Hawk DTC-30 on a Road Course: The Rear Pad Behind DTC-60
Read Hawk's own page for DTC-30 and you would think it has nothing to do with road courses. Hawk lists it for dirt and circle track, drag racing and off-road, and never mentions a track day. Yet it is a regular sight on Spec Miatas, at the rear. "60/30" — DTC-60 front, DTC-30 rear — is one of the classic Spec Miata combinations, and FR-S, Civic Type R and Mustang drivers have borrowed it.
The reason is simple. On a light rear-drive car, a DTC-60 at both ends can put too much braking at the back, and DTC-30 is a milder rear pad that still works from cold. This article is part of our guide to Hawk pads for track cars. Here we go into how road-course drivers actually run DTC-30, which cars it suits, the Spec Miata delamination reports you should know about, and which Hawk DTC-30 pads we list.
What Hawk says
| Hawk DTC-30 | |
|---|---|
| Compound letter | W (for example HB159W.492) |
| Operating range | 100–1200°F |
| Optimal range | 100–800°F |
| Character | Multi-purpose, medium torque, good cold effectiveness, smooth release |
| Listed uses | Dirt and circle track, NASCAR modified, drag, trophy truck |
| Rotors | Iron only; not compatible with carbon-ceramic |
The number that matters is the bottom of the optimal range: 100°F. No other pad in Hawk's track range has an optimal range that starts that low. HP Plus wants 300°F, Blue 350°F, HT-10 500°F and DTC-60 700°F. That is exactly what a rear pad on a light car needs. The rear brakes on a Miata or an FR-S do much less work than the fronts, so they run cooler, and a pad that only wakes up at 700°F may never get there at the back.
The top end matters too. DTC-30's optimal range ends at 800°F, the same ceiling as Blue and about where DTC-60 starts, so it is not a front pad for a car that can heat a DTC-60. Owners place HT-10 between DTC-30 and DTC-60.
What owners actually use it for
This is owner practice, not Hawk's advice: Hawk's only named split is DTC-70 front with DTC-60 rear.
Spec Miata: 60/30. On mazdaracers, Spec Miata racers describe 60/30 as widely run, with "a little less initial bite but better release for trailbraking" than Blue rears. One Miata parts specialist sells the same split for 2006–15 MX-5s as "the same combination… proven successful in Spec Miata" (a seller's claim). A 2024 Grassroots Motorsports post on an NA Miata puts the choice simply: "DTC-60 front, rear DTC-60 or DTC-30 depending on how much trail braking".
FR-S and BRZ: 60/30 as a drive-to-track set. An ft86club owner ran DTC-60 front and DTC-30 rear and drove on them: "They squeal like a school bus, but work fine cold". He added that the DTC-30 rears "require the 'pedal dance'" — they need some heat put into them. In the same thread, an instructor-level driver was told "you're not going to like the DTC-30s on this car": at that pace, the problem is too little pad, not too much.
Civic Type R: DTC-30 because there is no DTC-60 rear. FK8 owners on civicx run DTC-60 at the front and report Hawk makes no DTC-60 rear for the car. A race-parts vendor suggested DTC-30 rears, and one owner who runs them says they "wear really well" but are "a bit too 'grabby' when cold". Another FK8 driver thought HT-10 "might be too much for the rear".
Mustang S550: behind a DTC-70. A mustang6g member ran DTC-70 front and DTC-30 rear at Road Atlanta and reported "Pads worked great". That is a bigger front-to-rear step than Hawk's own 70/60 split, and it is a single report.
Where owners say no. On Rennlist, a 991 GT3 owner said he would not use DTC-30 on a GT3 because it is "not aggressive enough", and noted that DTC-30 is used at the rear of non-ABS race cars to avoid lockup. For the 370Z, all we found is a the370z poster suggesting DTC-30, 60 or 70 over HP Plus.
Which cars run it
Only cars where we found owner reports. "Little data" means one or two posts.
| Car | How it's run | Our pads |
|---|---|---|
| Miata NA / NB (Spec Miata) | Rear, behind DTC-60 (60/30). The classic Spec Miata split | Rear DTC-30 HB159W (1.8) · HB157W (1.6) Front DTC-60 HB149G |
| Miata NB Sport Suspension 2001–05 | Hawk makes no DTC-60 for the NB sport rear caliper; owners either file 1.8 rears to fit or run a milder rear | Rear DTC-30 HB442W |
| Miata NC / ND | Rear, behind DTC-60. Sold as an SM-proven split by a Miata specialist; owner reports are thin | Rear DTC-30 HB523W · Front DTC-60 HB522G |
| Scion FR-S / Subaru BRZ / Toyota GR86 | Rear, behind DTC-60, as a drive-to-track set. Fast drivers want more | Milder rear: HP Plus HB671N Front DTC-60 HB711G |
| Honda Civic Type R FK8 | Rear, behind DTC-60, because Hawk makes no DTC-60 rear | Front DTC-60 HB453G (shared with the STI and Mustang Brembo) |
| Ford Mustang S550 | Rear, behind DTC-70 (one report) | Rear DTC-30 HB773W (standard S550 rear) · Front DTC-70 HB805U (PP) |
| Nissan 370Z (Sport brakes) | Little data: suggested over HP Plus, no owner report | Rear DTC-30 HB602W · Front DTC-60 HB601G |
Pairings
On a road-course car the question is what goes in front of DTC-30. The hub's rule holds: never the more aggressive pad at the rear.
