12-16-14, 12:01 PM
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EBC Redstuff Brake Pads Review
12-17-10, 12:57 PM
#1
Lexus Champion
Thread Starter
EBC Redstuff Brake Pads Review
It was surprissingly hard to find reviews on aftermarket brake pads on the 2IS forums, so decided to give my input.
I have aftermarket drilled rotors and decided to get some EBC Redstuff ceramic brake pads. They whole set costs around $200 shipped.
Break-In: most ceramic pads require a set of hard stops with some rest in between, these however came with a Break In coating which I found pretty cool since its kinda hard to find a long road where you cand do the "hard brake" break in that most ceramic pads require.
Installation: nothing different than any other pad, took basically no time thanks to JAvyLSU DIY.
Low Dust: Ive had them for about 200 miles and done some hard driving on them and the dust is very low, maybe not as much as really low dust pads but you will need to wash your car beore the wheels get dirty.
Cold/Hot Braking: When cold they are pretty quiet, the ceramic pads I had before were LOUD as crap when cold pretty embarassing actually. The redstuff pads when hot were really loud te first 100 miles, almost like a helicopter sound, but they are getting quiet as time goes, EBC says to give them 500 miles before you judge the sound on them.
Bite: The bite is really good, at first too much, they felt just like the stock IS350 brake bads (on and off feel). However, they are getting better. Im gonna wait 500 miles before saying more about this.
Performance: When pushing them, they feel and work really good for such a low dust, quiet brake pad. I will be taking the car around the track on sunday so ill see how good they are under really hot conditions.
hope this helps for those looking for aftermarket pads
anyone else with these?
here are some pics
I have aftermarket drilled rotors and decided to get some EBC Redstuff ceramic brake pads. They whole set costs around $200 shipped.
Break-In: most ceramic pads require a set of hard stops with some rest in between, these however came with a Break In coating which I found pretty cool since its kinda hard to find a long road where you cand do the "hard brake" break in that most ceramic pads require.
Installation: nothing different than any other pad, took basically no time thanks to JAvyLSU DIY.
Low Dust: Ive had them for about 200 miles and done some hard driving on them and the dust is very low, maybe not as much as really low dust pads but you will need to wash your car beore the wheels get dirty.
Cold/Hot Braking: When cold they are pretty quiet, the ceramic pads I had before were LOUD as crap when cold pretty embarassing actually. The redstuff pads when hot were really loud te first 100 miles, almost like a helicopter sound, but they are getting quiet as time goes, EBC says to give them 500 miles before you judge the sound on them.
Bite: The bite is really good, at first too much, they felt just like the stock IS350 brake bads (on and off feel). However, they are getting better. Im gonna wait 500 miles before saying more about this.
Performance: When pushing them, they feel and work really good for such a low dust, quiet brake pad. I will be taking the car around the track on sunday so ill see how good they are under really hot conditions.
hope this helps for those looking for aftermarket pads
anyone else with these?
here are some pics
12-19-10, 04:41 PM
#4
Lexus Champion
Thread Starter
Went to the track today, the pads performed like a charm... better than the ceramic pads i had previously. The track is fairly short, The fastest I ever went was 100-105 mph.
I experienced very little brake fade, almost none. Played around with a couple of cars 350Z, Evo X and I constantly could brake latter than them. I passed the 350z but couldnt pass the Evo X, he pulled on me a little bit on straights, I think he has intake and exhaust.
I have drilled rotors, Im not sure if they cool down faster than the stock rotors, but the setup I have now is much better than the stock setup on this track.
In the end, these pads have filled my expectations, I am impressed by their performance, its such a great feeling when you are doing 100 mph and you know you can count on your brakes.
I experienced very little brake fade, almost none. Played around with a couple of cars 350Z, Evo X and I constantly could brake latter than them. I passed the 350z but couldnt pass the Evo X, he pulled on me a little bit on straights, I think he has intake and exhaust.
I have drilled rotors, Im not sure if they cool down faster than the stock rotors, but the setup I have now is much better than the stock setup on this track.
In the end, these pads have filled my expectations, I am impressed by their performance, its such a great feeling when you are doing 100 mph and you know you can count on your brakes.
