EBC Yellowstuff, Any good for a street car?

[Haltamer]

I've been contemplating a pad upgrade, primarily to get some initial bite and generally increase braking performance for whizzing around country lanes; That said, I do want the car to be usable day to day; Ideally I'd have OEM or OEM+ Braking from cold -
Has anyone used yellowstuff on a street car?
How do you find the general pad performance when cold?

If you have any other suggestions, please let me know - I've looked at Pagid / Ferodo et al, but most of their performance pad offerings don't come in my size (1.4 9G Civic, not exactly repping a 12 pot monobloc brembo )

I have read some horror stories about the pads pre 2011; Turning to dust / melting rotors, but It's been fairly positive since then.

[trickywoo]

You’ll probably get a mix of people saying they are good and dreadful in equal measure which won’t help you.

My opinion is that unless you are also willing to run groved discs you may as well stick to oem and just make sure fluid and hoses are in good nick, plus good tyres of course.

[rallycross]

You don’t need to upgrade your pads on a 1.4 civic on the road and if you think you do then you need to take a look at your driving style.

EBC Yellow stuff pads work fine on the road for normal Driving and on track, green stuff also fine, but avoid red stuff .

[Tickle]

I have EBC yellow, decent pads when up-to temp (road use). Not good when cold, especially on my un-servo'd brakes.

Not sure how they would be on a car like your civic. For daily use they would annoy me.

[A900ss]

I’ve got them on a TVR.

Work fine from cold, plenty of feel. Never noticed fade out on the road but they do squeal a bit.

I run standard, non-grooved, non-drilled, ventilated discs

TVR weights just over a ton so I guess a Civic wouldn’t be that much heavier.

[Tony1963]

What is it that the current brakes don't deliver? You say "performance", but what exactly? Most cars I've driven will, if the brakes are in good condition, lock up the tyres/activate ABS even on dry tarmac, so.......

[Haltamer]

rallycross said:

You don’t need to upgrade your pads on a 1.4 civic on the road and if you think you do then you need to take a look at your driving style.

EBC Yellow stuff pads work fine on the road for normal Driving and on track, green stuff also fine, but avoid red stuff .

Fear not, Just looking for an improvement in feel - Any stopping performance benefits are always welcome - I'm not approaching the limits on the regular pads for normal driving, but it does feel like I'm sticking my foot in custard; I've driven a 159 with nice brembo brakes, and really did appreciate the additional bite and pedal feel - Looking to get some for myself!

I had also looked at the greenstuff, But It's only an extra few pounds for the yellowstuff top of the range offering, so seems as though I may as well go direct to yellowstuff.

As long as it's not akin to the stories regaled elsewhere of sailing through every junction until the brakes reach ~99999 Deg C.

[darreni]

I ran yellowstuff on the m3 for a couple of years, a good road pad imo. They do need a little bit of temp to be at their best though.

For best bite & feel, stick to textar, jurid etc oe pads.

[DanGPR]

The ebc colour range of pads are outdated and lacking in performance in comparison to most other upgraded pad compounds.

Your theory of skipping to the ‘highest’ performance pad is also probably not a great idea, generally as the operating temperature of a brake pad increases, the cold performance suffers drastically.

I would look at Ferodo DS2500 as a decent fast road tyre, or an OEM spec pad from Pagid or Brembo, braided lines and a decent fluid such as ATE Type 200.

[tapkaJohnD]

Haltamer said:

but it does feel like I'm sticking my foot in custard; I've driven a 159 with nice brembo brakes, and really did appreciate the additional bite and pedal feel - Looking to get some for myself!

"sticking your foot in custard" I don't think you need different brake pads, but a thorough overhaul of the system, possbly even just a bleed, flushing out the old fluid.
A long soft pedal means weak flexible hoses, leaky seals, or aged brake fluid.

JOhn

[Tony1963]

Braided lines are, especially for a slowish Civic, no better than new oem hoses. There really is no need for them.

OP, I think I know what you're after, but really, other than new brake fluid, new/resealed master cylinder and callipers, new oem pads and discs, there isn't much you can do without spending big money. And all for very little return.

Maybe look at standard brakes from a Type R or S that might bolt straight on? Trouble is you'll probably need bigger wheels then. Gets spendy so quickly.

[Haltamer]

Sticking foot in custard is a bit of hyperbole; It's not a scary / something is broken sensation, but just a lack of feedback / bite from the pads. There's plenty of stoppyness available, I'd just like it to feel a little more performant, with a more aggressive initial bite, as above.

As you say, Braided brake lines on a small floating calliper setup is going to do very little for feel - The car isn't yet two years old, so I wouldn't expect the OEM lines (Or other equipment) to be past their prime at all.

You can actually fit the Brembo's from a Clio 3 RS - http://k-system.pro/en/product/bbkcivicixgen/ - To the Civic, but that's rather spendy and extremely overkill!

[james_gt3rs]

Sounds like you're used to a car with more servo effect?
Anyway I have EBC yellows on my MR2 and they are quite bitey, no cold stop problems either.

[GreenV8S]

Haltamer said:

I'd just like it to feel a little more performant, with a more aggressive initial bite, as above.

In my experience, fast road / track pads designed for higher temperatures are typically harder and have less bite from cold. If you don't have heat related brake fade, stock pads would be your best bet. Make sure the rest of the system is in good order, fluid is fresh and pads haven't been overheated.

[SAS Tom]

I’ve got yellow stuff on a similarly undeserving Skoda Fabia. They are much better than the standard road pads. They are ok when cold but mega when there is heat in them.

[PaulKemp]

I’ve just put grooved discs with Mintex pads on an old Fiesta ST150, much better feel, later braking with confidence and only £120 for the fronts.

I’ve used mintex (just pads) on other cars before and I like them

[gordmac]

Motorsport suppliers but may be able to help:
www.questmead.co.uk

[Kccv23highliftcam]

Tony1963 said:

What is it that the current brakes don't deliver? You say "performance", but what exactly? Most cars I've driven will, if the brakes are in good condition, lock up the tyres/activate ABS even on dry tarmac, so.......

Never had them do that on my quattro despite the tyre/brake combo meaning it feels like it's trying to do a stoppie with minimal input lol
Brembo sport plus discs brembo road pads plus "the rain tyre"and full time awd...

Edited by Kccv23highliftcam on Saturday 3rd November 09:13

[Haltamer]

Kccv23highliftcam said:

Never had them do that on my quattro despite the tyre/brake combo meaning it feels like it's trying to do a stoppie with minimal input lol

Agree with this; Given that the car is shod with wide, high performance summer tyres, but doesn't weigh much, I've yet to trip ABS in straight line braking - Even in an emergency braking scenario, it's not until the car is moving quite slowly that the ABS is cutting in - That said, Braking is smooth and progressive

[GreenV8S]

Haltamer said:

I've yet to trip ABS in straight line braking - Even in an emergency braking scenario,

Some manufacturers have designed in emergency brake assistance which automatically applies full braking if it detects that you are doing an emergency stop, because many drivers don't brake as hard as necessary to use all available grip.