1990-2000 Aston Martin Vantage Brake Upgrade Options

By Core Brake Parts Tech Team — Circleville, OH warehouse

On a 1990-2000 Aston Martin Vantage the brake hardware is already close to the best that was available: Aston Martin fitted AP Racing discs and calipers, and the top Le Mans specification cars ran six-piston AP Racing calipers. That means the real upgrade path on these cars is not a bigger caliper, it is the friction material, the fluid and the heat management behind it. Choosing the right EBC pad compound for how you actually drive the car is the single change that makes the most difference.

What this car asks of its brakes

Aston Martin's own record for the 1993-2000 Vantage lists a supercharged 5,430 cc twin-overhead-cam V8 making 550 bhp at 6,500 rpm and 550 lb-ft at 4,000 rpm, a kerb weight of 1,920 kg, 0-60 mph in 4.6 seconds and a 186 mph top speed. Aston Martin describes the braking hardware as ventilated steel discs, and notes that for the ultimate Le Mans variant the brakes were uprated to six-piston AP Racing discs and calipers. Only 40 of those 600 bhp, 600 lb-ft cars were built.

Put those numbers together and the picture is clear. This is close to two tonnes of car with a genuine motorsport caliper bolted to it, and every stop from speed dumps a large amount of energy into a fixed mass of iron and friction material. Fitting a new pad does not change that. What it changes is how much heat the pad will tolerate before the pedal goes long and the bite falls away.

Why the caliper is not the upgrade

AP Racing's own performance road caliper range gives useful context for what is already on the car. AP lists its standard six-piston road families as the CP5555 family, which suits a 362 mm disc with an 18 mm thick pad, the CP5570 family for a 330 mm disc with a 17 mm pad, and the CP7040 family for a 362 x 32 mm disc with a 16.8 mm pad. Its standard four-piston families run from the CP5100 (130 mm mounting centres, 295 x 25.4 mm disc) up to the CP6600 for a 330 mm disc. AP states that all of its performance road calipers use conventional seals in conjunction with a dirt seal, and are finished either in a black PTFE paint coating that is impervious to normal brake fluids and high brake temperatures, or in gloss red.

A caliper of that class is not the weak link on a road-driven Vantage. The pad is the consumable, the pad is the part you can change in an afternoon, and the pad is where the character of the brake actually lives.

The three EBC compounds that fit this car

Four EBC pad sets are catalogued for the 1990-2000 supercharged 5.3 litre Vantage with AP calipers. They are not three grades of one thing; they are three answers for three different owners.

If the car is a weekend and event car that spends most of its life clean and parked, the Redstuff ceramic front pad, DP3002C, is the sensible choice. If you drive it properly on real roads, the Yellowstuff front pad, DP4002R, paired with the matching Yellowstuff rear pad, DP41167R, keeps the balance front to rear. And if the car sees track sessions, the Bluestuff NDX front pad, DP5002NDX, is the one with the published heat range to back it up.

Do not mix compounds front to rear casually. Fitting a much higher-friction pad to the front only shifts brake balance forward, which changes how a heavy rear-drive car behaves under trail braking. Match the axle set if you move up a grade.

The heat numbers that actually matter

EBC publishes figures for its own compounds. Bluestuff is quoted at 0.52 mu stable friction once bedded, with the lower-friction Bluestuff B version at 0.42 mu, and the material is described as stable up to 550 C / 1,000 F. For comparison within the same EBC range, the RP-1 track pad is quoted at 0.45 mu over 150-800 C and the RP-X at 0.50 mu over the same range. Those race materials are not road pads, and EBC states that its racing pads are not ECE R90 approved.

The ceiling on a road car is usually not the pad at all. EBC advises that with multi-piston calipers the working temperature should be kept below 200 C, and that in most cases 220 C is the highest acceptable working temperature for the caliper itself. Above that you are cooking seals and fluid, not just friction material.

That leads straight to fluid. EBC's published figures give DOT 4 a typical dry boiling point of 260 C (518 F) and a wet boiling point of 170 C (338 F), with DOT 5.1 at 269 C dry and 184 C wet. The drop from dry to wet is the whole problem: glycol brake fluid is hygroscopic, and EBC notes it is not uncommon to find glycol fluids containing up to 13 or 14 percent water. A car that sits, as most of these Vantages do, is exactly the car whose fluid has quietly absorbed moisture. EBC also warns that silicone DOT 5 must only ever be mixed with DOT 5 and never with glycol-based fluid. Confirm the specification your car calls for in the factory service information, and change fluid on a schedule rather than waiting for symptoms.

