Hey everyone, I recently bought some Hawks HP+ pads for my A4 and am surprised at how easily they overheat coming down a switch-backy road that I like to drive. They do fine for the drive up the hill, but then as I come down, they tend to fade a lot and I have to slow down as a result. The road has a lot of big braking as you come down a 6-8% grade with a dozen or so 20-30mph hairpins. I get up to about 60-70mph in-between turns. Is this fade unusual? Could I change my driving style to prevent it?

the same way?
if not, how long has it been since you've had your brake fluid flushed? what kind of fluid? have you had your braking system checked recently?
The HP+ pads should be as good or better than the stock and most other street pads out so if you never had fade before, I doubt it's because of the Hawks. As for driving style, if you haven't changed from before and you didn't get fade before, it's probably not the cause either. A lot of people tend to ride their brakes going down hill which could help fade more too...

They will occasionally transfer pad material to the rotors and cause some vibration, but I use them because they have good initial bite without having to be heated up. I can leave them on between track days. (If I don't mind the dust and the squealing.) Do you have fresh DOT 4 brake fluid? Hard to imagine on the street but perhaps you are boiling the fluid.

Here is a video of Road Atlanta running HP+ with stock calipers in July. 25 minute sessions were never a problem, and I was braking from 100 +.<ul><li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7PONtgyjgw">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7PONtgyjgw</a</li></ul>

I've maybe driven it 15 times...I've really only gotten to know the road since after putting the HP+ on. I think I might be riding the brakes a bit, I'll have to try it again and be conscious of that.

You might be over heating them, it might be time for a BBK!