The best front pad set available for the TRs, for street performance, is the
Porterfield R4S pads. Very nice bite and consisent.
I sold EBC pads for a while, between 2003-2004, for the same reason that
Moss and TRF sell them. They were new and had a lot of "good hype"
surrouding them, the profit margins were pretty nice too. Problem was I had
too many complaints from customers actually using the Green Stuff pads for
true street performance and weekend autox use. Most common complaint, from
about 20% of purchasers was after putting on a few hundred miles the car
felt uneasy during braking and the pedal pulsated under hard braking. The
first thought was that the old British rotors were taking too much heat from
the higher performance pads and warping. WRONG!
A customer with a Lotus Europa was so dissatisfied with his EBC Green pads
he dropped off his pads and rotors on my doorstep over a weekend with a note
that read "These are $hit!". Same complaint as the other guys, the feeling
of the warped rotor. Well, as I hinted at, the warped rotor was an
incorrect guess. The binding agent that EBC uses in their friction material
was building up unevenly on the brake rotor surface and would not get
scrubbed off in use. So it left a measurable wavy surface along both sides
of the brake rotor.
So there you have it. If you use your EBC pads hard, look out for this.
Karl Vacek, a member of the Team Net Shop Talk list, reported the same
problem with EBC brake he had used on a new Ford Mustang. I've also read
about the same condition on modern VWs using EBC pads. So be aware that
this can be an issue.
I have Lucas TRW brand semi-metallic pads on my TR6 and find them enjoyable.
I wish I could get Ferodo DS2500 lined pads for the TR6 (not available from
Ferodo), as this is an even better (the best?) pad material than
Porterfields' R4S. I have DS2500 pads on my VW. It brakes so well now I
can make unaware passengers sick to their stomach.
Kai
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