- DTC-60 front, DTC-30 rear. The default: Spec Miata, NC/ND Miata, FR-S/BRZ and Type R. The rear works from the first stop.
- DTC-70 front, DTC-30 rear. One S550 report. A wide gap; with DTC-70 up front, the more common pattern is Hawk's own 70/60.
- 60/30 or DTC-60 at both ends? One Spec Miata racer on Grassroots Motorsports runs DTC-60 all round with "no need for a weaker rear pad". Others hit the limit: Miata owners report the factory bias valve is "right at the limit" with DTC-60 rears, and an FR-S/BRZ owner with a DTC-60 rear (behind a PFC front) called the car "squirrely" under threshold braking. If you trail-brake hard, start with DTC-30 at the rear.
- DTC-30 or Blue at the rear? Blue rears give a bit more initial bite; DTC-30 gives a cleaner release while trail-braking. For NA/NB Miatas we list both: DTC-30 HB159W and Blue HB159E. Our Blue article covers that side.
- What not to do. An ft86club owner asked about HP Plus front with DTC-30 rear; the replies told him to put the stronger pad up front. DTC-30 at the front with anything stronger at the back is the same mistake.
Where it falls short
Rear delamination in Spec Miata. This is the one to take seriously. In a mazdaracers thread titled "Hawk DTC-30 failures", several Spec Miata racers reported DTC-30 rear pads separating from the backing plate. One ended in a spin; another in a pedal that went to the floor. The racers suspected vibration from the gator strips combined with cooling. Some now change rears at about 50% wear rather than running them down. Others in the same thread ran 60/30 for years without a failure, so this is not universal — but if you race a Spec Miata on DTC-30 rears, inspect the bond between the friction material and the backing plate at every pad check, and do not run them to the end. A spare set in the trailer helps; see why we carry extra pads for an HPDE weekend.
Too little for fast drivers. The FR-S instructor comment and the GT3 owner agree: driven at pace, DTC-30 runs out. At the rear of a light car that is usually fine; at the front, or on a heavy car, it is the wrong pad.
Cold bite cuts both ways. Hawk sells good cold effectiveness, and the FR-S owner found the pads "work fine cold". The Type R owner found them "a bit too 'grabby' when cold". Treat the first lap as a warm-up lap.
Noise, and not really a street pad. "Squeal like a school bus" is an owner's description, not ours. A retailer listing for one DTC-30 rear calls it a "motorsports-only compound not recommended for street use". Driving to the track on it works for some owners; daily use is another matter.
Rear-pad wear from stability systems. On a Type R with VSA off, one owner's rear track pad was down to the backing plate after one day; the stability and yaw systems use the rear brakes heavily. Check rear pads more often than you would expect on a car with active nannies.
The "Street/Race" question. Two owners — one on ft86club, one on audizine — say Hawk's Street/Race pad is a renamed DTC-30, one calling it "a better HP+". Hawk has not confirmed this, so we do not treat them as the same pad.
DTC-30 pads we have ready to ship
These were in stock when we wrote this. All three are Miata rear pads, which is where most road-course DTC-30 ends up.
 DTC-30 Rear — Miata NA / NB (HB159W.492) $160.19 Shop on Enzuca → |
 DTC-30 Rear — Miata NB Sport (HB442W.496) $193.49 Shop on Enzuca → |
 DTC-30 Rear — Miata NC / ND (HB523W.539) $176.39 Shop on Enzuca → |
Pair them with a DTC-60 front for the NA / NB, or browse the full Hawk DTC-30 collection and the DTC-60 collection.
The Bottom Line
Ignore the dirt-track marketing. On a road course, DTC-30 is a rear pad, and a good one: it works from the first stop, it releases cleanly when you trail-brake, and behind a DTC-60 front it keeps a light rear-drive car stable under braking. That is why 60/30 has lasted in Spec Miata and spread to FR-S, Type R and Mustang owners.
Do not use it as a front pad on a fast car, and if you race a Spec Miata on it, watch the rears for delamination and change them early. If you are choosing between DTC-30, Blue and HP Plus for the rear, tell us the car, the front pad and how you drive, and we will help you choose.