EBC BLUESTUFF NDX PADS - YOUR VERDICT
12 March 2012, 12:06 AM
#61
When i bought front Alcon BBK 343mm for my 08 STI i received some pads with the kit. Brakes were ok but i never tried them really hard TBH since i dont have any race tracks, events etc in the country where i live. One they ( after a few thousand miles on brakes ) i started to have big juddering and vibrations even when i want to slower the car from 80mph to 30mph ( high way driving ). Not to mention the amount of juddering if i want to be aggressive on them. I changed the pads for Bluestuff...
After installing them they were OK for every day driving.Totally fine.One late night i had some spirited driving and i was very aggressive on the brakes.10 minutes after i noticed the smell that was coming from the brakes and when i stopped ( i had to stop for 5-6 seconds because some truck was parking and turning trough both lanes. ) i noticed nice amount of smoke coming from them. After that when ever i had some spirited driving brake power was getting slightly reduced after short period of time, slight juddering and vibrations were there also and all that was followed with some blue spots and areas in the middle of the rotors. I knew that something is wrong with the brakes so i had my rotors changed for new Alcon rotors and new Bluestuff pads.
Since it was aprox 250-300kmh since i installed new rotors and pads i went to test them last night to see how good they will perform under some high speeds braking in a row.
I was on a high way and i first did a few 70mph-40mph hard braking and braking was fine ( no juddering or vibrations of any kind ) considering it was cold out side and that my rear tyres are bad ( fronts are not new but in OK condition ) but they had for some short period of time while braking some deeper louder noise that u dont have in moderate braking. I guess that is OK. After that i continued driving a bit and i had 5-6 very hard brakings from approx 100mphs to 40-mphs and brakes started smelling and they become slightly more louder ( that sound occure only when hard braking is initiated and it is gone very fast ) then before but i still didnt have any juddering or vibrations in brake pedal or steering wheel.
I didnt stop the car after that and i continued driving it on high way 2-3 more minutes 60mphs without brake usage so i let them cool down. I stopped the car, went out to visually inspect them. The brakes cooled down enogh, not any sign of smoke or something like that, but you could still feel bad smell a little bit. My discs are now darker through the whole area of the rotors and not only in some spots like before so i guess that pads are now in full contact with rotors. ( is something like this normal? How are your rotors look like after hard brake usage?? )
I guess my brakes are now operating normally but i am somehow disappointed. I have Alcon 6 pot monoblock caliper, 343mm rotors, RBF600 brake fluid and better brake lines with "Bluestuff track pads" and i can still get them to smell badly, be noticable loduer and to get some smoke out of them even after short period of very hard braking. If so how would then those brakes perform on a course that you will need to drive hard for lets say 10-15minutes with lot of curves that demands a lot of hard braking?? I dont think that would last long.In fact i think they would beover heated very fast...I will definitelly try some Pagid RS29 next time or something like that to see how are they performing in comparison with Bluestuff...
After installing them they were OK for every day driving.Totally fine.One late night i had some spirited driving and i was very aggressive on the brakes.10 minutes after i noticed the smell that was coming from the brakes and when i stopped ( i had to stop for 5-6 seconds because some truck was parking and turning trough both lanes. ) i noticed nice amount of smoke coming from them. After that when ever i had some spirited driving brake power was getting slightly reduced after short period of time, slight juddering and vibrations were there also and all that was followed with some blue spots and areas in the middle of the rotors. I knew that something is wrong with the brakes so i had my rotors changed for new Alcon rotors and new Bluestuff pads.
Since it was aprox 250-300kmh since i installed new rotors and pads i went to test them last night to see how good they will perform under some high speeds braking in a row.
I was on a high way and i first did a few 70mph-40mph hard braking and braking was fine ( no juddering or vibrations of any kind ) considering it was cold out side and that my rear tyres are bad ( fronts are not new but in OK condition ) but they had for some short period of time while braking some deeper louder noise that u dont have in moderate braking. I guess that is OK. After that i continued driving a bit and i had 5-6 very hard brakings from approx 100mphs to 40-mphs and brakes started smelling and they become slightly more louder ( that sound occure only when hard braking is initiated and it is gone very fast ) then before but i still didnt have any juddering or vibrations in brake pedal or steering wheel.
I didnt stop the car after that and i continued driving it on high way 2-3 more minutes 60mphs without brake usage so i let them cool down. I stopped the car, went out to visually inspect them. The brakes cooled down enogh, not any sign of smoke or something like that, but you could still feel bad smell a little bit. My discs are now darker through the whole area of the rotors and not only in some spots like before so i guess that pads are now in full contact with rotors. ( is something like this normal? How are your rotors look like after hard brake usage?? )
I guess my brakes are now operating normally but i am somehow disappointed. I have Alcon 6 pot monoblock caliper, 343mm rotors, RBF600 brake fluid and better brake lines with "Bluestuff track pads" and i can still get them to smell badly, be noticable loduer and to get some smoke out of them even after short period of very hard braking. If so how would then those brakes perform on a course that you will need to drive hard for lets say 10-15minutes with lot of curves that demands a lot of hard braking?? I dont think that would last long.In fact i think they would beover heated very fast...I will definitelly try some Pagid RS29 next time or something like that to see how are they performing in comparison with Bluestuff...
12 March 2012, 01:07 AM
#62
This is the picture where u can see how does those dark spots look like after some more serious driving and braking usage then just regular DD style with 1st set of Bluestuff that i had. I guess that is not normal and that was the reason for juddering, vibrations, louder noise and reduced brake power.
Now since i have replaced rotors and pads my rotors ( both of them ) are dark through the whole area of the rotors and not only in some spots like on pictures above when pushing them really hard. Is that the way ( fully dark ) rotors should look like after hard usage of brakes when everything is normal or no? And is it normal that rotors stay that dark for some time even if they got cold? I though that this is due to high temps of the brakes but that obviously is not the reason since they look like that even on very small temps or even totally cold. So what is the reason for that? Pad deposit on rotors or something else?
On these pictures you can clearly see the difference and what i was talking about. So is this normal look?
Now since i have replaced rotors and pads my rotors ( both of them ) are dark through the whole area of the rotors and not only in some spots like on pictures above when pushing them really hard. Is that the way ( fully dark ) rotors should look like after hard usage of brakes when everything is normal or no? And is it normal that rotors stay that dark for some time even if they got cold? I though that this is due to high temps of the brakes but that obviously is not the reason since they look like that even on very small temps or even totally cold. So what is the reason for that? Pad deposit on rotors or something else?
On these pictures you can clearly see the difference and what i was talking about. So is this normal look?
Last edited by Laki747; 12 March 2012 at 01:15 AM.
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