the front with HT10s in the rear next.

#8

Tried the pads again this weekend at Buttonwillow and actually started to get comfortable with them. With the HT-10’s I would basically hammer them. With the DTC60’s I found initial grip was much stronger and it didn’t take as much pedal pressure as I was used to. By the time we got to our qualifying race Sunday I felt much better with them. They take more finesse but overall I’ll keep them on a little longer to see if I can get a better read on them. For reference I still have the HT-10’s on the rear.