I was looking for something that could give me good performance on the street, autoX and the occasional track day. I searched the forum and everyone here seems pretty much against the EBC Yellows. But coming from the Subaru side, they were pretty popular over there.

So I decided to try them, I went ahead and replaced the rotors for OEM replacements. I've got about 200 miles on them right now. From what I'd heard the amount of time to bed these pads in is a little longer than usual, but I think they're pretty much there.

At first they would squeal until they got some temperature into them. Once they lost temperature, they'd squeal again. They'd also squeal under partial brake load, when just feathering the brakes when approaching a red light or something. To be honest, I was pretty annoyed and a little worried I'd made a mistake.

But a little more mileage on them did the trick. They hardly squeal at all now. The road manners aren't that much different from the OEM ones I pulled off. But when I get a little temperature into them for a brake test, the car stops like it's tied to the ground!

I don't know how bad they dust up the wheels because the car has been filthy for the last two weeks. Any time I get a little free time to wash the car, it's getting ready to rain. I'll know for sure once I wash the car.

I can say that I would recommend these pads to everyone on the board.

 

500 mile update. There hasn't been any squealing for a while now. I'm incredibly satisfied with these pads. Their road manners are great. I've done a couple more brake tests to see what they're like. The funny thing is, I compare them and the way they grip compared to the stock pads and the way my Dunlop Direzza Z1s grip compared to all-seasons.

What I mean is when I got the Z1s, they had a lot of grip. But the way they deliver the grip was what amazed me. I'd never had performance tires and I figured they'd just be sticky sticky sticky. I imagined I'd have a hard time breaking the tires loose at all. What I didn't know was how much easier you could keep the car at the cusp of wheelspin, which as we all know is the fastest way to go. I've found that the same is true for these pads, of course I've got the Z1s on also.

I'd imagined that the pads would have no grip till they got some temperature in them and once I did, they'd lock the brakes up effortlessly. But I've found that I can keep it at the cusp of lockup and if I do lockup, I can manage it before I do any damage to the tires.

Of course, this would be much more different on a track/autox, but the difference between these pads and what I took off is stark. I'm a fan of them.

 

Any input on brake dust yet?

I've always been happy with the performance of the stock pads, even on my track days, but maybe I'm just not agressive enogh on the track!

My new Clubby has had massive brake dust since new, but it seems it's abating a bit now......

 

I finally just washed the car yesterday....hence the rain for all you Central Illinoisans. I'll let you know how they compared to stock.

 

I finally washed my car about a week and a half ago. Man it was filthy. And based off of what I've seen in that time, they pretty much dust as bad as stock. I was expecting my wheels to be flat black when I got home from washing it. Very tolerable, if you ask me.

 

Update:

I still love these pads. If they make them, I'd seriously consider putting them on our family hauler (Volvo XC70). I just competed in my first AutoX since installing them. The first two runs were getting used to them and getting used to the layout. But wow! They were great. Once I learned where the threshold was, it was very easy to control the lockup. The feel was great. There was a real fast portion of the track that had concrete so there was a metric ton of grip. Braking on that was like I was tied to the ground. And the feel that they gave on the asphault portions of the track was great also. I won my class too!....however that has less to do with my brakes or tires, but the lack of competition in H Stock. lol.

As far as dusting goes, I'm still pretty happy with the amount of dust. They might dust a little bit worse than stock. But for me, it's a very tolerable trade-off when compared to the upgrade in performance.

 

I liked my yellows. I took them out on a track day. They did very very well. Blew my old Hawk pads right out of the water. Absolutely no fade and I drove with them on the street too. No noise and medium amount of dust. Good pad for track/dd duty. I think they are cheaper than the Hawk pads too. Any track use in the future benjam?

 

That has not been the experience of track rats around here. The Yellows are inadequate for the front. You can take a set from new to zero in one weekend.

They are fine for rear pads, except for what seems to have been a bad batch that wore the inners to nothing in one DE day. Three sets did this.

Alan

 

I guess my pads were special.

 

Thanks for this info. I am looking to upgrade pads next spring and was considering the yellows but could find very little info on them. I do street and auto-x only but want to try a DE day next year.

 

Were you one of these "track rats"?

 

Hey Rocky, on NAM there is a very thin line between the definition of a "track rat" and "garage kept internet racer with a fancy signature".

I have never personally used the EBC Yellows, but since they are very comparable to the Ferodo 2500's and are about $130 less, I'd sure give them a try.

