Well, those lovely Hawk Blue racing brake pads I installed back in May are now cooked:

The pad on the right still has pad material left over most of the contact surface, but is worn enough that it should be replaced. The pad on the left has no pad material anywhere. Those divots and gouges are from the metal pad backing rubbing directly against the rotor. Neither the rotor nor pad liked that setup very much. I could hear the metals grinding away at each, and actually feel them rubbing through the brake pedal!

Needless to say, it was time for new brake pads!

I ended up buying Carbotech brake pads. I bought XP8 pads for the front, and AX6 (formerly the Panther Plus) for the rear. I was debating back and forth over whether I should get the XP8 or AX6. I am hoping to use these as dual street and track pads, so I didn’t want to get a pad so vicious that it would be unstreetable. Clint has had great success with the Panther Plus on his Protege and 3000GT, and they actually have a higher Maximum Operating Temperature than the Hawk Blues I was using before.

I called Carbotech directly, and spoke with a very helpful salesman who guided me towards the XP8. He said that given the more advanced level of track driving I was doing, the XP8 would serve me better. The AX6 would work, but would wear faster on the track. Score 1 for the XP8. He also recommended I get the AX6 for the rear, to shift the brake biasing slightly forward and make it easier to trail brake. I definitely don’t want my rears locking up before my fronts, so I heeded his advice.

Carbotech was having a sale on Miata rotors. Currently, front rotors are $12 and rear rotors are $10. I bought 2 full sets! Everything should be arriving this week, and should be on my car very soon.

And yes, I only got 6 track days out of my Hawk Blues. Though, to be fair to them, I did drive them on the street more than one should drive Hawk Blues on the street. Oh, well, my motto remains: brake late, very late.