I am planning on treating my '94 Mk1 to front and rear EBC turbo grooved discs and green stuff pads and had a few questions for those in the know:
do they fit the original calipers & alloys?
what is the durability of the pads in comparison to the original mazda pads
old car - no ABS, do they tend to lock more frequently than the original setup?
Maybe foolish questions but appreciate any comments!
Cheers,
Ben
Not got grooved disks, but others have mentioned:-
More noise. Quicker pad wear. Prob not really required in reality.
EBC Greenstuff pads:-
Reports of them breaking up. Dust. - don’t recall much good being said about them, but I might be wrong.
EBC Kevlar:-
I have these at the mo - not as good as Axxis Ultimates, but not much wrong with them - dust seems far less than Axxis pads.
If you intend doing a lot of track days then a brake upgrade may be worth the expense. However if your car is used mainly on the highway then the original Mazda setup is perfectly adequate. I had grooved discs for a while and found no improvement at all, this was with a Ferodo pad. I’m back to standard discs and mazda pads, and a supercharger and it all works well----------------------Save the money for FI…
Many thanks Geoff - yeah not too many tracks here in Brunei 
I’ve got to learn to drive the car with it current setup (only added a K&N filter!) before I can move onto FI!
Thanks Goof - Ill save my money for something more worthwhile in that case!
I have grooved discs on my car and the last 2
Trackdays great! They are noisy when first fitted, but it dies away
EBC Greenstuff no problem, they will break up if you use them until wafer thin, but not otherwise
EBC Kevlar…not as good as Greenstuff
EBC Redstuff .in mine now …expensive , but good
Ben
I’ve had this set up for a number of years, but find after couple of years I end up getting brake judder. EBC said it was due to material transfer from pad to disk. After nenewing the set up for a second time it seems to be happening again even though EBC have changed the greenstuff compound - supposably improoved!
Even though they look good I’m thinking of taking them off, either to go back to standard or another upgrade.
So even though I feel the braking is improved I can’t really reccommend them due to cost and durability.
Jules
My MK1 1.8 has no ABS or PAS. It’s my second car and I like to drive it hard. With the OEM pads I never felt like I needed more powerfull brakes. When they were worn I changed to Greenstuff. These work well with some heat in them but, seem to need a bit more pedal pressure when cold ( Like when coming off a motoway and stopping at the first junction.) I’ve used the car on several track days and can honestly say I never felt like I needed more powerful brakes even when braking at 110mph. So I would say save your money for fuel to drive it.
I did this 18 months ago.
Observations: the discs make a fluttering noise when driving along (presumably because of the grooves passing the pads), but no particular noise when braking There is slight vibration when braking between 70 and 60mph, which I initially thought was DTV due to runout (although I cleaned the hubs really well), but has never got any worse and doesn’t occur at lower speeds, so is probably a resonance between the groove spacing and the suspension.
The pads cause colossal amounts of sticky dust for the first couple of hundred miles then settle down. You may not be able to get them in with their shims until you’ve taken the car round the block to wear off a millimetre of the “brake-in” layer!
Braking is slightly improved compared to the previous (original) Mazda discs and cheap (not M1144) Mintex pads - however, I drove a 1.6 Roadster last year and the main difference is between 1.8 and 1.6 brakes - the 1.8’s are about twice as effective!
I may change the pads this year, not because of wear but because EBC pads have a terrible record for coming apart from the backing plate.
Pads - I went went Axxis Ultimates to EBC Kevlar… I’d go back to the Axxis anyday. There’s nothing really wrong with the EBC Kavlar, but they’re nowhere near as good as the Axxis pads.
Actually, it seems I’ve already typed that previously! - I blame senility…
Hi Can you describe the noise you got with the discs you had. I have the same setup and I have a noise that sounds like road noise but I don’t think it is. It sounds like a resonating sound but doesn’t change whn apllying the brakes. so I wonder if the noise you had was similar?
Many thanks
mike
I have EBC grooved and dimpled discs all round with yellowstuff pads they are fantastic had them on for 2 years bought new pads expecting to change then and they are still great car is used for trackdays and some road rallys so hard useage. Also fit Goodridge hoses.
We have EBC pads on 5 cars now and have never had a problem despite hard use on track . I would not have anything else. Wife has green stuff on her Honda civic no issues at all . We use yellowstuff on a BMW540i and saxmaxx track car .You expect some noise with grooved discs but the reality is they quieten down a treat with use.
i got ebc vented / dimpled / grooved discs and green stuff pads, when cold there much like mazda standards but after a big application they become insane, at first the dust is a bit crazy but it calms down after a while! they make a little bit of a sweeping noise when cruiseing which u can only notice when u drive next to another car or at central resurvation… i got my wheels done in anthracite so i hope it hides the dust more ;D
Charlie