My experience with RacingBrake BBK so far

[bananabun]

I purchased the full RacingBrake BBK, directly from RB, a few months ago and am reviewing it here for anybody else considering these. I'll also receive a small discount for the review, but will try to remain objective.

There's a similar review by mimarcos, with the usual useful insight from The Hack, but feel free to ask any questions you may have.

The Decision

After my first track day (ever) on stock brakes and Hawk HPS pads, I was really put off by the almost instant fade and was left wanting more from the brake setup. Granted, a lot of this has to do with street pads instead of track and also my own driving experience. However, rotors were used by the PO on a couple track days already and weren't too far from wear so I figured why not splurge on the full setup. My criteria was very simple - track performance, while also being usable on the street to drive to and fro from the track.

I started out speaking with Turner and Bimmerworld since they stock different brands. Also read a lot about track experiences from the Z4 and M3 crowd. I had already narrowed down on StopTech and AP Racing before I came across RB. I wasn't able to source an AP Racing setup made by Essex, and Stop Techs vs RB was coming out to be the same price (factory promo by StopTech is still ongoing). Decided to give RB a try because I thought I'll support an underdog and maybe get better service due to them being a small business. Also, StopTechs are everywhere and our cars deserve special treatment

Ordering, Packaging, Support

The RB website isn't the most user-friendly, so I decided to call them and figure out what I was getting into. Ordering after that was fairly simple, aside from a shipping delay due to the front SS lines being out of stock. I had to call them to find this out, but they went out of their way to get me a used set of lines and ship the entire setup out to me in time for a weekend at WGI.

One more thing I'll mention, at the risk of picking nits, is that the accompanying instructions and the website instructions were very minimal, and therefore not helpful at all. At least for somebody like myself who is doing all this for the first time, I had to spend a ton of time looking stuff up and watching videos.

I also ended up exchanging more than 20 emails with RB to figure out a vibration issue for which we had to eliminate causes one by one. Turns out it was due to deposits on the rotor, so it's all good.

Performance

MASSIVE difference from stock in every way imaginable. Pedal feel is vastly improved, and I am getting better at modulating pressure and squeezing instead of stomping. Overall, I feel like the brakes can be applied more progressively and that the application is even and predictable.

I still experience fade from repeated usage...around session 3 and 4 at LRP and WGI but I'm not sure whether it's the brakes themselves or just my technique. Also, I say 'fade' but it's not like the brakes completely die on me...they just aren't as good as they are in session 1 and 2. That's sort of normal, right?

I've put around 4-5 days on the entire setup and am very happy with it so far. I have no benchmark to compare to, but I will say that I'm more confident in my brakes and have improved at braking distance, trail braking and generally being smoother on the application.

Living with the kit day to day is also fine. Street pads are not noisy, pad changes are pretty easy and the kit looks pretty good too. There are two bleed valves on each caliper, but the rest of the bleeding process is as usual.

I hope this review helps those who are on the fence about RB. Please feel free to ask me any questions about the setup. Thanks!

[The HACK]

Looking good.

Usually if you experience fade later in the day (like session 3 or 4 out of a 5 session day) it's typically heat accumulation in the system SOMEWHERE. Try this. After each session, drive around on the street around the track or in the paddocks, using as little brake as possible, for up to 5 minutes to allow the rotors to spin and continue to siphon off heat from the system. Unless you're doing back to back sessions this usually will cure 99% of all brake fade ills.

The issue with the vibration and deposit is common. I don't want to say normal, but I've noticed that the slots on the open slot design on the RB rotor is not chamfered, and the majority of the deposit I see follow the trailing edge of the slots. I've taken a Dremel with a grinding stone and created chamfered edges, hopefully it alleviates it because the deposit comes back no matter how many times I scrub the rotor surface or bed it with a track pad after it's washed and rusted. The straight up, 90 degree edge of the slots created an edge for the pads to deposit on. At least that's my theory. If the deposit issue goes away after the next 2 track days this year, I will bring up my finding to RB and see if they'll look into chamfering the slots.

But I suspect it's just the way *I* drive. Our 335D has the same issue, 2 days at Laguna Seca and crazy pad deposit issues, bad enough for my mechanic to tell me I need new rotors.

By the way, took me a while to figure out what those straight line patterns are on the rotor. They're from the last car wash, typically I go on a high speed drive after each wash so I can put some heat into the rotors to dry and scrub off the rust. This last time I got lazy, just washed, waxed, and then a quick jaunt around the block. There must have been water accumulation somewhere that dripped down when the car was parked.

