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Like many track addicts I have had trouble getting the sort of stopping performance I have wanted from my Evo. As such I have been working with RacingBrake in order to try new compounds and provide feedback in hopes of delivering exceptional products at great prices. Over the past year I have been able to make use of many of RacingBrakes compounds as well as their exceptional two piece floating rotors. Following is a review of each of the products I have been able to use to this point.
RB500 pads - These are marketed by RacingBrake as a high performance street pad. In my use of them I was very pleased with their initial bite with exceptional feedback, minimal dust and zero noise. They give a nice bite which was better than OEM and great to drive around town. In spirited driving they were hard to fade but wore quickly when heated. As such I would not care to use these for more than street but they may be a nice functional alternative for autocrossers who want good bite without the need for high heat handling capability.
RB700 pads - These were some of the first RacingBrake products I had the good fortune to try. These pads are highly durable and versatile in that they wear like iron but need a bit of heat in order to get up to their performance capability. They are low wear, low to no noise and low dust and easy on rotors! I can also not think of one time in which these pads over heated despite heavy work on a full weight car on hot days. As such they served me well on multiple days at MidOhio and Beaverun and also drove to and from the track without much fuss.
The downside to these in my mind is that they do not offer the best initial bite. To be blunt there were times that I had to apply a terrifying amount of force to get the desired torque but otherwise these pads were wonderful and long lasting. They were easy to modulate and offered easy progressive release but the amount of force needed was at times distracting from this fact. If you have a light car or demand long life from your pads and do not need the final word in stopping power these pads may well be for you!
RB800 pads - These were some of the last pads I tried from RacingBrake and some of my favorites. They may not be for everyone in that they make a little noise, make a good bit of dust and are not in any way really street friendly but one could if pressed put them on the night prior to an event and drive to the track or to a hotel from the track without needing to worry about being unsafe otherwise. These pads do not offer the final word in stopping power either but I must say they are pretty darn good! While the RB700s forced me to be aggressive with the brake in how much force I applied, I was able to more easily modulate and control these pads without feeling distracted by the amount of effort involved.
I was not able to test these in hot conditions but was pleased with the rate of wear and that I was never able to invoke fade or loss of performance no matter how hard I abused the pads. As such this may be the compound I am most likely to use long term as the performance vs wear vs value seems to be very favorable in my mind. In short these pads worked very well, inspired a great deal of confidence, were easy to control and modulate with a bit of a quick but clean and predictable release and gave great bottom line performance without issue. Highly recommended.
RB850 pads - If you want to stop and stop now... look no farther. This pad was offered to me to try as an alternative to the RB900s. I had talked to the good folks at RacingBrake about my thoughts with the RB700s and my desire to get more ultimate stopping power. They were kind enough to extend an offer to let me audition these pads. I was told that they were a new version of their RB900s that would work at slightly lower temperatures but still offer full race performance. Full race performance indeed.
These pads are without question the hardest stopping, most aggressive pads I have ever had on my car. DTC70s and PF01s are great but hitting the middle pedal with these on your car is akin to throwing out an anchor. The car will violently decelerate with incredible initial bite and never fade or fail.
The performance characteristics of these pads simply exceed anything else I have tried. Sadly as we all know, nothing in brake land is without a downside. These pads make huge amounts of dust and are exceedingly hard on rotors. They also wore very quickly but stopped like you were hitting a brick wall until they were well worn and ready to come off the car.
Modulation was easy and predictable and I loved the fact that I could generate all the force I wanted or needed to easily without large amounts of effort with what I could best describe as a quick but predictable release.
In short if you must have the past word in stopping power, run time attack, time trials or race wheel to wheel you may well wish to give these a try as they simply work very very well.
RB two piece floating rotors- If you are going to have one RacingBrake component on your car, this may have to be it. I added these to my cars track day arsonal some time ago in the hopes of adding some performance while decreasing some rotating mass. Prior to adding these to my car I was struck by how hot the rotors were after coming off the track. Heat would radiate out of the wheels and give anything in range a nice happy warmth that could roast nearby marshmallows. After adding these however the heat never seemed to be anywhere near as bad. I would also comment that I found a surprise benefit in that the car suddenly felt more stable mid corner. Maybe it's just my imagination but the car feels less jittery when the brakes are on and even better when there is some form of dynamic input happening at the same time. Trail braking was suddenly much less sketchy and far more confidence inspiring.
