Put some new brake pads (front/rear) on the SS today. I had Hawk HPS pads and decided to go with some Satisfied Grand Sport 6 Ceramic/Carbon pads instead. Nice upgrade, the initail bite is much better than the Hawks and they dust even less. For $105 this was worth every penny and more.

 

I ran the satisfied gran sport 5's at the track... loved em... but they ate up my cross drilled slotted rotors (ones meant for track duty) something fierce... best setup i found yet for stopping power... now i just need some durability...

 

There is always some give and take on this. If you have more stopping power, you're bound to chew up rotors quicker.

I work with a guy that has some higher grade Hawk pads (don't remember which ones) on his WRX. They grab like mad, but his rotors always have the fresh turned look so I know they're chewing them up.

 

exactly, but beats having an accident

 

I totally agree.
Thats why I pulled off a good set of Thermoquiets in favor of Axxis Metal masters.

 

Don't want to jack, but when you go w/ aftermarket brake pads, like Hawks, would it be a good idea to get slotted and dimpled/drilled rotors to help venting?

My brakes are kind of soft..

 

First off, Bleed the brakes with something like ATF superblue - its a dot 4, and its 10000 times better than 6 year old oem stuff for a limp pedal. I ran slotted, cross drilled rotors, and they were fine until the car was taken out on the track. They deteriorated in about an hour and a half of track time at watkins glen, although they were listed as OK for track use. The more agressive the pad, the more its gonna bite and chew up the rotor, and the more heat it is going to make in a shorter period of time. Even good cross drilled, slotted or dimpled rotors just dont last with the heat I subjected them to with a near race pad. For street use, they worked a little better than regular oem rotors.
Also dont forget to expect shorter pad life... slotted rotors also shave the pad for a clean mating surface while they vent gasses.

 

^ I had rotors on my last car. THey chewed the sh*t out of the pads. My hawks have about 10k miles on them, now they're gettign worn and starting to squeak.