Thoughts on the new EBC RPX pads

[Coz]

Anyone have any ideas?

I'm not sure if you have Sport Mode available for the Stability Control on your 2011. If you don't and take curves on the street (or mountains & valleys in TN) in a spirited manner, that may be wearing your rear pads at a faster rate. As far as I know, turning just Traction Control off still keeps stability control on unless you do the 10-second press and hold and turn everything (except ABS) off.

 

[EF1]

On track I always do the 10 second hold. Spirited street driving sport mode. The street miles on these were easy brake in miles on the new ring and pinion in regular mode with all nannies.

 

[EF1]

Car is in the shop this week. I'm having a set of custom brake cooling duct tubes designed and 3d printed out of carbon infused material. They will attach to the fog light holes in the 2011-2012 Boss/CS lower fascia allowing the 3" corrugated hoses to attach in the wheels wells. This should reduce the chances of the corrugated hoses getting kinked/torn by the tires and make changing the hoses much easier when needed. Currently I have to pull the front bumper cover to attach new hoses to the fog light openings. This will make it easier by allowing hose changes without removing the bumper cover. It should also improve air flow as the new rigid tubes will be smooth inside instead of corrugated. I will post pictures when I get them in a few days.

I posted this in the wrong thread. I intended to post it in my build thread. I will post pics when available in the build thread.

 

[EF1]

Time for another update on the EBC brake pads. I did 2 days at Carolina Motorsports Park with the Carolina Regional Mustang Club the first weekend of October. I left the RPX and Girodisks on the front since they still looked pretty good. I swapped back to a used set of DBA 4000 series rotors and tried the EBC BlueStuff pads on the rear. I liked the front/rear balance better than I did with the RPX pads on all four corners. I occasionally got into the ABS with RPX on the rear. This wasn't a problem with the BlueStuffs. The balance was more like the GLoc R16/R12 set up. I still like the RPX pads on the front. I have a total of 6 track days on them and they look to be a little over half worn at this point. I like the bite, stopping power and modulation on the fronts. The rears just didn't hold up. I was hoping that the BlueStuff rears would be the ticket. Once again I like the feel and breaking ability, but it is at the cost of very short life. The BlueStuff rears have 2 track days and no street miles and only have 3-4 mm of material left. I just don't see me using a pad that is only good for one track weekend when there are other options out their that have similar feel and much better life.

 

[EF1]

Another update in the RPX fronts. After the weekend last October at CMP. The car sat all winter. I prepped it for the MCA 60th celebration at Barber. The fronts were worn mire than I thought and needed changing. The final tally is RPX 2-3 weekends. RPX and Blue Stuff rears 1 weekend each.

 

[Bill Pemberton]

Wow , not the kind of wear one would expect. I have to admit this is not near the wear I got from the SR11s , which seemed to last forever and were still decent enough I sold them to a fellow TMO member. Of course you might mention what tracks you ran since this would not be abnormal if one was running really fast road courses.

 

[EF1]

Wow , not the kind of wear one would expect. I have to admit this is not near the wear I got from the SR11s , which seemed to last forever and were still decent enough I sold them to a fellow TMO member. Of course you might mention what tracks you ran since this would not be abnormal if one was running really fast road courses.

I did two days at National Corvette Museum Motorsports Park with the RPX's front and rear in July. In August I was at Gingerman in Michigan. Did two days here. The fronts still looked okay, but the rears were completely gone by the last session of the second day and the stainless backing plates chewed up a new set of rotors. I installed the BlueStuffs on the rear and left the RPX on the front. I wanted to see if I liked the bias better than with RPX all the way around. I went to Caroling Regional Motorsports Park for two days. The BlueStuffs had less than 3mm left after two days. The RPX's on the front were paper thin just starting to mark one of the rotors. To give it a little more context. I am still running 200 tw 275/35/19 tires, so I am not braking as hard as some of you. I don't have enough tire to abuse the brakes too much.

 

[Bill Pemberton]

I would sure drop a note to EBC, but that is a bit crazy for a track pad, and the complete opposite of what I found with the SR11 sintered pads. I had 3 Time Trial weekends and a full day of a PCA event and there was still plenty of pad lef. I have used G-Locs for years and likely my next set will be from them ( you can get them through OP Mustang and KNS Brakes ) but I do find folks driving on faster courses with the relatively heavy Mustang should be using R16s or R18s up front in my estimation. I ran 10s or 12s in the rear, because 8s went about as quick as the Blue Stuff did on your car. The major key is to get them pre-bedded.