Bedding in, which is not optional here

EBC's own bedding guidance is specific. Its road pads carry a brake-in coating that scrubs the rotor surface and gives a strong brake effect for the first 100 miles, and most drivers need no more than normal driving in that window. Beyond roughly 300 miles, when the rotors first reach 400-500 C, expect some odour or smoke as the pads burn off what EBC calls surface volatiles. That is the end of the bedding process, not a fault.

Bluestuff on track is a different procedure. EBC describes Fade 1 as 8-10 hard stops that take the discs past 430 C / 800 F, then a cool-down; Fade 2 repeats with 6-8 more hard stops that again exceed 430 C, followed by at least 20-30 minutes of cooling and preferably an overnight rest. EBC's instruction sheet for its racing pads is blunt about disc preparation too: cracked or damaged rotors must be replaced, and used rotors in good condition must have all residue from the previous compound removed with 80/120 grit paper, because leaving it extends the bed-in period considerably. That applies equally when you swap compounds on a road car.

What to do at the same time

While the calipers are apart, replace the fluid completely rather than topping it up, inspect every flexible hose for swelling or cracking, and check the pad retaining hardware and anti-rattle springs. On a car of this age the rubber is usually older than the pads it feeds. Measure disc thickness against the factory minimum and check for a lip at the outer edge; a pad upgrade onto a worn or grooved disc wastes the pad. Torque everything to the values in the factory service manual. Browse our full brake pad range or the wider brake parts catalogue for hardware and fluid-side items.

As for known factory defects, the NHTSA recall database returns a single campaign for the 2000 model year Vantage, 01V110000, and it concerns steering column lighting switch gear that can trap wires and cause partial loss of lighting function. There is no brake recall on record for that model year to chase down first.

How hard is the job

A pad change on a fixed multi-piston AP caliper is mechanically straightforward: the pads usually come out through the top of the caliper once the retaining pins and spring are removed, so the caliper does not have to come off the hub. The difficulty is everywhere else. The wheels are heavy, the car is low, the fluid work needs a proper bleed, and getting this wrong on a 186 mph car is not a small mistake. If you are not confident bleeding a brake system, give this one to a shop that knows the marque.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which EBC pad is best for a road-driven Vantage?

For normal road use, the Redstuff ceramic front pad DP3002C is the low-dust choice. For faster road driving, Yellowstuff DP4002R front with DP41167R rear gives more bite. Bluestuff NDX DP5002NDX is the one to choose only if the car sees track heat.

Can I fit Bluestuff NDX and still use the car on the road?

Bluestuff is EBC's street, track and race compound, quoted at 0.52 mu stable friction and stable up to 550 C. It is not the same as EBC's racing pads, which EBC states are not ECE R90 approved and are not recommended for public road use in non-European markets.

Do I have to replace the discs when I change pads?

Not automatically, but you must check them. EBC requires cracked or damaged rotors to be replaced, and used rotors in good condition to have all previous friction residue removed with 80/120 grit paper before new pads go on.

What brake fluid should I use?

Use the DOT specification the factory service information calls for. Be aware that glycol fluid absorbs water over time and its wet boiling point sits far below its dry figure, and never mix silicone DOT 5 with glycol-based fluid.

Are there any brake recalls on the 1990-2000 Vantage?

The NHTSA recall database returns one campaign for the 2000 model year Vantage, 01V110000, covering steering column lighting switch gear. It is not a brake recall.

How long before new pads feel right?

EBC's road pads give strong braking from the first 100 miles thanks to their brake-in coating, but the final high-temperature bedding happens later, typically past 300 miles when the discs first see 400-500 C.

Sources

1. Aston Martin - Vantage (1993-2000) - engine, power, weight, performance, ventilated steel discs and the six-piston AP Racing upgrade
2. AP Racing - 6 Piston Calipers - six-piston families, disc diameters, pad thicknesses, seals and coating
3. AP Racing - 4 Piston Calipers - four-piston families, mounting centres and disc sizes
4. EBC Brakes - Braking System Temperatures - compound friction figures, heat ranges and caliper temperature limits
5. EBC Brakes - How To Bed-In Your EBC Brakes - brake-in coating, surface volatiles, and the Bluestuff Fade 1 and Fade 2 procedure
6. EBC Brakes - Racing Brake Pads Instructions For Use (PDF) - rotor condition, 80/120 grit residue removal, ECE R90 disclaimer
7. EBC Brakes - Street and Racing Brake Fluids - DOT 4 and DOT 5.1 boiling points, water absorption, DOT 5 mixing warning
8. NHTSA Recalls by Vehicle - 2000 Aston Martin Vantage - the single recall campaign on record and its component