Uprated Brakes

justinking

Full Member
Oct 3, 2005
136
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Hi, realised yesterday my brakes are in need of replacement soon, and think i might just go the whole hog and get all 4 done.. can anyone point me in the right direction? not sure of the differences between drilled/grooved etc.. how much would i be looking to pay for 4 dics and pads?
 

Smithy

Old School
Jan 17, 2002
965
0
Hertfordshire
I've just ordered a few bits from GSF:

Brembo max grooved front discs (26.50 + vat). I was looking at Zimmerman cross drilled, but I hear they're more prone to cracking.

Pagid fast road pads (£37.50 + vat) for the Brembo discs, and standard rear discs (£15.75)and pads (£16.85)....should all arrive Monday for my Tuesday service.


NB. Discs come as single items, pads come as a pair

I think you've got a 16v so prices may vary slightly as your fronts are 280 and mine are 256
 
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hopkinsgm

Do-doo-be-do-do-dooo
May 25, 2001
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Swindon (occasionally)
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Smithy said:
...NB. Discs come as single items, pads come as a pair...
Pads actually come as an axle set - i.e. 4 pads - 2 pads per disc. :rolleyes:

What do you want from your discs? Better heat dissipation or cleaning up the pad where you've glazed them? For heat dissipation, go drilled. For pad cleaning, go grooved.

Cross drilled discs are prone to cracking under extreme use. The Zimmermans i've got on my 8v have been on there for a couple of years now - but the car has spent quite a bit of that time laid up as i've been overseas. It's been road rallied a few times I tend not to be too heavy on brake components anyway.

Grooved discs clean your pads up a treat, but tend to munch pads pretty quickly. Think about how they clean the pad - they work like a cheesegrater.

One thing to be aware of with both types - brake dust will accumulate in the holes of drilled discs, or the grooves of grooved discs. You need to clean the discs up regularly to get the most benefit.

One of these days, i'm going to get around to fitting the 280's that I've had waiting to go on for well over a year now...
 

Stu_HR

Odd Member
Jun 9, 2005
293
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Don't bother with expensive rear discs or pads. Better off spending the money on braided hoses & regularly replacing the brake fluid.
 

justinking

Full Member
Oct 3, 2005
136
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ok thanks for the replies. so does front and rear pads, and just front discs what i should be getting? is GSF got an online shop? or even a website? sorry i am totally knew to the brakes..

yeah just really want my brakes to work well, the standard ones never fill me with confidence, always seem a bit spongey.
 

Stu_HR

Odd Member
Jun 9, 2005
293
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2 ways to go here...

If you have the money (£500+) then a front disc conversion to four pot Brembo or Wilwoods is on the cards.

Otherwise you're looking to maximise the braking from the standard setup:
Before doing anything else make sure all the brakes are in good order & working well. The rear caliper slides on the 16v are prone to seizing which impairs their efficiency & can also cause strange anomolies such as "squirming/fidgeting" when braking at speed.

Renew the brake fluid & replace with Dot 5.1 (Halfords etc). You won't need racing spec fluid unless you're considering track days.
Next, change the front discs to something like ATE Power Discs (eurocarparts.com) or Brembo Max (gsfcarparts.com) with Pagid (GSF) or ATE (ECP) pads.
As for the rear discs, if they need renewing, just replace with plain discs (ATE etc) & decent pads. There's no real advantage to be gained from spending a lot of money on these but its a good idea to keep the pads similar to maintain the balance between front & rear braking.

You may experience a "spongy" feel if the flexible pipes to the brakes need replacing - used braided hoses such as Goodridge etc.

Don't forget you can get a discount on ECP parts by ordering Stu on the Euro Car Parts forum on this site!
 

justinking

Full Member
Oct 3, 2005
136
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ok thanks for the help guys.. front discs definately look in need of replacement, so think i will have a look around the GSF site.. i will let you know what i am thinking about getting before i order!
 

justinking

Full Member
Oct 3, 2005
136
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ok so the discs are 21.50 each, and the pads are 35 for 2.. so my total order should be 113? just for the front brakes?

thanks
 

hopkinsgm

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May 25, 2001
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ahem - just to be clear... purge the manky old fluid out of the system with new stuff. If you're changing grade (e.g. going from DOT 4 to DOT 5.1), might as well make sure you thoroughly bleed all the old stuff out - means wasting some of the nice new stuff, but such is life. Personally, i'd just stick to DOT 4 for road use, but that's just me...
 

Smithy

Old School
Jan 17, 2002
965
0
Hertfordshire
hopkinsgm said:
Pads actually come as an axle set - i.e. 4 pads - 2 pads per disc. :rolleyes:


cordobabrendy said:
no it should be 43 for discs total and 35 ish for pads so 78 ish all in.

Just to clear this up, the part number from GSF relates to a set, like Brendy has said, so there's 4 pads included for about 35 quid. The guy I spoke to at GSF explained this to me because I did ask whether or not I should buy 2 sets. Sorry for not explaining it amazingly well in my first post.
 
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justinking

Full Member
Oct 3, 2005
136
0
no, thanks alot mate, the help is much appreciated.. i am so un-clued up about brakes.. think i will just buy the parts, and take them down to my local garage for when i get it serviced and MOT next month!

thanks again
 
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