[N8N]

Hi all,

Just got my brakes on the other day - I went with Centric "high carbon" rotors (look like Premiums but apparently are made from better metal? They were about the same price as the Premiums so I went with these instead) and Hawk HPS pads all around. I did try to bed them in but don't think I got them hot enough so will do it again. However the difference in feel between them and the stock pads is dramatic - despite both being "FF" friction rated I can definitely tell that the Hawks have less initial bite and require more pressure, and it may be my imagination but I feel that the additional pressure required is lowering my brake pedal for a given decel meaning that it's throwing off all of my muscle memory for heel and toeing etc.

I did not bleed the brakes because the brake fluid is only a couple months old; I did not open any bleeders.

Two questions - does this sound normal for switching from stock pads to Hawks, or should I re-bed them before making any decisions? (I drove home from my friend's shop where I was doing the work but didn't even have a chance to try any really hard braking because I was literally driving through the worst rainstorm I have ever driven in in my life; we're talking about a 40 MPH on the beltway rainstorm) Second, if this *is* normal, would switching to stainless braided hoses get some of the firmness back? Or are the stock hoses not that springy? If stainless is worthwhile, any lines in particular that would be recommended?

[Phil325i]

Personal view - in your age of car, steel hoses would be a waste of money. Only when OEM hoses start to seriously weaken with age do fitting steel hoses make any difference to brake pedal feel. Just my experience anyway...

[N8N]

That's kind of why I was asking. I've used stainless lines on several cars before and noticed an improvement, but all of those cars probably needed new lines of any type. As my car is about 4.5 years old, hopefully the stock hoses are in reasonably as-new condition...