EBC Fully-Floating 2-Piece Brake Rotors, Front (2018-2021 Grand Cherokee Trackhawk)

Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk Owner Tests EBC Brakes Racing Components on Road and Track

The braking components worked superbly on ultra-high performance SUV

With its 700bhp 6.2-litre supercharged V8 powerplant, the Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk is one of the most formidable road-going vehicles money can buy.

The incredible performance on tap combined with the car's significant kerb weight does mean that it requires nothing short of an exceptional braking system, however. Luckily, EBC Brakes Racing now offers a range of high-performance track/motorsport brake components for this vehicle (as well as the Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat).

John here is one Trackhawk owner who was keen to test out these new components. A fan of spirited road driving as well as regular track days, he was interested in finding ways to bolster his braking system, opting to try EBC's RP-X brake pads and two-piece fully-floating rotors.

Although he's only tested them in cold winter road conditions so far, John is already very impressed with the setup. You can read his review in his own words below.

EBC Brakes Racing's RP brake pad range is not R90 homologated for the public roads in EU member states, but the material possesses excellent cold performance meaning that it can be safely used for driving on the roads where local laws permit. "In a past life, I was a test engineer for Ford Motor Company, where I did engine dyno testing and test driving."

"I wanted to test some EBC Brakes products on my Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk."

"The two-piece rotors went on the same as the OEM products (the centre hole of the rotor fits nicely around the hub lip). The RP-X pads worked with the rotors right away with no binding or excess play."

"Although the roads around here are currently very cold, I managed to get a hundred miles' testing in on this combination and was very pleasantly surprised how well it worked even in these conditions."

"There was a little shudder at first, until the rotor's protective coatings wore off, but after that, these pads exhibited very strong braking. I did not expect a track formulation to behave in this manner without getting some heat in the pad material! I was greatly relieved that they performed this well in the cold - better than stock even."

"I even had another driver put on about 50 miles when I was the passenger, and he was very impressed. There was absolutely no brake squeal or noise of any kind."

"I plan to add another hundred miles to this combination in the next week or so, also do some track sessions when the weather improves. On track, the plan is to run the RP-X pads (front and rear) first for a full day of track testing, then replacing the front RP-Xs with RP-1s for another day’s testing (looking to induce some oversteer/trailbraking). I will be thrilled if they perform as well in high-heat conditions as they have on the road!"

Fully Floating ...

After an extensive development program, thousands of hours dyno testing, and the construction of a brand-new production line at the EBC Brakes World Headquarters in Northampton, UK, EBC are pleased to launch a new range of high performance 2-piece fully-floating brake rotors under the newly formed EBC Brakes Racing sub-brand.

Embarking on this project, the EBC Brakes Racing team's mission was a clearly defined one; to develop the highest quality 2-piece floating brake rotor available on today’s marketplace. The componentry and technology used in these brake rotors exemplifies this pursuit of ultimate and absolute quality, culminating in a brake rotor that is perfectly matched to the highest braking demands of modern performance road and race cars.

Fully Floating SG2F Two Piece Rotors/Discs

'SG2F' rotors that serve as a direct replacement for performance vehicles where 2-piece brake rotors are fitted as standard, e.g. Nissan GT-R (R35).

Where the vehicle has a 2-piece pin-drive brake rotor as original equipment, EBC's SG2F 2-piece rotor upgrade seamlessly replaces the pin-drive rotor with a true fully-floating 2-piece rotor, whilst requiring no vehicle modifications.

SG2FC Two Piece Hub and Ring Solid Rotor Conversions

SG2FC 2-piece floating rotor conversions that upgrade OEM 1-piece cast iron rotors to performance 2-piece floating alternatives*, e.g. Ford Focus RS (mk3), Honda Civic Type R (FK8)SG2FK rotors that are included in EBC Brakes Racing's Balanced Brake Kits.

All 'SG2FC' 2-piece floating conversions will seamlessly replace the OEM 1-piece rotor and are designed to integrate with the OE caliper and pads with no vehicle modifications necessary.

G3500 Disc Alloy Friction Rings

Every outer ring is cast from the highest-grade disc alloy 'G3500'. Derived from race technology and having a high carbon and high copper metallurgy, G3500 disc alloy has superior thermal conductivity and heat cycling durability for maximum brake rotor life and performance, particularly during harder driving or track driving.

Highest Of Quality

EBC Brakes Racing would like to emphasise that we put as much effort into development of our rotor metallurgy as what we put into development of our pad friction materials. The pad and rotor combined form the friction coupling; if either component is of poor quality then the outcome will likely be poor overall system performance. The best brake pad in the world used on a low-quality rotor with a bad metallurgy will result in merely average overall performance, since the pad will not be able to deposit the 'transfer layer' onto the brake disc that is critical to high brake system performance. For this reason, EBC Brakes Racing use only the highest quality disc alloy available.

The Benefits

The benefits of using a high-performance metallurgy are evident after testing EBC Brakes Racing's 2-piece floating rotors against the recently introduced and extremely harsh ‘Reg 90’ dynamometer routine. The EBC 2-piece rotors completed two full test cycles back-to-back with zero disc cracking and no visible disc crazing. To put this into perspective, most OE discs show signs of cracking at stop 40 and then fail at 50% through just one R90 test, at stop 80 of 150. The quality of EBC's metallurgy coupled with the fact that the disc is fully-floating in its design allows EBC’s 2-piece rotors to outperform most OE discs by a factor of over 4x in the 'R90 Thermal Fatigue Test'.

