What’s So Special about the All-New SR-Series Sintered Race Pads?

We put EBC Brakes Racing’s all-new SR-Series™ sintered pad range under the microscope

There are some very significant benefits on offer from EBC Brakes Racing’s all-new SR-Series™ sintered race pad range. In fact, the only downside we think you’ll find might be the initial purchase price, thanks to their premium ingredients and manufacturing method.

Our target with SR-Series™ was huge performance and value for money, in turn reducing the cost per lap of brake pads to about a third of what we have commonly seen up until this time.

There is only so much you can do when you keep re-inventing semi-metallic or carbon-based pads before you run out of options. The EBC Brakes SR Series™, therefore, breaks new ground in pad performance and lifespan and represents a new or perfected technology in braking.

EBC brakes have come from being a company known for offering motorcycle brakes (a market it still dominates) to sport-street and light race pads, to what is now a fully-fledged race pad provider with no less than FIVE new compounds; the pinnacle of which are our TWO new SR Series™ sintered pad offerings.

So, what does SR do better than previous pads we, or others, have offered?

1. Lifetime

There is no doubt these pads will outlast any semi-metallic or carbon-based pad out there by a significant amount. This has been proven over a full season’s racing and testing with top teams (plus our own and independent dyno testing). In every case, those racers have experienced a massive improvement and asked run them. In 2022, you will see that proof at race tracks around the world.

The big benefit here is cost per lap, which is massively reduced over faster wearing pads that may cost a few bucks less to buy but most don’t last anywhere near the SR’s levels.

2. Brake friction level

There are, of course, pads around with Mu (brake coefficient) factors around 0.5 and 0.6. The question is, how long do those last? With the SR Series, we have a pad that delivers that high friction effect and holds it through a massive heat range and doesn’t wear fast – new territory, for sure. If you look at the performance curves, you will see they are almost flat, meaning perfect braking all the way up the heat range.

3. Zero chemical bed in needed

Because these pads contain no organics or volatiles to burn off, there is zero chemical bedding required; you fit them and if applied to a decent brake rotor or a new rotor, once aligned or ‘seated’, they are good to go. Even organic pads that have been pre-bedded on dynos – which is the current established method of reducing chemical bedding – have to be seated anyway.

Reduces expensive time wasted doing laps to bed in pads.

4. Reduced rotor wear

This is the big one and launches a technology that many people don’t even know about: Transfer Film Technology.

Here are the facts behind this amazing new technology:

Essentially, SR Series™ pads have created controlled friction welding of the pad material surface to the rotor.

The uniformity and stability of this layer are promoted by the solid lubricants within the friction material.

This allows the material to then ‘run against itself’ which creates a system that is very homogeneous.

By doing this, we create a system that is not aggressive on either surface and has very predictable performance since it is similar materials rubbing together.

Simply, the rotor grows from a deposit of friction material. Once this is established, the controlled lubrication of the two surfaces maintains that layer and allows for predictable performance with little to no rotor wear.

It may sound strange to talk about ‘lubricants’ in pad technology, but all brake pads contain lubricants to control and moderate the friction effect.

All in all, the new EBC SR Series™ pads are in a class of their own, and we hope you will enjoy them and be ready to answer the question ‘what brakes are you using?’ after winning your race.

SR Series™ pads will be launched at the PRI expo in the USA in December. To find out more, click here.