Brake upgrade with EBC pads and braided hoses - will this I improve the brakes significantly?

[RedUn]

Have a look at some carbotech pads and some motul rbf600 fluid. Lines is up to you, I'd change them just to refresh them and they aren't expensive

[pHilli0]

Hi all,

I've been enjoying my Z4M coupe for many years loving the handling and engine, but like many on this forum have found the OEM brakes whilst powerful, to lack pedal pressure, modulation and fade quickly when used hard.

Having driven a few Porsches recently and been impressed with their brakes, I'd like to improve mine but don't want to go as far as changing the OEM disks and calipers for a Big Brake Kit.

So I'm thinking of upgrading the pads, upgrading to braided stainless steel hoses, and changing the brake fluid if needed.

I've looked on the EBC website and notice they have introduced high quality braided hoses in conjunction to there well known brake pads.

So for £300 exclusive of fitting, I can buy EBC Yellow Stuff brake pads and braided hoses including fittings for both front and rear.

So my question (finally!) is, will the upgrade of pads, hoses and fluid make a significant difference to pedal firmness, modulation and fade free stopping power?

Any thoughts?

Many thanks,

Nick

Been there, done the yellow stuff, braided hoses, dot4 thing. It was a 15% improvement on track. On a heavy braking track they will still fade, just a bit later than before. As others have said, if you want to move up a class in braking you need to spend a good amount of cash to get there. The difference to a BBK is night and day.

[Argenta]

Tried the Yellowstuff's, Carbotech and PerformanceFriction pads on my old car, a 340bhp Fiat Coupe.
The Yellowstuff's were near dangerously bad, just crap compared to the others. Prob worse than OEM pads. Literally fell to bits after some hot laps.

Second the questioned need for braided hoses, they do little for pedal fell & nothing for performance.

My recipie;
1. Fresh DOT 5.1 fluid
2. Carbotech pads (good value)
3. Fully open cooling ducts (may do little but easy fix)

Important stuff, brakes!

[wspohn]

EBC had some issues with pad adhesion to backing plates. They say that is in the past and it does seem to be.

I use Redstuff for street and like it lot on one of my other cars - ceramic and low dust plus good fade resistance and excellent initial bite.

If you track the car, Yellowstuff probably wouldn't be enough; if you don't, it would be too much for street use.

[bmwaddict]

I've used red stuff on a few cars including my current one, great budget pad and I've never had any problems with them, although they do begin to fade after very hard use and would be useless on track. I may try yellows next time.

[BMWZ4MC]

I use EBC Bluestuff pads (which are sold as a "race-only pad" as they're not ECE R90 approved), with braided lines, solid calliper guide bushings and supplementary cooling ducts. I've tried ATE Superblue (and its replacement), as well as Motul 660 and found the ATE fluid stands up better to heavy track use.
I prefer tight, technical tracks (which really test the brakes) and I'm very much the last of the late brakers, yet with this set up I get no fade or loss of braking effort. However, I do find that modulating braking can be difficult when the brakes are really hot and that there is a certain lack of consistency of peddle feel. This doesn't affect braking distances but does reduce my confidence when driving at the limit. Is fixing this worth £4K? I'm still undecided and I'm watching RedUn's Stoptech thread with interest.
Of all my mods, that which most significantly reduced braking distances was fitting coilovers. I think by eliminating pitching under heavy braking, the contact patch of all four tyres contributes more equally to braking, rather than most of the work being done by the front tyres. Of course, being able to carry more speed through the corners helps too.

[ga41]

I use EBC Bluestuff pads (which are sold as a "race-only pad" as they're not ECE R90 approved), with braided lines, solid calliper guide bushings and supplementary cooling ducts. I've tried ATE Superblue (and its replacement), as well as Motul 660 and found the ATE fluid stands up better to heavy track use.

I would bet money that the Motul fluid would outperform ATE! Interesting. Will look into that for next time.

[Fishy Dave]

Once my health returns I will be fitting Bluestuff NDX all round to my AP equipped car. I've been using Pagid RS29 since the brake swap which have been excellent on track but noisy as hell on the road plus are quite pricey to replace.
Some years back when I raced my Caterham I tried Mintex, Pagid and EBC Yellow Stuff. The EBC were the poorest but lasted forever and I just had to press the brake harder for the same level of retardation (the pad compound is really too hard for such a light car). I had no issues with quality and did like the feel they gave.
As mentioned above the green and yellow stuff are EU road legal, therefore cannot be more than 10% more effective than an oem pad, a stupid law in some ways http://ebcbrakes.com/articles/ece-r90-o ... all-about/. The Blue Stuff NDX in most sizes is not approved for road use as it has a greater level of friction, that suits me just fine. For the price I paid it's worth a try, I have a trackday at Anglesey at the end of the month and will report back.

[ga41]

For the price I paid it's worth a try, I have a trackday at Anglesey at the end of the month and will report back.

Please do. I know a couple here use Bluestuff on their cars but not sure if any are with a BBK.

[toplad]

I have experience on EBC redstuff pads and I changed them for performance friction on my M3.
The reasons,
The EBC pads faded quickly, felt just like normal road pads to me.
The brake pads left deposits on the disk and this induced steering wobble under braking, disks and pads where less than 8 months old.
Changed to PF, no steering wobble under braking and I haven't got them to fade yet

Unless your brake lines are faulty you will not notice any difference in the brake feel changing the hoses, I have changed them in the past and consider it a waste of money and could feel zero difference and I'm a very discerning individual
The fluid makes a big difference when you fit some with a a higher boiling point and if installed correctly the peddle will feel firmer

[hopz121]

Performance Friction Pads are a great budget pad, if money is no object the Pagid RS29's are amazing.

Braided hoses uprated fluid and new pads and you will get good improvements

[VRSteve]

personally EBC is imo.... one of the worst brake manufacturers out their.... they are the dacia of the brake parts world, cheap and cheerful and will let you down at some point.....

Is this speaking from experience or just an opinion?

I speak from experience.
They really are shite.

[Fishy Dave]

Whilst I continue to find the Bluestuff NDX excellent for the road and track for the money. Not suggesting they are the best, but for just over 100 pounds ive yet to get them fading, minimal dust, no squeeling and fit my APs perfectly. As mentioned above I believe they have had quality issues in the past.

[Beedub]

Dave I'm going to Try a set for the sake of that cost!!

i hope they sweep the hole rotor however.... the AP pads almost seem to over hang the disc slightly and their is no part that isn't touched

[afennell]

I would not use yellow ebc pads again, also thought they were dangerous when cold or wet.
When I removed mine the pad had started coming apart with bits missing, there were various other people reporting the same on my old forum!!!!!


Carbotech were amazing in comparison.