Greenstuff Pads - Dire From Cold?

[Anthony 1,003]

Stupid question here, but are Greenstuff pads really bad when cold?

 

Logically I'd have thought they'd be one step up from OE pads and thus like Mintex 1144's they'd still work very well from cold, and certainly I'd not heard about cold bite being mentioned by anyone else that uses them (just a few other issues like leaving deposits on disks, inconsistant quality etc).

 

However, the newish set that came on my 309 front and back (fitted to new calipers front and back, and grooved disks up front for what little good they do) are absolutely dreadful when cold with no bite whatsoever and you really have to stomp on the middle pedal to stop the car! Initially I assumed it was just the light surface rust on the disks cleaning off as the car hadn't been used much prior to me buying it, but it's still nearly as bad after 200 miles.

 

When they're warm they seem to bite and stop fine - although subjectively still don't seem as good as my 1144's - but surely they shouldn't be that bad when cold? It feels like trying to stop an unservo'd car such is the pressure you need to put on the pedal, and certainly there's no way someone like my mother would be able to stop the car in an emergency from cold.

 

I *think* it's the front pads that are the problem, as you can get the car sideways with some playful left-foot braking mid-bend easily enough... in the name of testing, naturally

[Butler 0]

They should be fine from cold. Maybe a dodgey set. It has been known.

 

I run yellows and they are fine from cold too.

 

 

Have used them in anger yet? These yellows I had seemed fine from cold and get better with heat but faded easily which I was concerned about. I did an airfield trackday 2 weeks ago and hammered them really hard and I got no fade at all and now they don't fade on the road either, they just get better and better.

 

GtiMad reckons you have to bake EBC pads to get the best from them.

Edited June 9, 2006 by Butler

[Shevy 4]

Hi Anthony,

 

I've had 3 sets of Greenstuff pads, one set was brilliant, stopped really well from cold and got even better after warming up and I was only using a real cheap set of discs at the time aswell.

 

My second set was nowhere near as good as the first set, although they did get a bit better after I gave them a really hard time and tried to see if they would fade.

Eventually the brake friction material actually came away from the back of the pad and the pads had not even worn down halfway, I couldn't believe it when it happened !

 

I gave the pads one more go as I was so happy with the first set of pads.

Thankfully the third set of pads turned out to be as good as my first set !

[boombang 2]

My old 309 had just had Greenstuffs put on when I bought it so left them on.

 

They were terrible to be honest. No pedal feel (even after bleeding repeatadly), they had a habit of locking when warm then suddenly would go off and provide no braking at all.

 

I've now gone back to good old Mintex for the new 309.

[MartinM 0]

IMHO, they're just dire. Full stop. I'd never consider buying another set. Ever.

 

Rubbish from cold. Mediocre when hot. Nasty brake dust. Don't even stay green!

 

I'd only ever consider Mintex or Ferodo

 

..just my $0.02

[Simes 248 2 Cars]

Mine are good only when warm. Fortunately they'll be gone by next week once my new brakes go on.

[crogthomas 0]

I've not used Greenstuff on the 205 but have had them on my bike. They were definetely less effective from cold than standard Yamaha pads, but only very, very marginally. They were still acceptable.

 

They would have been pads from about 1995 though. I've heard that there have been a number of different compounds used by EBC in their Greenstuff pads with no ready way of telling them apart. So its not easy to compare Greenstuff with Greenstuff. A bit shortsighted of them unfortunately.

[Rippthrough 98]

I've not used Greenstuff on the 205 but have had them on my bike. They were definetely less effective from cold than standard Yamaha pads, but only very, very marginally. They were still acceptable.

 

They would have been pads from about 1995 though. I've heard that there have been a number of different compounds used by EBC in their Greenstuff pads with no ready way of telling them apart. So its not easy to compare Greenstuff with Greenstuff. A bit shortsighted of them unfortunately.

 

 

Yep, because even if they make a decent pad one day, they'll still get tarred with the same brush.

I've had one set on the car and one set on the bike. The ones on the car crumbled, and the ones on the bike were just a bit naff all around.

[damien 22 1 Cars]

they are touch and go, ive had a good set and a bad set. im now running yellow ones which ive had for a week and seem ok at the moment

[TEKNOPUG 3]

I've heard a lot of bad stuff about EBC quality control and general pot-luck when it comes to their pads. Personally, I'd just ditch them and stick with something a little more consistant in future.

