Hawk Brake Pad Part Numbers Decoded: What HB456Y.705 Actually Means
Most people arrive at a Hawk pad holding a box, or a worn-out set, with a number on it: HB456Y.705. It looks like a serial number. It is not — it is three separate pieces of information, and once you can read it you can find the right pad in seconds instead of guessing from your car.
The anatomy of a Hawk part number
Take HB456Y.705 apart:
- HB456 — the pad shape. This is the physical footprint that fits a particular caliper. It is not the car: one shape covers every vehicle that runs that caliper, which is why the same number shows up across makes that have nothing else in common.
- Y — the compound. One letter, and it is the whole performance decision.
- .705 — the thickness, in thousandths of an inch. Most shapes come in one; a handful are offered in two or three.
So HB456Y.705 and HB456G.705 are the same pad, cut to the same shape, in two completely different compounds. If you already know your shape number, that is the fastest thing to search — faster and more reliable than your year, make and model.
What the letter means
This is the part nobody prints on the box. Every letter maps to exactly one compound:
| Letter | Compound | Built for |
|---|---|---|
| F | HPS | Street |
| B | HPS 5.0 | Street, premium |
| Z | Performance Ceramic | Street, low dust and noise |
| Y | LTS | Light truck, SUV, van |
| P | Superduty | Heavy duty |
| N | HP Plus | Autocross and first track days |
| S | HT-10 | Streetable track |
| V | HT-14 | Track |
| E | Blue | Club racing |
| W | DTC-30 | Open wheel, dirt circle track |
| G | DTC-60 | Club racing |
| U | DTC-70 | Racing, top of the range |
| M | Black | Racing |
So the Y in HB456Y.705 tells you it is an LTS truck and SUV pad, before you have looked at anything else.
Choosing the compound
The letter is easy once you know the table. Picking which letter is the real decision, and Hawk's range runs in a fairly clean ladder from road to race.
Street
HPS is the one most people mean by “Hawk pads”. Hawk call it the worldwide aftermarket standard for increasing stopping power on a street car — a Ferro-Carbon compound they put at 20–40% more stopping power than stock, with greater fade resistance, while staying gentle on rotors, low dust and quiet.
HPS 5.0 builds on it with more stopping power and fade resistance, a new formula that releases very low dust, and — the line that matters on a modern car — no compromise to your ABS.
Performance Ceramic trades outright bite for silence: ultra low noise and dust, designed around premium alloy wheels, engineered to reduce NVH. LTS is the truck and SUV compound, because a loaded vehicle on a long grade gets as hot as a track car.
Street and track
HP Plus is where most people should start if they have booked a track day. Hawk describe it as the perfect compromise — an aggressive autocross and track-day pad that is still highly usable on the street.
HT-10 is the next step: a pad for intermediate drivers who want something streetable that still performs, with a very smooth initial bite and a consistent pedal over a significant temperature range.
Race
Blue is the multi-purpose club compound — medium to high temperature and torque control, excellent modulation and release, and Hawk note it is especially useful on lighter cars.
The DTC series climbs from there. DTC-30 was designed for open wheel and dirt circle track. DTC-60 is the club racer's choice — less torque and bite than the DTC-70 but better pad wear. DTC-70 is the top of the line: high initial bite and torque with the exceptional torque control the series is known for.
The split-friction trick
Hawk's own recommendation, and the one worth knowing: run DTC-70 at the front with DTC-60 at the rear. You get the bite where you need it and keep the rear settled under threshold braking, instead of fighting a car that wants to rotate every time you brake hard.
The mistake to avoid
Do not buy a DTC-70 for your first track day. It is a race compound and it needs heat you are not going to make yet — cold, it is vague, noisy and dusty, and you will brake worse than you did on the pads you took off. Start at HP Plus.
Finding your pad
Two routes. If you have the old pads or the box, read the shape number off them and search that — HB456 will find every compound offered in that shape. If you do not, use the vehicle picker at the top of any page and narrow from your car.
One caution: a few shapes come in more than one thickness, so check the group after the dot matches what came off the car. Front and rear are always different shapes.
Not sure what to run?
Browse the full Hawk range, or tell us the car, the caliper and what you do with it and we will confirm the shape before you order.