GIVE ME A BRAKE! PART ONE

EBC Yellow Stuff Brake Pad in place

In part one of our GIVE ME A BRAKE series, I've ordered some new brake pads for all four corners of the FIAT Abarth. Nothing really wrong with the current pads for every day driving and auto-crossing, BUT, this weekend we're heading to the track for a weekend, and I've been advised that it's a BAD THING to have your brakes give up the ghost...while driving....at high speed....around solid objects....on Earth.  I guess that safety thing is important after all!

So, after researching various brake pad makers on line, talking to people that know more than I do (Hmm, that would be just about everyone), asking the collected wisdom of the FIAT500USAForum.com and looking at every auto parts store in the local area, I ordered some EBC Yellowstuff pads direct from EBC. This company is based in England, and like most brake pad makers, they have a range of pads that work for normal, high speed, autocross, track, and everything in between. The Yellow pads are a few steps above the everyday stuff, but not quite the full 100% all-out track racing pads.

The pads were in stock, but in different parts of the country! So it seems that my brake pads that shipped from Florida arrived first, and the rears that were shipped from VEGAS BABY are almost here. Yesterday on Sunday, Brian and I watched the Russian Grand Prix from about 8-10am, then we hit the garage and put the front pads on, and bled the brakes. Long story short, Brian did the actual labor, and I supervised! So, the FIAT is in great shape now, with brand new brake pads on the front, DOT 4 brake fluid, and in a few days will also get new rear brake pads.

It was probably really good timing on these pads, because the original pads were very worn down in the front, and Brian estimates they would not have lasted the first day on the track. Of course on the track a car is braking a lot more often, a whole lot harder, and your average every day brakes are not built for repeated braking from high speeds, over and over as in lapping on a track. Your front brakes do the bulk of the work in your every day car too, so this was nice to get the fronts replaced first. With 52,000 miles, and 3+ full seasons of autocross on the stock pads, I'd say I got my money's worth out of those.

That wraps up episode number one. Coming up next, we'll throw the rear pads on the FIAT and start driving them a bit to get them bedded in and ready to go on track. Taking off the current original pads will give us a chance to check out the rotors, pads, and see how things are looking all around the suspension too, so we'll show you SHOCKING PHOTOS of how worn the old pads were, and how AWESOME the new EBC pads are!