Generally this is the pads/rotors overheating, or you're experiencing "Green fade" from pads that haven't been properly broken in.  When the pads haven't been cured yet or are overheating, a layer of gas builds up between the pad and the rotor, making a "cushioning" effect of the pressure applied by the brake.   This is why people tend to go to slotted/drilled rotors, since this provides a path for the gasses and worn off brake pad material to go.  Rotors with insufficient cooling mass or area can contribute to this.

The solution is to go for a pad that has a higher heat tolerance, go to larger/thicker rotors that have more mass to absorb heat and more area to radiate it, or modify the system so that the rotors get more air (ducting, etc).  Generally the weakness is the pad.  The Neon, stock, has Ceramic pads, which last a long time, and have a fairly high heat tolerance, and squeal very little.  Aftermarket pads sold at parts stores (Raybestos, etc) can use an Organic or semi-metalic pad that can wear faster and may have a lower heat tollerance.  Brake pad material is a tradeoff, usually if you have an exceptionally high heat tollerance, you end up with poor cold pad performance.  If you go for exceptional cold friction, you tend to sacrafice the high end heat tolerance.  Most standard pads are designed for good braking while cold, since most people brake rarely and lightly, never getting the pads more than lukewarm.   If they have to brake hard, it's a single stab at the brakes to avoid something, then cool cruising again.  They never have a chance to experience brake fade, and many pads never properly cure because of it, fading out suddenly under hard use, like coming down a long hill towing a trailer. 

High performance pads make a compromise more toward the hot end of the spectrum.  If you use a "Performance Street" or "Street/Strip/Autocross" pad, you generally have acceptable cold performance while having good performance under hot conditions as well.  The higher performance you go, the less effective the brakes are at low temperatures, and generally you get more pad wear, rotor wear, brake dust, and squealing than conventional pads. 


"I push the pedal, and I get a 'wobbly' sensation in the front end, and the pedal may pulsate slightly"

Your rotors are warped.  First generation Neon rotors were prone to warpage when the lugnuts were overtorqued (commonly by some idiot with air tools at a tire shop) as well as cracking and warping under high heat loads.  Rotors can also be warped by sudden uneven cooling, like driving through a deep puddle of water soon after heavy braking.  If you go to a shop that has to remove the wheels, make sure they use a torque wrench to properly torque the lugnuts.  Panic if they head for the car with an impact gun, unless it's set to low torque. 

At this point, your options are to have the rotors turned, making the rotor even thinner and more prone to warping again.  Or you can go with stock replacements, more expensive but will last longer.  Or you can go to aftermarket options if it keeps happening repeatedly.


"I push the pedal, and get horrible grinding, squealing noises coming from the front end!  The car also tends to 'leapfrog' while braking."

Hey, are you some kind of  Soccer Mom or something?  Your brake pads are shot, and your rotors probably are too if it's grinding!  Take those wheels off an inspect the pads, they're probably toast.  Oh yeah, and that blue smoke that comes out the back when you accelerate?  That's called CHANGE YOUR DAMN OIL!  Just kidding, folks. :)


That all said and done, let's go into the pictures and the process.

Note that I'm basing this off of my '98 Neon, so your car may vary slightly as far as the assembly goes.

Here's the parts and tools you'll need:

• Hawk HP Plus pads for first generation Neon, part # HB177N.630.  You can use other pads, but insure they're not over .655, or 16.64mm thick to have identical results.
• Front Brake Rotors for a 2000 Neon (Napa part number UBP86912)
  
• A couple bottles of brake fluid, preferably a DOT 4, non-silicone base fluid like Valvoline Syntec or similar.  Not vital, but highly reccomended if you've not bled your brakes recently.
• A disc brake caliper spreader, or C-clamp.
• Disc brake cleaner.   Don't use carb cleaner, it leaves a residue.
  
• Disc brake bleeder (all you really need is a jar and a length of clear rubber hose that fits the bleeder fitting)
  
• Lug nut wrench, a 10mm socket, socket wrench, flat head/straight slot screwdriver.
  

