A review of EBC Yellowstuff brake pads for track use on my 993 TTs

[ceboyd]

Being unemployeed, the $245 pricetag + shipping for the TT Front Pagid Black RS-14 compound brake pads was very unattractive so I did a whole bunch of research and found out these basics in my hours spent reading older threads:

Hawk Blue is much like Pagid Orange and about the same price (Hawk's maybe a little cheaper)

Physically the Hawk backing plate is thinner and doesn't appear to be as thick in pad material when placed side by side to the same Pagid pads (did this at the track with someone who happened to have both)

Hawk HT-10 compound is said to be just like the Pagid RS14 compound but is the same price give or take a few dollars and again has a thinner backing plate and not as much pad material.


Now I have never tried the Pagid Orange but Eric didn't like them on his 993 so I didn't want to go that route besides it was still over $200 for pagid Orange TT fronts...


So after much deliberation I decided to try these cheap $149 + shipping EBC Yellowstuff pads from www.perfectbrakes.com They are supposed to be good up to 1200 degrees F so it sounded decent. The price compared to well known pads (everything from Carbotech to Performance Friction) seemed unbelievably low so I decided to be the 1st to test them.


Some of you might remember a while back I had tried a set of the EBC Greenstuff at Gingerman and melted the crap out of them.

Well, fortunately, the EBC Yellowstuff did NOT melt and held up to the abuse of a weekend at blackhawk without fade away...

Here is the breakdown:

Likes:

-Price Price Price
-Held up to the brake torture test of Blackhawk and I even managed to beat my personal best and get down to a 1:22.9 track time (so I could depend on them for the entire 20 minute session with no fade once properly bedded in)
-Modulation seemed easier for me than all the initial bite of the RS14 pagid blacks and I only hit the ABS once
-Brake bias seemed better considering I still had Pagid Black RS-14 compound in back
-Doesn't look like much wear from 2 days of blackhawk (still very thick)
-not as much dust as RS-14s
-No squeel in the street on my way home from the front pads (this was a very pleasant surprise as Eric's still squeeled like crazy with his RS14s at all 4 corners)
-rotor wear seems much less and they seem kinder on rotors than RS14 compound AND my rotors started out badly grooved but actually ended up more smooth and even at the end of the 2 days (strange but true)

Dislikes:

-the bed in time frame was a total PITA... partially probably because my front rotors were very badly grooved. I followed the bed in procedures BUT it literally took 3 track sessions before I could depend on them.. initially I could get 3 laps and then mush.. so I had to waste 3 sessions for proper bed in. (again, much of this might be due to badly grooving but this never seemed to be a problem with the RS14s)
-there is a nasty oder associated with these pads (and it did get better after break in but is still noticable)
-they simply do not have as much initial bite as the RS14 compound (I'd guess they are comparable to the Pagid Orange compound but have no 1st hand comparison experience to say this as 100% fact)



I don't know how long these will last and I've only tried them on 1 track so far so my final vertict is still out....

I'll give another update once I use them at another track venue..

I'm not 100% sure yet if I prefer them to the RS14s or not because there is an obvious 'initial bite' difference but they are reliable after bed in..



EDIT: Here is what the EBC Company says about them:

"After a full year of lab and race track testing EBC has released its perfected version of the new DM1793R compound for track use on saloon car racing or Hot Import Racing as our US customers know it.

Historically race pad wither NEED WARM UP before becoming effective or RUIN BRAKE ROTORS ... the new EBC R compound does NEITHER. It also creates a tiny fraction of the dust popular with semi metallic race pads which regularly gets referred to as "slurry" on chat sites and is a true low dust pad.

EBC Yellowstuff R pads are legal for STREET use so you can now drive to the track, race, and come home. Great news for the weekend warrior at track days!

Lifetime of the pad material itself is also very healthy and this is a true long lasting pad for mid size sedans or hot hatches. The pads come with EBC's typical high gloss powdercoat finish which lasts ten times as long as paint and resists heat better.
"