EBC Brakes Racing's 2-piece fully floating rotors have been tested to withstand hundreds of hours the harshest track driving

However, these rotors are not a track only product. Features such as anodised hubs, stainless-steel hardware and the incorporation of anti-rattle clips mean these rotors are road friendly, making them the perfect choice for customers who enjoy regular track days yet also drive their cars on the public highway.

48 Curved Vanes

All cast iron rings feature 48 curved vanes and are handed left and right, ensuring the vanes always rotate in the correct direction, giving maximum cooling efficiency.

Modern Vehicles

On many modern vehicles the vanes rotate in the wrong direction on one side of the vehicle, resulting in a higher disc temperature that leads to a temperature imbalance left to right. Unlike many OEM's who sacrifice performance in search of cost savings on tooling, EBC Brakes Racing have chosen to make our rotor rings handed for improved brake system performance. Furthermore, whilst it is almost impossible to determine differences in quality between two brake rotors by looking at the exterior machined surfaces, a quick look down the vanes is often revealing. Look down the vanes of an EBC Brakes Racing rotor ring and it will be immediately apparent how smooth the cast features are compared to most competitor rotors.

Improved Flow Velocity

That's because EBC use a precision moulding resin sand to create our castings, resulting in a much smoother cast surface that is less restrictive for air flowing over the cooling vanes. A less turbulent flow means improved flow velocity. When thinking of the rotor ring as one large centrifugal pump, it's easy to see how a higher flow velocity leads to improved disc cooling, allowing the disc to perform more efficiently as a heat exchanger. Quite simply, you can push an EBC Brakes Racing rotor ring harder for longer before it reaches a given operating temperature. This lower operating temperature extends the life of the brake rotor and reduces the onset of brake fade.

Aerospace Grade Aluminium Bell

The mounting bells used in EBC Brakes Racing's 2-piece rotors are each precision machined from a billet of aerospace grade aluminium, ensuring they are both strong and lightweight.

The bells are subsequently black anodised, providing an aesthetically pleasing and corrosion-resistant finish, allowing the mounting bells to be re-used for multiple outer friction rings thus leading to lower long-term running costs.

Stainless-Steel SD-Drive Bobbins

One of the smallest yet most innovative components used in EBC's 2-piece fully-floating brake rotors is the stainless-steel SD-Drive bobbins. Unlike most competitor bobbins that are machined from steel and then zinc plated to cut cost, every SD-Drive bobbin is machined from a single piece of stainless-steel, meaning these bobbins can never rust.

More That Just No Rust

The lack of rust mean that EBC Racing's 2-piece discs continue to look great through your wheels for years to come, the elimination of corrosion around the drive bobbins also ensures that the brake rotor continues to float freely throughout its entire life on the vehicle, providing a robust and low-maintenance solution to rotor radial heat expansion. Often you will hear misinformed brake technicians stating that 'loating rotors are for track use and should not be used on the public road', however EBC's innovative stainless-steel SD-Drive bobbins provide a solution that allows our 2-piece rotors to be used on the road without regular maintenance, even in countries where adverse weather and road gritting are commonplace.

Prevents Disc Rattle

Additionally, every bobbin location makes use of a spring clip that prevents disc rattle. This ensures the rotors are totally silent during operation and can be used on the public roads without the off-brake 'rattle' that plagues many other 2-piece floating rotors. SD-Drive bobbins operate on a 'float in disc' principle, meaning any wear resulting from regular expansion and contraction of the cast iron ring occurs in the slots in the cast iron ring itself, i.e. the component that becomes worn anyway after thousands of miles of braking. This allows the drive bobbins to be re-used for multiple outer friction rings, meaning only the outer ring needs to be replaced after a period of use, leading to significantly lower long-term running costs.

Worth pointing out that replacement cast iron rings from EBC are much more competitive than replacement rings from our main competitors.

Re-use of high quality components, coupled with the fact that EBC fully-floating rotors are far less prone to disc cracking, results in long-term disc running costs (or pence-per-mile costs) that is not all that dissimilar to much cheaper and much lower performance 1-piece cast iron rotors.

Other Key Benefits ...

Lightweight with Lower Rotational Inertia

It is widely acknowledged that a vehicle is constantly working against its weight whenever it is moving. Weight blunts acceleration, reduces deceleration, and slows the rate of changes in direction. A brake disc clearly adds to a vehicles weight but more importantly it adds to a vehicle's unsprung weight. The fact that the brake disc is rotating also results in it having a rotational inertia.

The impact that a brake disc has on vehicle dynamics is therefore more significant than any other weight-adding component on the vehicle. The fact that EBC Brakes Racing's 2-piece rotors offer a significant weight saving compared to similar sized brake rotors leads to improvements in acceleration, 'dive' under braking, and tyre road holding. Particularly in the case of SG2FC 2-piece conversions, the improvements in response of the vehicle before and after the upgrade is profound and highly perceptible by the driver

Made In The UK

EBC Brakes Racing proudly manufactures its 2-piece brake rotors and Apollo Series brake calipers in our Northampton, UK world headquarters. Our philosophy is that only when we manufacture every component in house do we have total control over the entire process from start to finish.