Here's some pictures of the Hawk Pads:


Now slide the caliper over the rotor.  Note which way it notches into the adapter brackets.  On my car, the drivers side had the notch on top, and the bottom on the passenger side.  When the caliper is aligned properly, you'll be able to easily bolt it in with the two 10mm bolts.  Press the brake pedal a couple times to seat the pads against the rotor, make sure it rotates easily, it will drag slightly, but you should be able to easily move it back and forth as long as the car is out of gear.

Here's how it should look when complete:



Repeat for the other side.  This worked without a hitch for me.  The pads are thinner stock, so it went together as if it was designed to!

When done, make sure the lugnuts are torqued properly to spec, then take it for a test drive.  You can follow the included instructions (something like some 7-8 moderate stops from 30mph, then two hard ones from 45mph, then let it sit and cool for 15 minutes) to seat and break in the pads.  I went out and used them normally until I got to a straight backroad stretch, took it to 60mph and hauled it down to 30mph hard enough to toss whatever is sitting on the front passenger seat on to the floor.  I did this until I could smell hot brakes and the pedal went straight to the floor.  I drove gently for a few miles, using them as little as possible, and let them cool down.  If you do this, make sure to not park the car immediately afterward if you don't drive around for at least 15 mintes.  Otherwise you'll bake a single spot in the rotor where the caliper is sitting.  You want to rock it a few inches back or forward to move it to a different section of the rotor to let it cool more evenly.

I didn't get much of a chance to really feel the braking power since it was raining when I went for a test drive, though I got 'em plenty hot when breaking them in.  I can that driving it home afterward, the brakes felt a lot more progressive, had a better initial bite, and would lock up the tires easily on the wet roads I drove on.  The old Raybestos lifetime pads weren't nearly as good as this fully broken in.

Let me know if you find other pads that will work without shaving them, I'd be happy to add them to the list of workable pads!

Update 4/30/05

After 18 months or so of having these on my Neon, here's some things you should know about this particular combination of rotors and pads.

On The Rotors: The pedal feel is *very* firm.  It takes very little pedal movement to get the brakes to engage, and the difference between full-lockup and threshold braking is so small that anyone driving it needs some time to get used to the "feel" of the brakes, otherwise they can easily do a smokey lockup of the brakes accidentally.  The stroke is so short, it's hard to do proper pedal modulation.  I'd recommend this combination only to those people who like this, or who have ABS.  With ABS I think it would be excellent.  But they're so firm that I went to move my Dad's 2000 Mercury Sable into the garage and almost rammed the back wall of the garage.  The pedal travel from no engagement to full lockup on my Neon is about the same as light braking on the Sable.  Oops.

On The Pads:  I'd not recommend the Hawk HP+ Pads to anyone who doesn't do a lot of hard driving.  They work "okay" when cold, but work best when hot.  In the winter this was bad enough that I would conciously drag the brakes a bit for the first couple stops to get some heat in them, since they didn't stop very well cold, especially if wet.  These are not the pads to use on snowy roads if you can avoid it.  At low speeds these pads are lockup-prone (though probably made worse by the thicker rotors reducing pedal travel).  They dust heavily, and under light braking, especially when cold, they squeal like your wheels are about to fly off.  They eat rotors.  This is to be expected from a pad of this performance level, and I expected it, this is just a warning for those of us who can't live with the extra noise and dust.
On the plus side, at high speeds these really come into their own.  For autocross tracks that let you get beyond first gear, or for the occasional track trip, these would be great.  They're powerful enough to give passengers neck pain slowing from 70mph down to 40mph when something like, say, the radar detector goes off.  They also wear well; I've put 18 months of driving and around 20k on these pads, and they're less than half gone, though have worn 1mm or so deep into the rotor in the same amount of time.

In the end I'd recommend the Hawk HP Street Pads with these rotors for those of us who like a firm pedal with little travel or who have ABS, and stock rotors with the HP Street pads for people who want a bit more pedal travel for easier brake modulation. 

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