Daviet

will be my first mod to the car if and when i can get the cash
my cars got uprated disks and pads but realised badly at the weekend how much they need upgraded

c0ss1e9i6

There is a lot of answers on here, unsurprisingly!

So in true fashion i've read none of them but i'll give you my opinion!

If you do track days (or, ahem, road equivalents) upgrade your brakes. I've been sat at the side of the road putting fires out on the calipers of my Cossie which are supposed to be good.

I put a set of 4 pot 330mm disc AP's on the front and have had no heat , fade, fire or even wear problems. The pads have done loads (12k?) of road miles (most fast!!!), three track days and a Nurburgring trip and just about need replacing now.

Daviet

what would you recomend then mate as ill hopefully be looking to upgrade mine soon and tbh i wont be doing that many track days just some fast road driving
would also be good if they could stay under standard wheels as thats just more expence and would also prefer standard look

dojj

iTrader: (3)

i've done that on the 3 door as well but to be fair, the pads were new but they were smoking like a forest fire when when i took them out they had crumbled

same here, pads will probably need a change soon but hot or cold, they stopped like deamons

Phil

iTrader: (1)

I think decent pads, fluid and brake lines are more important than big bling calipers. On my 205 I have upgraded the calipers, but only to a setup fitted as standard to a 306, so it is nothing expensive and bling, yet because I have DS3000 pads (which cost way more than the calipers and discs etc put together ), proper racing brake fluid (RBF600) and braided brake lines I can stamp on the brakes all day long on track days and they just get better and better instead of fading. And this is when running slicks where you can drive like a complete arse and really stamp on the brakes as they just don't lock up due to the immense grip

You could do the same to a standard 2wd cossie setup (maybe use 4x4 rear calipers for the vented discs) and you would have a very good brake setup.

Although saying that, cossies require better brakes than anything else as they are all power down the straights then massive braking to take the bend at 10mph

foreigneRS

the suspension also plays a major role in the ability to stop - things like anti-dive geometry, weight transfer etc

Marc LJX

iTrader: (2)

What i'm getting at by saying brakes will lock at any speed is that the clamping force is there- not that you will go around locking your brakes up into every corner

So- if you do a track day, and you can brake into every corner as hard as the tyres will allow, right on the limit, from any speed, every session all day, without fade or any drop in performance, what would be the point in spending a load of money on a big set of AP's or similar?

IMO it would only be worth upgrading the brakes further if you fitted slicks or semi slicks and found that the brakes couldnt cope anymore...

Jim Galbally

good point ginge, i had more of an issue with the fluid than i did with the fade on the discs/pads.

however there was still regular 'ol brake fade apparent

the sierra brakes used to fade quite badly on track (no fluid issues) too, and that only had 200bhp i wouldnt have wanted to take a 400bhp car out on 2wd fronts/4x4 rears and expect to do more than 1-2 laps of a UK track

Ginge !

jim ive driven a few cars on the road and i like to think i drive a little quicker than the norm at times and i only had brake fade on the cossie ONCE,,,, switch nailed my cossie on the A507 and thats alittle like a track due to the roundabouts being close and doing top speeds,, he warped the brakes but he never had fade

the brakes on a M3 are very big compared to the baby cossie ones and i also remember you saying when you had brake issues you should be able tolock the wheels when you slammed on the brakes and said cause you cant theres a fault

big brakes look good i agree see if thats the problem first before you spend the cash

1600 quid on brakes is alot considering they aint gonna work as well on winter mornings as i used to have 1155 pads in my 1300 and i NEVER got em up to temp and almost hit a car once just 2 streets away

think of what ROAD brakes are available as a option

ive got 850 brembo calipers and im gonna add them to bells and discs and mintex 1144 pads and im sure with the right fluid they will be man enough for the job

and that kit will stand me in less than 250 quid

rabmc

Hmm good read this , would love some big ap`s but need to wait on them as need some things before hand , now my cosworth brakes are great , really are cant fault them one bit , just drilled and grooved black diamonds and if i remember right , ferodo pads , love them , big brakes look the tits though

Jim Galbally

yep, i agree. if you slam on your brakes at 70mph and you lock the wheels, your putting bigger brakes on the car wont help you stop from 70mph any faster

c0ss1e9i6

Drilled and/or grooved discs helps a bundle with the heat but if you do a lot of track days you'll have some scary moments with standard fare!

You don't have to get AP's, there are some big brake kits with much better value for money in a lot of peoples opinion (wilwood, hi spec etc) and wish i'd known that before I got my AP's!

(AP's look fookin bling though!! And have never missed a beat )

wimwerf

locking your wheels isnt the best brake performance you could get...you could slowing speed harder when you brake just before the stuff locks...

And thats what you can do better with some bigbrakes..

RWD_cossie_wil

iTrader: (9)

There is some bollocks on this thread , 2wd cossie brakes are ok to Stg 1 max, 4x4 cossie brakes are shit even when at Std power, Personally I think spending a bit on a decent set of AP's is THE way to go, lots more pedal feel, less chance of locking up, you KNOW they will fit perfectly, pads and rotors are easy to get hold of, and they are superb quality.......

The point is that they give you much more pedal feel, 100% consistant performance, they WILL NOT fade, and make stopping faster far easier

Why bother messing around with uprated Std sized discs etc, they WILL warp with any hard use, I know loads of people (myself included) who have warped brakes just driving quickly on quiet roads, IMHO big brake kits ( ones that work and don't just look shiney like some I could mention ) are probably THE most important and most confidence inspiring upgrade you can make to your fast road/ track car , and anyone who has a decent amount of power without a decent brake set up is just waiting for an accident.....

Martin-Hadland

iTrader: (2)

Agree with a lot of what Will says above but also if bigger brakes are not needed then why does a Sierra Cosworth not have Sierra 1.6 brakes fitted? Manufacturers fit better brakes to higher performance models...

Jim Galbally

wimwerf, thats not my point i was making, i was just pointing out a scenario

RWD_cossie_wil

iTrader: (9)

But if you jump on ANY brakes hard at 70MPH or whatever speed, you WILL lock the wheels, as there is no weight transfer to provide extra grip so you can brake harder, you just snatch a wheel and skid... If you brake firm then build up to max stopping power you can knock loads of your braking distances.... Hence why big brakes make finding the point of max braking vs Grip much easier

Jim Galbally

wil, you never driven a 1.4 clio then? that wont lock the wheels at 40 let alone 70

RichardPON

Glad someone said it!

AP 6 pots with 330mm discs, running on knackered motorcraft shocks, and standard old springs........

c0ss1e9i6

RichardPON




Good for doing stoppies though!

ballin

iTrader: (1)

Pon, what's the second rule of Pf nights out?