Braided brake lines. Opinions please

[Essexcupra]

Hi all, done a few searches and noticed all leons seem to have poor braking and people upgrad to the ds2500s with a fluid change. But my question is this do braided brake lines make much of a difference to the firmness of the pedal. My brakes lock on full but only when the pedal is about 2 thirds of the way down. Any help much appreciated. James

 

[Ronin225]

I wouldn't say all the leons are poor braking cars at all, infact they are quite good
But everyone wants them to be better so upgrade to optimise their set up
Braided lines i would assume are for high performance/track orientation or exposed areas but not sure they would improve pedal firmness

 

[Willie]

Braided lines would help with your pedal firmness.
As above, LCR's will out brake most cars on the road but people have seen better braking from aftermarket pads

 

[sheffboy]

Hi all, done a few searches and noticed all leons seem to have poor braking and people upgrad to the ds2500s with a fluid change. But my question is this do braided brake lines make much of a difference to the firmness of the pedal. My brakes lock on full but only when the pedal is about 2 thirds of the way down. Any help much appreciated. James

when did you last get your brake fluid changed? If you've not had it done then I'd strongly recommend it because it improves things no end. Imo the standard 312mm brakes on The LC are pretty good for normal road use and with ds2500 they should feel very good. Braided lines will help but try the fluid change first as it only costs peanuts.

 

[mt audio]

fluid change,braided lines and ferodo ds2500 are a great mix

 

[Essexcupra]

Cheers guys. Thought braided lines would help as it'd reduce the rubber line flex. Not sure on fluid change that was one of the things next on my list. Cant before the ds2500s yet just been made redundant! What fluid do you recommend? Standard dot 4 or upgrade to 5.1? Or that blue stuff everyone on here seems to talk about?

 

[mt audio]

if you use 5.1 itll mean you have to change it every 6months at least due to water ingress.
stick with dot 4,i havent seen this blue stuff so cant comment
just make sure its fresh

 

[Markyboyt]

I find my LC brakes to be very good, found that before when I met a landrover on a back road, my old escort would have been game over.

 

[Nautilus]

I have Mintex performance pads on all wheels and the car (LFR, 312mm front brakes) stops pretty well. No other upgrades are to be made to braking before the shock absorbers are upgraded to FSDs, because even now the nose dives, leave alone on stronger braking system.

However, as I've understood from this forum, LCR has braided brake hoses from factory, even if this is not visible due to black cover. Does the LC / LFR have them as well?

Which are the disadvantages of upgrading the brake hoses to stainless steel braided set from Goodridge or ECS? Are the braided hoses less safe?

Thank you,

~Nautilus

 

[Ronin225]

I can definitely tell you LCR does not have braided lines as i have upgraded and have the old ones sat in my garage.
Disadvantages are $$, its about 50 quid sterling for a set of fronts in UK

 

[Mr OCD]

I wouldn't say all the leons are poor braking cars at all, infact they are quite good
But everyone wants them to be better so upgrade to optimise their set up
Braided lines i would assume are for high performance/track orientation or exposed areas but not sure they would improve pedal firmness

Agreed! Mine are brilliant and thats coming from a 4pot 310mm setup on my old lightweight 200sx