Help me choose brake pads for dual duty: daily + autocross with rare track days (GR86)

Hey all,
I daily drive a 2022 GR86 and take it to autocross every 2–3 months, with a rare track day once or twice a year. I recently burned through my stock pads and rotors at a track event and had to do a quick/cheap replacement the next day just to get back on the road.

My next major event is autocross in September, so I’ve got some time to plan a better setup. I’m currently looking at Hawk HPS 5.0 and HP+ pads as my upgrade options.

I’d love to hear from anyone who’s run either (or both):

  • Is the HPS 5.0 good enough for daily + autocross duty? How long do you think they would last on a track considering how light the GR86 is?
  • Is the HP+ overkill for my usage, or would it be worth it despite noise/dust?
  • Would it be smart to just leave one pad type on year-round vs. swapping before each event? I’d prefer not to jack up the car every time if I don’t have to.

I don’t mind some noise, the GR86 already drones a lot with my muffler delete and I’m pretty desensitized to it, but I don’t want to eat through rotors or suffer at low temps just for marginal gains.

Also, I plan to keep my current cheap pads/rotors in the garage as backups if that helps simplify anything.

Thanks in advance for any insight! Curious what others would choose to do and why.

Posted Aug 4, 2025, 4:33 PM UTC

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