[bananabun]

Thanks for the tip! I usually go out for gas once every track day, so will try to add the brake-free driving to the mix. Let me know if your hack (lol) with the chamfered edges helps at all. For now, what I've been doing is using brake cleaner and steel wool to clean out the rotors before every pad change and then re-bed accordingly.

How's the diesel motor on the track? The low-end torque must be fun...

Originally Posted by The HACK

Looking good.

Usually if you experience fade later in the day (like session 3 or 4 out of a 5 session day) it's typically heat accumulation in the system SOMEWHERE. Try this. After each session, drive around on the street around the track or in the paddocks, using as little brake as possible, for up to 5 minutes to allow the rotors to spin and continue to siphon off heat from the system. Unless you're doing back to back sessions this usually will cure 99% of all brake fade ills.

The issue with the vibration and deposit is common. I don't want to say normal, but I've noticed that the slots on the open slot design on the RB rotor is not chamfered, and the majority of the deposit I see follow the trailing edge of the slots. I've taken a Dremel with a grinding stone and created chamfered edges, hopefully it alleviates it because the deposit comes back no matter how many times I scrub the rotor surface or bed it with a track pad after it's washed and rusted. The straight up, 90 degree edge of the slots created an edge for the pads to deposit on. At least that's my theory. If the deposit issue goes away after the next 2 track days this year, I will bring up my finding to RB and see if they'll look into chamfering the slots.

But I suspect it's just the way *I* drive. Our 335D has the same issue, 2 days at Laguna Seca and crazy pad deposit issues, bad enough for my mechanic to tell me I need new rotors.

By the way, took me a while to figure out what those straight line patterns are on the rotor. They're from the last car wash, typically I go on a high speed drive after each wash so I can put some heat into the rotors to dry and scrub off the rust. This last time I got lazy, just washed, waxed, and then a quick jaunt around the block. There must have been water accumulation somewhere that dripped down when the car was parked.

[The HACK]

Originally Posted by bananabun

How's the diesel motor on the track? The low-end torque must be fun...

The two track days I had in the Diesel happened at Laguna Seca during the one time where it rained and hailed nearly non-stop for the two full days. Track was wet and miserable, and worst of all, not conducive to high torque adventures. I ended up leaving the car in 4th gear and leaving traction control on because every time i come across turn 3 it wants to swap ends. Bad. With the minimum application of throttle.

There were standing water at 3, 5, 6, and 10 throughout the day, and sometimes what I would describe as RIVERS running through those corners. Otherwise, when relatively dry, I was able to keep up with E9X M3s and FXX M3 and M4s easily on the straights.

In the turns, not so much. Not with 4,xxx lbs and a 5,000RPM redline and an insanely tall gearset.

I also took the diesel to Chuckwalla Valley Raceway, again, because it was raining (OMG what is this wet stuff falling from the sky?!) but the 2nd day was dry so I had some more fun, but CVR rewards light, nimble cars more than the torque monster that the 335D is. But you sure can't beat the fact that you can fill up at home, drive 3 hours to CVR, drive 3-4 sessions per day for two days, and still have enough diesel to get home.

[bananabun]

Sounds like quite an adventure. They may not shine on every track (while still being fun, though), but they are such good DDs! I used to own a diesel Suzuki Swift and it was quite the zippy rocket. Ran out of steam after about 120 km/hr but that torque boost was so pronounced and so much fun, you almost didn't care about top speed.

As for the rivers of water, maybe next time take a Seadoo?

Originally Posted by The HACK

The two track days I had in the Diesel happened at Laguna Seca during the one time where it rained and hailed nearly non-stop for the two full days. Track was wet and miserable, and worst of all, not conducive to high torque adventures. I ended up leaving the car in 4th gear and leaving traction control on because every time i come across turn 3 it wants to swap ends. Bad. With the minimum application of throttle.

There were standing water at 3, 5, 6, and 10 throughout the day, and sometimes what I would describe as RIVERS running through those corners. Otherwise, when relatively dry, I was able to keep up with E9X M3s and FXX M3 and M4s easily on the straights.

In the turns, not so much. Not with 4,xxx lbs and a 5,000RPM redline and an insanely tall gearset.

I also took the diesel to Chuckwalla Valley Raceway, again, because it was raining (OMG what is this wet stuff falling from the sky?!) but the 2nd day was dry so I had some more fun, but CVR rewards light, nimble cars more than the torque monster that the 335D is. But you sure can't beat the fact that you can fill up at home, drive 3 hours to CVR, drive 3-4 sessions per day for two days, and still have enough diesel to get home.