Brake pads for track application requires additional bedding in due to more extreme environments. This article describes the bedding in procedure for track pads.

EBC Brakes are now mostly self bedding – but for track use or extreme street use read below.

The Ultimax, Greenstuff, Yellowstuff and Redstuff EBC pad grades come with a brake in coating that scrubs the rotor surface, accelerates bed in times and provides a strong brake effect for the first 100 miles of use as your pads seat themselves.

If you are using your vehicle for fastest street or competition, some EBC compounds require extra bedding which is detailed below.

Generally please be aware

1. EBC Redstuff is NOT recommended for track use and self beds during the first 100-150 miles of street driving. With new pads and especially when fitted with new rotors however drive cautiously for the first 300-400 miles during which time dust will reduce and the pads will feel better and better.
2. EBC Yellowstuff – has been reformulated during 2020 to the new grade known as DM 3068 and is now a longer-lasting more powerful brake compound and for this reason, it is no longer optimum for track use. Bed in times are simply too long to be acceptable. Having said that if you LIKE Yellow and want to use it at the track be prepared for the longer bed in times detailed below.
3. EBC Bluestuff – is the pad of choice for entry-level race use and can be street bedded, driven to the track raced and driven home. This pad has good street manners and is also ( if it matters to you where you use your car) street legal to the European R90 tests.

EBC Yellowstuff Bed-in Procedure

• Fast Street use Pre Bed Fade 1 – drive 50 to 100 miles on Public road/highway normal driving to allow the pads to mate up to the disc and establish full contact followed by 8 stops from 80 mph to 30 mph at 300 yard intervals and then coasting allowing the brakes to cool.

If using Yellowstuff on the track ….

• FADE 2 – After the basic street pre bed above performed on the road or at the track if installed there …..Perform 10 medium pressure snubs at the track from 80-20mph leaving 300 meters between each snub (approx 0.4g decel)
• Allow pads to cool for 15 minutes minimum after coasting to the pits allowing brakes to cool a little.
• FADE 3 – Perform 6 high-pressure snubs from 90-20mph with a maximum acceleration between consecutive snubs. (approx 0.8g decel, or 80% of an emergency stop)
• Allow the brakes to fully cool for a minimum of 1 hour before the race session.

EBC Bluestuff Bed-in Procedure

• Perform the Street Pre Bed Fade 1 routine as above (either on the road or at the track if installed there ) followed by Fade 2 at the race track.
• The latest Bluestuff DM3362 and Low Mu versions should only take Fade 2 and a 15 minute cooling time to be ready to race.
• Fade 3 should not be necessary unless poor disc condition has prevented proper seating but if you have time DO perform Fade 3.

Find this complicated – we tend to agree but all organic pads no matter which brand do need some bedding in to avoid loss of brake and a lot depends on rotor condition, the slightest hollow of the rotor surface will extend the bed in times a lot. So being accurate is important.

How to check if pads have heat cured or chemically bedded – Brake bedding in causes heat and it is strongly advised to monitor this heat using heat paints TWICE during bedding in on Blue and once only with RP series pads. What you do is, apply the heat paints on the outer edge of the rotor, run the pads for enough stops (8-10 stops ) to pass the 430C temperature ( 800 F ) which will be Fade 1, allow a few minutes for the system to cool and take a look at the heat paints to ensure they have passed the 430 C indicator, reapply new heat paints to a different cleaned area of the disc and drive again for 6-8 more hard stops which will take you past Fade 2 where temps should pass 430C (800F) again. Full cool down needed here of at least 20-30 minutes and if you CAN… overnight cool. You need to see the 430C heat paint go off TWICE to have completed Fade 2.

Fitting new discs at pad change also adds to bed in time as even if the discs are flat and smooth the pad and rotor have to “Square up” to each other and achieve 90% surface contact. As you use your pads on either a new or old disc stop every couple of laps and look for the blue-grey contact patch gradually widening across your rotor surface and don’t race until its almost a full sweep contact, any doubts pop the pads out and look at the surfaces to evaluate contact patch sweep.

Why so long to bed in any way – We can (but don’t) sell pads that are classed as soft and bed in even faster or very abrasive pads that scrub away at the rotor, cause lots of dust and give the impression of a shorter bed in time. So the balance here is to make a variety of pads according to the different driving styles and events so that users can choose what’s best for them./p>

Pads wearing too fast – Trackday or what the USA market call “Lapping” events just doing a few laps to enjoy your car are a tough test on brakes, Extra vehicle weight, seats, and spare wheel, etc and standard calipers make this kind of driving a tough test on brakes and you may need to consider moving up a grade. See this chart as a guide on types of EBC compounds for different driving events

Pads still fading after bed in – it’s not JUST getting the pads flat and parallel it’s about taking them past their green fade point AFTER achieving a good contact band. for this reason, disc heat paints are very useful. Pads should be driven with caution until bedded flat and you have passed this green fade point at least twice and then allowed pads to cool so the disc is below 100C. Green fade only happens on organic pads – much less with our RP pads and not at all with our SR pad range. There are two ways to know if you have passed the green fade point – one is the clever way with heat paints – the second way is to guess… So heat paints are the better option

Check Your Brake Fluid and Caliper Condition

Surprisingly many drivers don’t pay enough attention to fluid. A high temp fluid such as EBC BF-307 which is an extremely pure glycol fluid and has a dry (new) boiling point of 307C ( 580F ) should be used, change fluids regularly in track use to maintain firm brake pedal, avoid vapor lock and deliver a linear brake response. Fluids should be changed every two years for normal street use and every 2-3 track events for track-day and every event for full hard race use.

EBC strongly recommends the use of Disc heat paints to monitor disc temperature and caliper heat strips in racing to check caliper is not overheating. If calipers are dragging temperatures can rise above the seal upper limits and damage seals. Sliding single piston calipers should always be serviced ready for track driving as often sticking or seized calipers cause blame to be placed on the pad compound in error.