[huxley309 0]

Definetly, i thought id give them the benefit of doubt this time around to see if they've improved

 

Nope!! still crap from cold and questionable when warm...sure they work but i don't trust them, soon as this cars mapped im ordering me some M1144's

Edited June 9, 2006 by huxley309

[hengti 2]

the sets i've used have always been fine. they don't bite as well as std pads from cold, but it only takes one decent stop to get them up to temp in my exp

 

never had problems with batch inconsistency - maybe just lucky

 

btw, EBC advertise Green as being comparable to DS2000/M1144; Red - DS2500/M1155; yellow - M1166; blue - DS3000

 

and they're cheap

[Rippthrough 98]

the sets i've used have always been fine. they don't bite as well as std pads from cold, but it only takes one decent stop to get them up to temp in my exp

 

never had problems with batch inconsistency - maybe just lucky

 

btw, EBC advertise Green as being comparable to DS2000/M1144; Red - DS2500/M1155; yellow - M1166; blue - DS3000

 

and they're cheap

 

 

That's kinda weird, I would have rate DS2500 with 1144 personally.

[Guest Nuno205Rallye]

No way that I would rate DS2500's with 1144's .

 

 

On my Clio 172 I tried them all, the standart pads on this car were very very good, and Brakes is a thing a 172 does not have lack of

 

 

EBC Greenstuff, worst than the original ones, no bite from cold and when hot they were a litle better but felt like they were made of cork, spongy pedal (and it was not because of the fluid).

 

Mintex 1144, on a par with the original ones when cold, on a par with the original ones when hot

 

 

Ferodo DS2500, now these pads are something, they simply refused to fade, had low bite when cold (but still very acceptable, and they just got better and better when hot.

 

At track days my discs where glowing red, the plastic centercaps of the original OZ F1's melted away but the buggers would still not fade away (in fact the brakes became more controlable, since in my opinion the 172 is overservoed).

[petert 586]

You guys are harsh on Greenstuff! Did you bed them in properly? ie 10 big stops from 60km/h to 2km/h, cool down over night, then another 10 big stops from 60 km/h to 2 km/h. Cool down again overnight. They should be weeping white stuff by now. I have them on my Mi16x4 and their cold bite is superb. I was warned if I didn't bed them properly they'd be just like a standard pad.

[smckeown 1]

i've only tried greenstuff pads once, and i had the same problem. I've steered clear since.

[C_W 3 1 Cars]

Greenstuff were the first performance pad I used in 2000 on the 205 and I thought they were brilliant, really strong performance and never faded on track and also lasted a year. For the money these were the best pads I've used but successive pads I had problems with faster wear and brake judder.

 

Now use Ferodo DS3000 but starting to get judder again with these now.

[Anthony 1,003]

Tried re-bedding the pads in with several hard 60 - 5mph stops until they'd faded badly and absolutely stinking, and letting them cool. If anything they were even worse afterwards, and I overshot the first junction I got to the brakes were so dire!

 

Tried my other normal bedding-in method of dragging the brakes on the motorway for half a mile, letting them cool for a couple of miles, and repeating a few times - but again, still poor from cold.

 

Of course, it might be too late now and the previous owner did the damage by not bedding them in properly. Either way, I think I'll ditch them and get something that works properly from cold - 1144's more than likely as I've always been happy with them and got them on my other two cars

[Rippthrough 98]

No way that I would rate DS2500's with 1144's .

On my Clio 172 I tried them all, the standart pads on this car were very very good, and Brakes is a thing a 172 does not have lack of

EBC Greenstuff, worst than the original ones, no bite from cold and when hot they were a litle better but felt like they were made of cork, spongy pedal (and it was not because of the fluid).

 

Mintex 1144, on a par with the original ones when cold, on a par with the original ones when hot

Ferodo DS2500, now these pads are something, they simply refused to fade, had low bite when cold (but still very acceptable, and they just got better and better when hot.

 

At track days my discs where glowing red, the plastic centercaps of the original OZ F1's melted away but the buggers would still not fade away (in fact the brakes became more controlable, since in my opinion the 172 is overservoed).

 

 

See I found 1144 had better bite than stock everywhere, with the 2500's being slightly worse than 1144 when cold, but better when warm.

[labrat 0]

Have run greens on the scooby, very impressed with the exception of the over heating problems !

 

Pug wise we're currently running DS3000 on the white one ... very impressive stopping power from

cold (better than standard) and then they just get better when warmed up !