12-20-10, 02:12 PM
#5
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I had the ebc reds as well. They worked fine for me. I also had slotted rotors & with 3 track days on them & daily driving i only got 15k miles out of my pads. They are good for the track but if anyone is gonna just do daily driving no need. I am done tracking my car tired of beating it up. I took off my coils & returned my brakes pretty much back to stock. My coils were shot & my slotted rotors were shot as well. My white lexus sticker turned brown on the calibers after the 4th track day. I guess i cooked them, haha
I also had hoosier R6 tires on for most of my track days & they make a huge difference. I smoked GT500's beat 3 e46 M3's was chasing down an WRX with 400+ Hp to the wheels, why because i'd liked to think i am good driver but mainly cuz i had the hoosiers on. You can go so much harder with those on. I did had some brake fad with the tires on but with stock tires i really didn't. My last time out at the track i guess i was going faster cuz my brakes were smoking something fierce.
I also had hoosier R6 tires on for most of my track days & they make a huge difference. I smoked GT500's beat 3 e46 M3's was chasing down an WRX with 400+ Hp to the wheels, why because i'd liked to think i am good driver but mainly cuz i had the hoosiers on. You can go so much harder with those on. I did had some brake fad with the tires on but with stock tires i really didn't. My last time out at the track i guess i was going faster cuz my brakes were smoking something fierce.
12-20-10, 04:08 PM
#6
Cool info guys...will definitely take these pads into consideration for my track outing coming up this summer (silly to think of tracking the car while it sits in the body shop)...my techs told me to look into Hawk pads, but they don't make them for the 350, so it looks like it is between the EBC reds and greens...
01-05-11, 12:59 PM
#7
Pole Position
Not to hi-jack this thread but wanted to share my experience.
I just installed EBC's "Redstuff" pads, front and rear, including new rotors all around over the New Year's weekend for my GS350. While I am still in the break in period (maybe 150 miles driven since the change), thus far I am extremely pleased with the pad's performance, as well as being disappointed at the same time. Braking performance compared to OEM, without a doubt is far superior. These pads will stop this car REAL QUICK. I find myself stopping much shorter than ever before. My wife thinks the pads are a bit too grabby, but feels much more safe than before knowing she will be able to get the car stopped in a hurry if needed. Also, ABSOLUTELY ZERO noise (unlike the OP's experience).
Where I am somewhat disappointed is with the amount of brake dust I am seeing. So much so as they can be compared to the original OEM pads that came on my car before they were replaced to the less dust pads under Lexus' TSB. I am hoping that once the pads/rotors are completely broken in, the brake dust will be minimized.
I do realize that there are trade-offs when it comes to performance brake pads - a compromise of performance v. dust v. noise. I will tolerate the dust for MUCH MUCH BETTER braking performance and ZERO noise.
I would highly recommend these pads to any one. When my Tahoe needs new brake pads, I will be changing them to EBC's "Yellowstuff" truck pads.
I just installed EBC's "Redstuff" pads, front and rear, including new rotors all around over the New Year's weekend for my GS350. While I am still in the break in period (maybe 150 miles driven since the change), thus far I am extremely pleased with the pad's performance, as well as being disappointed at the same time. Braking performance compared to OEM, without a doubt is far superior. These pads will stop this car REAL QUICK. I find myself stopping much shorter than ever before. My wife thinks the pads are a bit too grabby, but feels much more safe than before knowing she will be able to get the car stopped in a hurry if needed. Also, ABSOLUTELY ZERO noise (unlike the OP's experience).
Where I am somewhat disappointed is with the amount of brake dust I am seeing. So much so as they can be compared to the original OEM pads that came on my car before they were replaced to the less dust pads under Lexus' TSB. I am hoping that once the pads/rotors are completely broken in, the brake dust will be minimized.
I do realize that there are trade-offs when it comes to performance brake pads - a compromise of performance v. dust v. noise. I will tolerate the dust for MUCH MUCH BETTER braking performance and ZERO noise.
I would highly recommend these pads to any one. When my Tahoe needs new brake pads, I will be changing them to EBC's "Yellowstuff" truck pads.
Last edited by MadDawg350; 01-05-11 at 01:21 PM.
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01-06-11, 05:13 AM
#9
Pole Position
According to EBC's website, "Greenstuff" pads use organic friction materials, have "medium" levels of dusting, designed primarily for smaller cars. "Redstuff" pads are ceramic/Kevlar based, designed for heavier performance-based cars and are claimed to provide "less" dust than other types of pads. My experience thus far with regards to the amount of dust is the opposite (see my review above).
