Sharp initial bite, progressive as brake pedal is depressed, no brake fade and confident,.
Bhpian Ais recently shared this with other enthusiasts:
I was considering a brake upgrade for a while. The EBC Yellow Stuff pads on OEM rotors were excellent for city drives and sedate highway drives, but on open highways, I’m not sedate often. The setup was inadequate for a remapped Polo. It always seemed too small for the momentum it was being asked to manage.
So I went for 288mm ATE Big Brake Kit. Even in this, I found the initial bite not as good as EBC, though it was okay for normal driving, progressive and had adequate stopping power.
I switched to EBC Yellow Stuff pads and the performance is just what I was looking for.
Here are the differences between OEM+EBC Yellow Stuff pads and 288 ATE carrier, calipers rotors and EBC Yellow Stuff pads.
- The weight on the front has increased. It took me a couple of days to adapt to the very minor drop in steering quickness.
- There was no understeer before or after the change.
Rest is all positive-
- The wheel spin on takeoff is gone (I haven’t managed to get them to spin yet).
- The suspension is behaving so maturely- the addition weight makes the car feel totally planted now. The jump the front used to take at the end of flyovers if there is an elevation there, like the end of Kalanagar flyover north side on Western Express Highway and the one before that over SV Road, is gone.
- And of course, the braking performance is just perfect. Sharp initial bite, progressive as brake pedal is depressed, no brake fade and confident, predictable stopping power at all speeds.
This dashcam footage shows how I was saved by the new brakes (ATE pads at the time) from a joker who jumped a red signal-
https://youtu.be/CjF7dYuZ2UI?si=pyLQQ90YuEK3J7qM
About 10 days after the changes, post thorough running in, I did Mumbai to Indore on 25 July. During spirited driving, I started getting break squeal and juddering. I thought there might be debris in the pads due to incessant rain, but on stopping and inspecting, it turned out to be overheating. Also, the rear right drum was hotter than the left.
After letting the brakes cool, I continued to Indore. At the hotel parking, I adjusted the rear left drum to increase the resistance (as shown in my videos earlier), to balance the right and left rear, and hopefully taking some load off the front.
A mild cyclical squeal is still there on dead slow to stop. When back in Mumbai, I’ll check and clean the system thoroughly.
I’m thinking of cutting slots in the front bumper and wheel well fender liner to let air in to cool the brake. Anyone who may have done this, please advise.
Pics of kit and dust plate being flattened to fit-
https://youtu.be/Q6hTXig4Dp4?si=CBqDbjJoK-BxsPNq
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