Nichols Racing rely on EBC Brakes Racing’s Big Brake Kit and pad range in their BMW race car
The Nichols Racing outfit has been running EBC Brakes Racing components on their E46 BMW M3 race car for a few years now, to great success.
For the 2024 season, the car received a new LS3 V8 engine swap for more power and reliability, with the outfit also upgrading to the EBC Brakes Racing Apollo 4R Big Brake Kit to complement the SR-11/RP-1™ pad setup.
You can read in the team’s own words how they got on at the first round at Pittsburgh International Raceway below…
“Fielding an endurance car is a tough task; blowing one up and completely rebuilding it over the off season into something competitive at the first race is a monumental one. Nichols Racing accepted that challenge when their BMW E46 M3’s S54 valvetrain decided to take its last breath at Watkins Glen International and took a ‘while you’re in there’ approach.
“Deciding to ditch the BMW drivetrain altogether and go with a more easily sourced GM LS3/T56 combination meant more power, more availability, and hopefully more reliability.
“After the winter build, the car came alive to the tune of about 400rwhp/400rwtq just before the debut race at Pittsburgh International Raceway with the American Endurance Racing series. With the team being more than happy with the current EBC Brakes Racing Apollo 4 setup and SR-11/RP-1™ brake pad combination, the decision was made to go for heat mitigation and upgrade to the new EBC Brakes Racing Apollo 4R calipers. As you may have guessed, the ‘R’ stands for ‘Race’, and indicates castellated stainless steel pistons, no dust seals, and a hard anodized finish to hold up to the abuse while letting the heat out.”
“In typical debut fashion there were gremlins that joined the party and tweaks to be made, but ultimately the team placed 3rd in Class 5 on Saturday. This was a huge success for the team considering the transformation and the baptism by fire the car underwent (literally at one point). After about 16 hours of run time on the car and about 1mm of pad wear later, the team echoed the same sentiment as when the car made almost 50% less power:
“’The brakes are phenomenal and we can out brake any team, anywhere.’
“’They hit the brakes at the 3 marker, we hit them at the 2.’
“’Never gave up or displayed signs of any fade.’
“The versatility and heat range of the EBC Brakes Racing line really shined here, using the same compounds with no change in performance on such different horsepower cars shows the breadth of what SR and RP can do.
“Nichols Racing is excited to be continuing their partnership with EBC Brakes Racing and is heading to the next race at Watkins Glen International with the kinks worked out, hoping to be even more competitive as the year unfolds.”
SR-11™ Sintered Endurance Race Brake Pad
Medium-friction compound targeted for front of street-base endurance race cars where high ABS effect exists on the car, or for the front and rear of race cars with bias controls.
Apollo 4R Big Brake Kit
The full-race version of EBC Brakes Racing’s acclaimed 4-piston Apollo Big Brake Kit. Featuring castellated stainless steel pistons, no dust seals and a hard anodised finish.
RP-1™ Track/Race Motorsport Brake Pads
Pairing high performance with unprecedented modulation and control, resulting in a track pad that feels uniquely different to the competition and allows drivers to extract every last tenth from every braking zone.
