The materials used in manufacturing brake pads range from asbestos to organic or semi-metallic formulations. Each of these materials has demonstrated to have advantages and disadvantages regarding eco-friendliness, wear and tear, noise, and stopping capability. As an example, semi-metallic pads provide strength and conduct heat away from rotors, however, this also generate noise and are abrasive enough to increase rotor wear.
In place for the semi-metallic pads’ steel fibers, there are ceramic compounds and copper fibers that provide high brake temperatures with less heat fade, generate less dust and wear on both the pads and rotors. These replacements also provide much quieter braking because the ceramic compound helps dampen noise by generating a frequency beyond the human hearing range and use less metal by approximately 15% metal content by weight.
EBC has been a leader in the industry brake system components and manufacture of ebc brake rotors and pads. And included in the range is the Redstuff Ceramic series brake pads, which are most suitable for fast luxury cars of above 200BHP and are EBC Brakes flagship street brake pad material. Redstuff brakes use the latest combination to reduce the event of brake pad pick up or disc scoring, which reduces the dust even further. Generally, ceramic brake pads are suited for light-duty applications such as for cars, SUVs and regular pickup trucks.
There are a couple of reasons why EBC customers are raving about the Redstuff brakes. One reason is because it has the lowest dust factor for brake pads at 60-90%, giving minimal dust that can safely be removed with a wipe of a sponge wash. The second reason is because the brake bite from cold, is just as good as the original brake pads and improve as they heat up.
The material used in Redstuff brake pads manufacturing is a Kevlar fibre compound that has been enhanced with ceramic particles. It is a huge improvement on the previous versions of the EBC Redstuff pre-ceramic compound. The current redstuff is a harder compound, and has a good bite on brake even from cold, however, it takes longer to fully bed in to its fullest levels of performance. It is normal during this time to hear the occasional “chirp” of brake pad noise when they are worked up from cold and damp conditions at slow walking pace type of speed. After the first pressing of the pedal, the rotor is cleared from the initial dampness leading the brake pad to its full performance after running a few miles.