I've run various EBC pads since 1982 in at least 6 of my cars.
The 'vert is on its second set of EBC reds on 13"/11.65" Cobra brakes; I prefer using them with slotted and drilled rotors on the street. Great dollar value and still decent at the road course. Cheap rotors suck - its worth spending the dough on good quality ones from Brembo, EBC or SSBC in my opinion. They utilize better base materials and more accurate machining/QC.

The break in material wears off pretty quick on the street - the idea is to transfer some of the friction material from the pads into the rotor faces - that is what makes them bite. This is why when swapping out only pads the pedal can feel dead initially, since the new pads have to eat thru the existing deposits and put down their own; assuming they can. Much better idea to have seasoned rotors for use with the same pad compounds; or go brand new pads n discs at the same time.