01-06-11, 07:13 AM
#10
Not to hi-jack this thread but wanted to share my experience.
I just installed EBC's "Redstuff" pads, front and rear, including new rotors all around over the New Year's weekend for my GS350. While I am still in the break in period (maybe 150 miles driven since the change), thus far I am extremely pleased with the pad's performance, as well as being disappointed at the same time. Braking performance compared to OEM, without a doubt is far superior. These pads will stop this car REAL QUICK. I find myself stopping much shorter than ever before.
I just installed EBC's "Redstuff" pads, front and rear, including new rotors all around over the New Year's weekend for my GS350. While I am still in the break in period (maybe 150 miles driven since the change), thus far I am extremely pleased with the pad's performance, as well as being disappointed at the same time. Braking performance compared to OEM, without a doubt is far superior. These pads will stop this car REAL QUICK. I find myself stopping much shorter than ever before.
Brake pads don't change your stopping distance.
They can change feel, wear characteristics, and resistance to fade. They can't make the car stop any shorter. (unless there was something wrong with the original brakes).
Once you engage ABS (which the stock brakes can do) your stopping distance is entirely determined by your speed and the friction between the road and the tire. Your pads don't enter into it at all.
(if you require further evidence of this see the 6 page thread on the topic that just happened where I include references from Stoptech, Brembo, Car and Driver, and several professional brake/ABS engineers all saying exactly the same thing).
I've no doubt your new pads "grab" hard, but they don't stop you any shorter. They can't.
01-06-11, 09:10 AM
#11
fyi, there are different levels of green and red pads to choose from, so it is important to divulge with version of the pad you are discussing. for hot so.AZ environment EBC has recommended to me to use the green 7000's on my GX470.
see http://www.ebcbrakes.com/selector.shtml
imho, i wish EBC would just make all their pads black and just use a #'ing system to describe them, etc.
see http://www.ebcbrakes.com/selector.shtml
imho, i wish EBC would just make all their pads black and just use a #'ing system to describe them, etc.
just checked, and they don't have anything for Lexus at all 
oh well...
01-06-11, 01:52 PM
#13
Pole Position
No, you don't.
Brake pads don't change your stopping distance.
They can change feel, wear characteristics, and resistance to fade. They can't make the car stop any shorter. (unless there was something wrong with the original brakes).
Once you engage ABS (which the stock brakes can do) your stopping distance is entirely determined by your speed and the friction between the road and the tire. Your pads don't enter into it at all.
(if you require further evidence of this see the 6 page thread on the topic that just happened where I include references from Stoptech, Brembo, Car and Driver, and several professional brake/ABS engineers all saying exactly the same thing).
I've no doubt your new pads "grab" hard, but they don't stop you any shorter. They can't.
Brake pads don't change your stopping distance.
They can change feel, wear characteristics, and resistance to fade. They can't make the car stop any shorter. (unless there was something wrong with the original brakes).
Once you engage ABS (which the stock brakes can do) your stopping distance is entirely determined by your speed and the friction between the road and the tire. Your pads don't enter into it at all.
(if you require further evidence of this see the 6 page thread on the topic that just happened where I include references from Stoptech, Brembo, Car and Driver, and several professional brake/ABS engineers all saying exactly the same thing).
I've no doubt your new pads "grab" hard, but they don't stop you any shorter. They can't.
Not discounting your references (by the way, do you work for Stoptech for you reference them in nearly all of your posts concerning brakes) my non-scientific rear end and visual observations with no change in how I apply the brakes, I am coming up at least 1 car length furhter behind the vehicle in front of me when coming to a stop. As you stated, "unless there was something wrong with the original brakes" I guess there was in the inferior material Lexus uses in their brake pads as compared to EBC's.
01-06-11, 01:57 PM
#14
According to EBC's website, "Greenstuff" pads use organic friction materials, have "medium" levels of dusting, designed primarily for smaller cars. "Redstuff" pads are ceramic/Kevlar based, designed for heavier performance-based cars and are claimed to provide "less" dust than other types of pads. My experience thus far with regards to the amount of dust is the opposite (see my review above).
