Hawk HPS Rear Brake Pads HB370F.559 - A Great Choice For Infiniti G35.

In the course of 9.5 years I had my 2004 Infiniti G35, I had 3 sets of brake pads. The stock semi-metallic set of brake pads lasted 15K miles. Fast wear was not good, and neither was a lot of dark dust they produced. As such, the wheels would become covered in black dust about 1 week after the car was washed. The brakes were squeaky, especially in the colder mornings. But the stock brakes had a very good initial "bite", which most people dislike, but I like. The stopping power and the pedal feel were also very good.

Since people were complaining that the G35's brakes were wearing out quickly, Infiniti gave the owners a 3-year/36-month brake warranty. As a result, I got a free set of brake pads from Infiniti (Nissan). The replacement pads had reformulated compound and behaved quite differently from the first set. Due to complaints by G35 owners, the pad's compound was reformulated to last longer. The new brakes produced less dust, but still were noisy in the second half of their life. They lasted 28K miles. After they wore out, I decided to get Hawk HPS brake pads (both front and back).



About Hawk HPS HB370F.559

The Hawk HPS (High Performance Street Brake) are brake pads with Ferro-Carbon compound. The Hawk Performance company promises increased stopping power, high friction hot or cold, being gently on rotors, long life, low dust and no noise.

Performance

After I installed Hawk HPS pads and bedded-in according to Hawk's instructions, I discovered that the pads were quite different from the stock ones.

For the reference, the rear brakes were Hawk HPS model HB370F.559 and the fronts were HB268F.665.

Dust:
One of the features of the HPS is low dust. With the previous two sets of pads, my rear alloy wheels used to be covered in thick dust after about a month of driving. Although my front HPS pads produce very little dust, the rears actually produce about as much dust as the stock ones. But the dust is not black but light-brown color, which is much less visible. So the quantity of dust is similar to stock, but due to lighter color, it is much less visible. So my rear wheels look better now.

Longevity:
I had the rear brake pads (HB370F.559) for 36,000 miles. Although the ultimate longevity is not known, after 23K miles, there was still 8 mm of material left, which indicates almost no wear. So longevity is supposed to be much better than the stock brakes. I expect to get more than 60K miles from these.

Stopping Power:
When cold, the Hawk HPS is less "grabby" than the original OEM brakes and produces friction below the OEM but slightly higher (better) than the replacement Nissan pads. When hot, the initial "bite" and overall stopping power at the same pedal pressure increase, which is good if you drive aggressively.

Noise:
The pads produce no virtually no noise.

Rotor Wear:
My rear rotors have some visible grooves, but no significant wear. It is difficult to estimate how well they preserve the rotors.

Pros: Long life, low dust, no noise, good braking power.
Cons: Could have had more stopping power, not cheap 

Bottom Line

The Hawk HPS HB370F.559 produce little dust, no noise, are long-lasting and have good stopping power. Although I would like still more stopping power (when cold), the Hawk HPS HB370F.559 represent an excellent choice for rear brake pads. I am glad I got them for my 2004 Infiniti G35.


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