After a disastrous experience with Mintex Red Box brake pads I decided it was necessary to upgrade something with much higher performance capabilities. I’ve gotten several recommendations, including Hawk HPS street pads, the Hawk track-only pads, and a couple of different Padgid track pads. However, my final decision was BHP XPS pads because they are essentially track pads that also can be used on the street. I really don’t see myself swapping pads before and after every track weekend. Track pads don’t perform well cold and street pads don’t perform well when extremely hot, but apparently the BHP pads overcame this problem and give close to the performance of a track-only pad with great cold friction. I’ll post an update once I get some experience with them, but they should be much better than the Minxex pads.

For anyone interested, I purchased the pads from Stable Energies.

I considered upgrading my front disc and calipers to 911 Carrera / Boxster brakes. However, I my wish list of stuff for the car to justify spending the money on them, even at salvage yard prices.

I’m also switching my brake fluid to something with more temperature capability. I think my previous boiling-fluid problem was due to the pads more than the fluid, but I don’t want to take any changes. I went with the standard ATE Super Blue fluid. There are several other options that appear to be slight better (and also more expensive) but I decided Super Blue would probably be perfectly fine for my needs.