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How
long do pads last?
Front or rear pad usage?
Do grooves or slots in discs help?
What should I know about friction levels?
Will disc condition affect pad performance during braking?
Any advice for "weekend racers" or track day braking?
Spongy
brakes?
Why Kevlar pads?
What is brake fade?
What is the correlation between brake temperatures and
the pads I choose?
Which rotors (discs) should I use?
How
long do pads last?
On sedans/sports
cars up to 1200 kgs and 2.5 litre 1 street use 20-40,000 k's is common.
It depends a lot on how you drive, manual or automatic, and some slotted
and cross drilled discs will reduce this lifetime. EBC Greenstuff
is a sport pad for people who want brake improvement. If you want a
longer lasting pad either upgrade to EBC Redstuff (a fast road
compound) or
Contact Us
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Front or rear pad usage?
EBC Greenstuff
can be used on both front and rear but DO NOT fit to rear unless
also using Green on the front to avoid possible rear wheel lock up.
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Do
grooves or slots in discs help?
They have
several advantages. They break down surface gas films as and when pads
overheat, keep surfaces of pads clean and scrape away burnt carbon deposits
on pad surfaces.
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What
should I know about friction levels?
Typical friction levels
of original street pads vary from 0.25µ up to 0.35µ factor.
EBC Greenstuff has 0.46µ friction and users will notice an immediate
improvement in braking in most cases. Remember friction level µ
is only an indicator not a guarantee of brake torque. Many independent
tests in Europe however, have shown EBC Greenstuff to be one of the
most grippy compounds on the market today.
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Will
disc condition affect pad performance during braking?
Be real careful on this.
Scored, old or worn discs can extend bed-in times by hundreds of kilometers,
plus brakes will be severely reduced during bed in. Renew or skim discs,
don't take risks. Reduced contact area of scored discs will cause fade and
can cause loss of brake. See a professional installer or mechanic for
advice.
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Any
advice for "weekend racers" or track day braking?
Many people use EBC Greenstuff
in their street cars and at "track days". ALWAYS take a spare set of
pads, maybe even some EBC Reds in case you need to upgrade at the track
for longer life and CHECK YOUR PADS BEFORE DRIVING HOME for wear limits.
Replace if less than 3 mm friction material remains on the backing plate.
EBC Reds can be used on highways, but are less responsive than Green
until warm and will feel more like standard original brakes with a friction
level of around 0.32µ
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Spongy
brakes?
Pedal often
feels soft for awhile after fitting new pads. Allow time for pads to
bed-in. Firmer pedal will return after a period of driving. Exercise caution during bed-in and consult a professional if brake does not feel firm and responsive after 100-200 k's of careful
driving.
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Why
Kevlar pads?
This world famous Dupont
fiber is used in bulletproof vests and the space shuttle. Very expensive
but an excellent binding fiber, low abrasive, nonmetallic, and therefore
cleaner and easier on discs. Kevlar fiber is six times as strong as
steel when used in brake pads in matrix form. Kevlar pads are never
the cheapest but often the best.
As lower cost brake pads
wear or carbonize at temperatures found in braking, dust is released.
Many pad manufacturers use materials that cause dust in their pads,
EBC Greenstuff contains none of these, hence pads run cleaner. Plus,
pads do not surface carbonize until 550-600c so in normal street dust
is almost entirely eliminated. Any dust that is generated in performance
use is easily wiped/washed away without damage to alloy wheels. EBC
Greenstuff won the 1999 British Autotrade INNOVATION AWARD for it's
clean running, high performance features.
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What
is brake fade?
All pads
contain some organic living materials. Resins that bind pad compounds
together are organic-petro-chemical products. As these overheat the
resins revert to gas and cause the pads to "aquaplane" on a gas film
white is called fade. Some pads only fade once or twice and then settle
down (green fade or bedding in fade). Other cheaper pads suffer from
continual dynamic fade, sometimes at surprisingly low temperatures.
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What
is the correlation between brake temperatures and the pads I choose?
Temperature
between the pad and the disc do not normally exceed 400-450c even in
heavy street use. In race use 400-600c is common on smaller cars and
in Championship Cup races temps, shoot up to around 800-900c where discs
will glow red or orange. Always choose a pad that is adequate for your
needs. NEVER just choose a race compound because you think you are a
"hot shot". Many/most race pads need "warm up" and don't become effective
till 200c. EBC Greenstuff is effective from cold and needs no warm up.
Even so EBC Greenstuff feels stronger as you use the brake harder. We
call that progressive braking.
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Which
rotors (discs) should I use?
Knowing
where rotor-castings come from, not just where they are machined is
a major problem for consumers. There is a wide range of qualities on
today's world markets. Not all are equal. A good quality cast iron rotor,
with or without slots or grooves will work well with EBC Greenstuff.
Just don't try to buy the cheapest or you may end up with a poor brake
or a warped rotor.
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