 

[EF1]

I was previously running GLoc R16 and R12 from OP Mustang. The RPX front pads were a give away set won in one of their giveaways on the forum. The RPX and BlueStuff rears were also given to test fit. EBC had two part #'s for S197 rears. One for early S197's and one for later models. They did not have RPX in the later part #. They thought they would fit, but didn't have car to test them. The BlueStuffs were the part # for the later cars like mine. They sent me both to try. I bought a new set of EBC 13.8" rear rotors for the swap. I provided the EBC rep feed back on my experience and did not receive a response. I am back on GLoc R16/R12 combo. Next time I will probably try Pagids. I know some forum members have had good luck with them. I am not disappointed in the GLocs, but still looking to try new things.

 

[Bill Pemberton]

I used the R18s on every Mustang I owned of late and they take the heat I tend to generate and you might try them when your 16s wear out. I think the 12s on the rear is a good idea and last a bit longer than the 10s yet the feel is not much different.

 

[EF1]

I started with R10 front R8 rear and worked my way up to the current R16/R12 set up. I also went from 14" 4 piston front Brembos to 15" 6 piston calipers along the way. The rears went from stock to 13.8" rotors sourced from the 2014 Shelby GT500. I haven't seen a need to go above the current R16's on the front with the 200ts bicycle tires I am still running.

 

[Bill Pemberton]

No worries, but if you are running longer sessions ( 25-30 minute ones for instance ) you might find the 18s stay around for those longer runs. Of course running R16s means you are going faster and faster so at least you have one more model to bump up to when you get supersonic, ha!

 

[KazarS197]

I did two days at National Corvette Museum Motorsports Park with the RPX's front and rear in July. In August I was at Gingerman in Michigan. Did two days here. The fronts still looked okay, but the rears were completely gone by the last session of the second day and the stainless backing plates chewed up a new set of rotors. I installed the BlueStuffs on the rear and left the RPX on the front. I wanted to see if I liked the bias better than with RPX all the way around. I went to Caroling Regional Motorsports Park for two days. The BlueStuffs had less than 3mm left after two days. The RPX's on the front were paper thin just starting to mark one of the rotors. To give it a little more context. I am still running 200 tw 275/35/19 tires, so I am not braking as hard as some of you. I don't have enough tire to abuse the brakes too much.

This has me a bit nervous. I just installed RP-1s on the front and blue stuff on the rear with new rotors the whole way around - 6 pots front and OEM calipers rear. I was running g-loc 12 and 10s right from the go. I got 4 track days out of the fronts before they were all cracked and 4 mm left and 8 out of the rears. I was going to move to 16 and 12s because the 12s didn't like the heat but had the EBCs that I won here and figured give them a shot. One thing I did do is an actual bedding with the EBCs - fade 2 , 15 min cool down then fade 3 . Hopefully that will help with pad life. Don't ask how and where I was able to do the bedding..... I have a track weekend with Chin in May. It will be the a good test since over both days there's the potential for something like 7.5 hours of track time including the 1 hour sessions at the end of the day. My last session is right before the open session so will take a break, drink , car check, fill up and probably catch the last 30-40 minutes each day. The regular sessions are 30 and 40 minutes. I'll definitely keep an eye on the pads and plenty of time to build "trust" in them. I'll try to update after the weekend.

 

[Bill Pemberton]

Kazar you are likely to get similar wear to the 12s and though I have run G-Locs since they began business I usually suggest Mustang drivers start above a R12 in front especially if they are running fast tracks. The 12s are less noisy , have great modulation, so many Distributors suggest one starts with them, yet I have found many Trackrats with some experience need a bit more heat resistant pad. Always get G-Locs pre-bedded and I imagine you will find similar usage with the RP1s though watch your Blues on the back. The funny thing with those who love road courses is when they begin they get pretty good wear on everything and then they begin telling their friends that their pads ( regardless of make ) are wearing way too fast! Usually a cranky ole car pilot will saunter over and whisper in the new driver's ear, " Quit yer complaining , you are going lots faster and speed wears stuff out at a quicker pace ."

