Performance Brake Discs and Pads?

[PaddyEnglish]

Hi Everone

My pads and brake discs are pretty much had it so it is a perfect opportunity to upgrade to performance parts. I don't have the money for a full brake kit but I would like to upgrade the discs and pads.

What makes should I look for that are not too expensive?

Thanks

[steve_k]

Before I fitted my 4 piston kit I had ebc red stuff pads & ebc turbo groove disc's.

seemed to be a big improvement over standard.

all depends on budget & use of the car.

[steve_k]

Also forgot to add,

to really improve the brakes then invest in some braided steel lines all round & some dot5.1 racing blue brake fluid.

[milescook]

Stock vented discs are still pretty decent (if you have them instead of solid), and cheapest option. Look at eurocarparts website for new ones - PM the user Meatballs82 as he sometimes points people in the direction of discounts when they run. I bought some EBC greenstuff (and then yellowstuff as the track option) pads from demon tweeks - not too expensive really. I also bought braided lines front and rear, about £60 - another very decent upgrade.

You could also flush through your brake fluid if you haven't for a while, and if you're feeling adventurous rebuild your calipers. I just bought some reconditioned ones from eurocarparts as you trade in your old for a discount.

Look at my build thread as that's what I'm doing. If that doesn't seem ambitous enough, in the trader's section you'll find the WMS guys who supply very big brake setups

[PaddyEnglish]

Great stuff. Thanks the advice everyone

[Black_Potato]

The physical discs at the same size will make very little difference. Best bet is to get the current system in tip top condition and spend the money you have on pads.

So.. braded lines, new fluid and if needed look at rebuilding the calipers, MC etc..

Pads, loads of threads but something like EBC Red, Mintex 1144, Ferrodo DS2500 would be a cheap-ish solution.

[reggid]

the stock pads are pretty good for the street if that is the extent of the requirements JURID is a good OEM brand that gets sold by the dealers so you might find cheaper at a non dealer now you know which ones to look for. if you do the full maintenance and makes sure that everything is in good order a stock fresh setup is better than you think. with high performance pads there are usually tradeoffs whether it be noise, poor cold bite etc

the one thing i dont like about OEM pads is only the dust but having braking torque available at the first stab of the pedal in the cool winter mornings is important to me so i put up with it

[s4sturge]

Before I fitted my 4 piston kit I had ebc red stuff pads & ebc turbo groove disc's.

seemed to be a big improvement over standard.

all depends on budget & use of the car.

I had turbo groove discs on my R32 Golf but took them off when I got fed up with the "brushing" sound. Very little discernable difference to the fresh set of plain ones that I changed back to. If I were upgrading again I would opt for cross drilled as I never had any noise issues on my E46 M3 with these.

[Brianmoooore]

Cross drilled discs offer zero braking advantage, and just provide a stress point for cracks to start.

[s4sturge]

Cross drilled discs offer zero braking advantage, and just provide a stress point for cracks to start.

Understood, but it does depend on manufacturer: quality discs such as the Porsche OEM items have the holes machined with a radius reducing the cracking problem. They use cross drilled in all the GT3 cup cars for instance. Agreed there can be no friction advantage by having less surface area to press onto, but gas and dust extraction plus glaze breaking are minor but nevertheless real benefits.

[Brianmoooore]

There's no gassing or dust extraction problem with any available road pad and very few race pads.

[s4sturge]

Different people, different experiences, different opinions, but Brembo certainly think that even for road use holes or slots are effective in allowing gas and dust to escape.

My personal experience is that pads such as Performance Friction "carbon" items (fast road/track) are susceptable to fine intersurface dust if there's no other escape route and have had to ensure that the disc holes are kept clear for track day use while they are fine in normal use. PF use a slot design on their discs and claim that "Disc Temperature is reduced by the effective release of hot wear debris"

Coming back to Paddy's question, if he's not after track or race performance then disc pattern choice is a matter of preference, by my opinion is that if you're going to mave away from stock discs, avoid full slots if you don't want a constant brushing sound.

Paddy - pad choice is more of a minefield as you need to consider cold performance too as per Reggid's post. Just make sure all your standard calipers and hoses are tiptop before you worry about the type of components on the end of the system.

[Brianmoooore]

pad choice is more of a minefield as you need to consider cold performance too as per Reggid's post. Just make sure all your standard calipers and hoses are tiptop before you worry about the type of components on the end of the system.

This, I do agree with.