Pads are very important depending on the style of driving and use of the vehicle, as I'm sure some of the other more experienced racers on here will agree with.
I've generally stuck with EBC pads on most of my cars just because I think they're a good price/performance compromise.
The camaro has the yellowstuff in the Corvette front brakes, which are a semi-competition compound and seem to last but still need a bit of heat before they really work, I don't think I'd want to go harder as on the road I'll have no brakes.. These rears just fitted have the Grenstuff pads which are a basic upgrade from standard, but the rears don't get hammered as much so hopefully they'll be ok, time will tell.. !!
I also changed to Motul RBF600 fluid which is a very high performance brake fluid instead of the standard.
Hawk pads seem widely recommended in the states, or if wanted to go more full on I'd get the Carbotech pads.