You and EFI are already fast, so no real surprise on your wear , but neither of you should hesitate to move to even more aggressive pads. Many drivers continue to try new pads or compounds because they are such an integral part of going fast. I was advised over 40 years ago by a National Champion that the two initial mods one should always do to their vehicle for more speed is brakes/pads and tires.

I still think the SR11s are a super interesting EBC pad , but not sure even now if they have availability, but they wore like iron , stopped on a dime but demanded a change in driving style due to their massive, massive initial bite. Too bad they have not promoted those better.

 

[KazarS197]

Kazar you are likely to get similar wear to the 12s and though I have run G-Locs since they began business I usually suggest Mustang drivers start above a R12 in front especially if they are running fast tracks. The 12s are less noisy , have great modulation, so many Distributors suggest one starts with them, yet I have found many Trackrats with some experience need a bit more heat resistant pad. Always get G-Locs pre-bedded and I imagine you will find similar usage with the RP1s though watch your Blues on the back. The funny thing with those who love road courses is when they begin they get pretty good wear on everything and then they begin telling their friends that their pads ( regardless of make ) are wearing way too fast! Usually a cranky ole car pilot will saunter over and whisper in the new driver's ear, " Quit yer complaining , you are going lots faster and speed wears stuff out at a quicker pace ."

You and EFI are already fast, so no real surprise on your wear , but neither of you should hesitate to move to even more aggressive pads. Many drivers continue to try new pads or compounds because they are such an integral part of going fast. I was advised over 40 years ago by a National Champion that the two initial mods one should always do to their vehicle for more speed is brakes/pads and tires.

I still think the SR11s are a super interesting EBC pad , but not sure even now if they have availability, but they wore like iron , stopped on a dime but demanded a change in driving style due to their massive, massive initial bite. Too bad they have not promoted those better.

Thanks. I wouldn't say I'm necessarily fast but maybe above average for a novice. I'm only going on my 10th track day and 5th day solo if I count a TNIA. I have wide stickies, camber, suspension and big brakes that can handle slowing an almost 4000 pound brick and try to make use of it all. When things are pushed they get hot and wear.... Half the battle is recognizing that is happening, monitoring and making changes when needed. I like the way you think - 16s and 12s will probably be my next pads.

 

[Bill Pemberton]

Modesty is always good , and as you pass those on track that boast , it is even more becoming ,ha! Sounds like you have all the ingredients to help you and the car progressively faster and faster.

 

[MikeBard]

Instead of making a new thread about the EBCs I figured I’d tag on here. With club spec I’m running the oem rear rotors/calipers, and the brembo 4 piston gt500 fronts.
I got a set of the ebc blue ndx’s for autox because I like them on the vettes. For track stuff I went to rpx’s on the front and left blues out back.
I have 2 events on this combo, one at VIR and one at pittrace. I’d say the rears have worn 50% and show some signs of being pretty hot, while the fronts have only worn 20-25% from new. I didn’t know if going to something like the RP1 in the rear with its slightly lower mu over the RPX would preserve the balance but last longer or not?

 

[EF1]

I tried RPX on the rears and they didn't hold up. I don't think the RP1 would fair any better. I think the SR series would make a difference, but they were not available for my calipers at the time. I am not sure if they have expanded the line since I tried them.

 

[MikeBard]

I tried RPX on the rears and they didn't hold up. I don't think the RP1 would fair any better. I think the SR series would make a difference, but they were not available for my calipers at the time. I am not sure if they have expanded the line since I tried them.

I’m overall happy with the feel of the RPX/blue combo, it’s wild that the rears seem to wear that much faster though. At least they’re cheaper I guess. Pitt seemed to really wear on my rears, and I would say I had them pretty cooked.
Everyone claims pittrace is notoriously hard on brakes, so hopefully pocono wont be as bad, as I think that’s my next stop.

 

[Bill Pemberton]

I went through rear pads quickly when using R8 G-locs and found going to R10s still gave me a staggered set up front to rear ( was using R18s in front ) and it may just be the simple case that the rears need to bump up to a bit more aggressive pad from EBC? Maybe the RP1s in the rear and the RPXs in the front. Of course if your brake modulation is really good, you might like sticking with the Blues in the rear, recognizing they will wear quicker. Funny thing about pads, folks find as they go faster the pads wear out quicker --- ah, the disadvantages of increased speed, ha!