 

Yes

 

What track were you on when the yellows failed on you?

 

If you want to know what truly hold's up at the track, and what the best choices are for the track, ask someone who actually races in SCCA or NASA. Track days are great, don't get me wrong, but if you are serious about actually moving at the track, then Carbotech, PFC, Hawk and Cobalt track compounds are the only real choices to make. I have never seen anyone actually racing on EBC pads in a car. They just don't hold up. There were not any special versions made, the pads just were not pushed hard enough to fail. That's it.
That being said, the pads are obviously working well for you, and do not work well for others. Don't take it personally either way, everyone has to become comfortable with their car and their driving abilities, and as much as everyone would love to think it, we are not all born race car drivers. Remember, if you think you are fast, there is always someone who can go faster.

 

ECR

 

Take it personally? Are you joking? It sounds like your more fired up than I am. Im trying to find out why their pads didnt work and mine did. Im not trying to "defend" my brake pad choice. Everyone on here thinks that everything is a battle, its not. NASA and SCCA run full weekends of qualifying, heat races, and finals. Much more driving than the average track day, which most people who visit this forum do. If they are racing full weekends then I would hope they arent coming here for their brake pad advice. I was joking about my pads being "special". I do know a thing or two about racing believe it or not. Countless hours of wheel to wheel racing will educate you very quickly, but thanks for the lesson anyways. I dont believe in the whole philosophy of those "race car drivers" use it so I should too. That can get you into a lot of trouble. I am trying to find out why my pads did great and others didnt, thats it. So please unless you have something constructive to add, stop making assumptions on who I am and what kind of attitude I have about the issue.

Heres a video of a car using yellows in Targa Tasmania 08: http://www.ebcbrakes.com/automotive/...ga-rally.shtml

 

The back straight (6 to 7) is the fastest section? Were you using stock rotors?

 

Yes, 4th near rev limiter for early R53. 5th for lower geared R53 and R56. 3rd gear corner entry.

I was using TSW front rotors.

Alan

 

The track isnt fast but the rotors are slotted, usually dosent help with longevity. Did you call EBC? Im wondering if these pads are too soft for slotted rotors, which would be a question for ebc. They do openly state that they can be too soft for heavier cars (they say go to blue stuff if your racing a tank). Now that of course dosent apply to our cars but the softness of the pads combined with slotted rotors might be a bad combo.

And just for reference the track I was on has a straight that double as a 1/4 mile track with a fast corner on so you are REALLY moving at the end. So naturally it has a very very hard braking zone.

 

EBC Yellows are too soft for track use at the front. If blues would of been available I would of tried them.

I tried PF pads which worked fine, but I was going through rotors as fast as pads. So I bit the bullet and got the BDM BBK and run the Raybestos pads at the track.

Alan

p.s. ECR wasn't the only track I had to baby the Yellows. Also had issues with them at TWS and TMS.

 

In my opinion its your slotted rotors. The reason I am thinking that is because your rotors are the one factor thats different in all this. My yellows worked great, despite braking hard from triple digit speeds to 30 - 40 mph. Why would mine work fine but yours be completely different? Now to truly find out what the case is we would have to ask EBC and see what they say. Im not saying its the slotted rotors for sure but it seems logical, as many companies state that slotted rotors can lessen the life of brake pads. And if those pads happen to be soft (like the yellows are) it can magnify that loss of pad life. So be weary running with slotted but solid rotors seem fine.

 

Check your brake rotor temperatures to see what they are at.

 

Wow, a lot of this has been going on since I last posted here.

I've never tracked the car. There really aren't a lot around here. I could go down to Gateway in StL or up to Blackhawk Farms, but it's tough to dedicate a long day to that sort of thing with the family staying at home. Shoot, it's tough dedicating a half day to AutoXing.

Anyway, I figure a pad that works as well as these do for me on a DD are pretty much for my kind of application: DD, regular AutoXer with the potential for an occasional track day.

Anyway, thought I'd update that they're still doing great, even with the near 0 degrees F that we've been seeing lately. Honestly, they're the best pads I've ever used.

 

Reviving an old thread here. ECR is notorious for eating brakes. I'm glad I found this as I was Goegle-ing prices for EBC Yellows and stumbled on this thread.

I've run ECR before and fried my stock pads. Going back soon so will probably switch to looking for Carbotechs or Hawks.