I would also add that these rotors are fully re-buildable. I will be rebuilding these very soon and hope to document this process as well to share with everyone. Aside from the performance aspects of these fine rotors I would also point out that they look pretty darn hawt. Add to that the fact that they are priced very competitively with other two piece rotors with affordable rebuildability and these are a solid winner.
RB500 pads - These are marketed by RacingBrake as a high performance street pad. In my use of them I was very pleased with their initial bite with exceptional feedback, minimal dust and zero noise. They give a nice bite which was better than OEM and great to drive around town. In spirited driving they were hard to fade but wore quickly when heated. As such I would not care to use these for more than street but they may be a nice functional alternative for autocrossers who want good bite without the need for high heat handling capability.
RB700 pads - These were some of the first RacingBrake products I had the good fortune to try. These pads are highly durable and versatile in that they wear like iron but need a bit of heat in order to get up to their performance capability. They are low wear, low to no noise and low dust and easy on rotors! I can also not think of one time in which these pads over heated despite heavy work on a full weight car on hot days. As such they served me well on multiple days at MidOhio and Beaverun and also drove to and from the track without much fuss.
The downside to these in my mind is that they do not offer the best initial bite. To be blunt there were times that I had to apply a terrifying amount of force to get the desired torque but otherwise these pads were wonderful and long lasting. They were easy to modulate and offered easy progressive release but the amount of force needed was at times distracting from this fact. If you have a light car or demand long life from your pads and do not need the final word in stopping power these pads may well be for you!
RB800 pads - These were some of the last pads I tried from RacingBrake and some of my favorites. They may not be for everyone in that they make a little noise, make a good bit of dust and are not in any way really street friendly but one could if pressed put them on the night prior to an event and drive to the track or to a hotel from the track without needing to worry about being unsafe otherwise. These pads do not offer the final word in stopping power either but I must say they are pretty darn good! While the RB700s forced me to be aggressive with the brake in how much force I applied, I was able to more easily modulate and control these pads without feeling distracted by the amount of effort involved.
I was not able to test these in hot conditions but was pleased with the rate of wear and that I was never able to invoke fade or loss of performance no matter how hard I abused the pads. As such this may be the compound I am most likely to use long term as the performance vs wear vs value seems to be very favorable in my mind. In short these pads worked very well, inspired a great deal of confidence, were easy to control and modulate with a bit of a quick but clean and predictable release and gave great bottom line performance without issue. Highly recommended.
RB850 pads - If you want to stop and stop now... look no farther. This pad was offered to me to try as an alternative to the RB900s. I had talked to the good folks at RacingBrake about my thoughts with the RB700s and my desire to get more ultimate stopping power. They were kind enough to extend an offer to let me audition these pads. I was told that they were a new version of their RB900s that would work at slightly lower temperatures but still offer full race performance. Full race performance indeed.
These pads are without question the hardest stopping, most aggressive pads I have ever had on my car. DTC70s and PF01s are great but hitting the middle pedal with these on your car is akin to throwing out an anchor. The car will violently decelerate with incredible initial bite and never fade or fail.
The performance characteristics of these pads simply exceed anything else I have tried. Sadly as we all know, nothing in brake land is without a downside. These pads make huge amounts of dust and are exceedingly hard on rotors. They also wore very quickly but stopped like you were hitting a brick wall until they were well worn and ready to come off the car.
Modulation was easy and predictable and I loved the fact that I could generate all the force I wanted or needed to easily without large amounts of effort with what I could best describe as a quick but predictable release.
In short if you must have the past word in stopping power, run time attack, time trials or race wheel to wheel you may well wish to give these a try as they simply work very very well.
RB two piece floating rotors- If you are going to have one RacingBrake component on your car, this may have to be it. I added these to my cars track day arsonal some time ago in the hopes of adding some performance while decreasing some rotating mass. Prior to adding these to my car I was struck by how hot the rotors were after coming off the track. Heat would radiate out of the wheels and give anything in range a nice happy warmth that could roast nearby marshmallows. After adding these however the heat never seemed to be anywhere near as bad. I would also comment that I found a surprise benefit in that the car suddenly felt more stable mid corner. Maybe it's just my imagination but the car feels less jittery when the brakes are on and even better when there is some form of dynamic input happening at the same time. Trail braking was suddenly much less sketchy and far more confidence inspiring.
I would also add that these rotors are fully re-buildable. I will be rebuilding these very soon and hope to document this process as well to share with everyone. Aside from the performance aspects of these fine rotors I would also point out that they look pretty darn hawt. Add to that the fact that they are priced very competitively with other two piece rotors with affordable rebuildability and these are a solid winner.