With their trick xDrive all-wheel drive systems and potent turbocharged engines, the recently launched BMW M135i hatchback and M235i Gran Coupe models have begun to prove themselves as particularly driveable and tuneable machines within the automotive world.

Owners who are especially interested in the way their vehicles perform will be pleased to learn that 91´ŤĂ˝ now offers its acclaimed Yellowstuff high-performance brake pads for both the front and rear axles of these vehicles (as well as the BMW X2 (xDrive F39) M35i), with more product lines to follow for these applications in the near future (including updated discs).

Yellowstuff is a fantastic upgrade over OEM brake pads; still road legal and offering impressive cold bite, whilst reducing stopping distances and being more resistant to fade and high temperatures during more intense driving conditions.

“I purchased this EP3 Civic Type R back in December 2020. Right from the start it was always going to be my track toy as I also have a more sensible car that I use as my daily driver.

“This means I have a fairly extensive modification to-do list for the car, which involves some serious suspension and performance tweaks further down the line.

“I thought it would be a good idea to start with upgrading one of the most important aspects of the car – the brakes. Although the standard braking setup on these cars can be pretty good with a decent set of discs and pads, I always felt like I was reaching the limits after about 15 minutes on track in my old Civic Type R a few years back, which meant I was keen to take things a bit further this time around.”

“I purchased this EP3 Civic Type R back in December 2020. Right from the start it was always going to be my track toy as I also have a more sensible car that I use as my daily driver.

“This means I have a fairly extensive modification to-do list for the car, which involves some serious suspension and performance tweaks further down the line.

“I thought it would be a good idea to start with upgrading one of the most important aspects of the car – the brakes. Although the standard braking setup on these cars can be pretty good with a decent set of discs and pads, I always felt like I was reaching the limits after about 15 minutes on track in my old Civic Type R a few years back, which meant I was keen to take things a bit further this time around.”

Dave Taylor upgraded to EBC’s big brake kit offering after quickly reaching the limits of his standard braking setup on track.

“I purchased the car almost two years ago and use it mainly on weekends as a second car. I’ve been doing track days for a number of years now and wanted a car that was fun on the road as well as on track.

“After the first track day, the standard brakes were toast! I upgraded the pads/lines and fluid, but it still wasn’t enough. I was demanding too much from the standard discs and calipers to the point where the paint melted and the seals were showing signs of cracking.”

• Perform the Street Pre BedĚýFade 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.

You CAN use the “Real-world experienced driver – faster street bedding routine”- Ěýdescribed above if you are bedding the pads in on the street

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 usingĚýĚý 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.

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 Ěýguide 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, 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 SRĚý 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

Green fade points are 400 C or 650 F (Fade 1) and then the same again ( Fade 2) for the two fades required with Bluestuff and 400C/800F just the once for RP series pads RP pads. For this reason, EBC Heat paints first level indicate at a temperature of just over 400C/800 F so that once this paint changes colour, one fade cycle is done.

• NoĚýStreet Pre Bed needed or legally allowed, these are pure race track compounds –ĚýBUT only in the EU markets is anyone going to worry about this. Generally, the EBC RP pads are quite safe to use on the streets and many drivers fit them and drive to and from race tracks happily with very limited noise. RP pads don’t need to “Warm-up” and are as good as or better than most stock pads in lower-speed highway driving. Full potential comes though when you really work these pads though and that is why we class them as a race pad.
• Single gentle lap to seat pads to rotors followed by Fade 3Ěýas above should be all that is needed

• These are a new generation of Sintered pads and do not require any chemical bedding. Pads merely need mating to the disc/rotor which again depends on rotor/disc condition but if flat or new this should take 3-5 snubs as mentioned in Fade 3 above – at the track.
• NoĚýStreet Pre Bed needed or legally allowed, these are pure race track compounds, again we have many drivers who use these on the open road with no complaints but remember in the EU legislation makes it actually illegal to use a nonapproved pad on public roads.

Comparison of friction levels of the main EBC race materials below

The graph should not be confused with a “ fade test “

Any falloff in friction depends on the deceleration amount from V1 to V2 – and heavier stops see more fall off.

Still, in every case, the brake effect is still very significant and reliable

The test is a made-up lap of 9 stops repeated 5 times to give 45 stops in total.

All stops are at 0.7G but have different brake-on and brake-off speeds as shown below (in km/h) – the slower stops tend to produce higher friction levels irrespective of the material which is what gives the variability.

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.

During the second bank holiday Monday of May 2021, the 91´ŤĂ˝ team headed to Sywell Aerodrome for Supercar Fest’s ‘The Runway’ event.

This is a chance for sports and supercars from across the country to enjoy the extensive runway at the Northamptonshire-based air base, reaching some impressive speeds in the process.

91´ŤĂ˝ had a stand in the trade area where it showcased many of its high-performance products to attendees. Also on the stand were some impressive EBC-equipped vehicles, such as Andy Ducker’s VW Golf R, a 45th Anniversary Chevrolet Camaro RS and R44 Performance’s brand-new G80-series BMW M3 (that 91´ŤĂ˝ Racing is currently developing a range of products for).

91´ŤĂ˝ plans on attending a number of automotive events during the summer of 2021. Please keep your eyes out for further information and be sure to head over to our stand and speak to our friendly team if you do spot us.