Brake Upgrade - Ideas and opinions please

[SharkyUK]

Hey guys,

When I bought my Trophy a year ago the first thing I did was upgrade the brakes (to the little known CRN grooved discs and EBC RedStuff pads). I have to be honest they are actually very, very good (and I got them cheaper as they were part of a group buy in which my Good Lady also bought some for her Type-R... which weren't so impressive). Anyways, I digress...

The 'T' had it's first MOT last weekend and one of the front discs has warped slightly and - well - I'm thinking of upgrading the brakes again anyway. I was thinking about doing a 'proper' job and thinking along the lines of Brembo's and suchlike. (Followed by custom exhaust, induction kit, remap...)

Any ideas, suggestions, personal opinions you'd be happy to share? Things to be aware of? Brands to check out, or avoid?

Cheers,
Andy

 

[Luke335]

Hi Andy.

I think the Pagid rs4-2' blue seem to be the most popular pad, or for less cash Ferodo ds2500. Everyone seems to be using brembo High Carbon or Max (grooved) discs too. Add some braided lines and decent fluid. Have a look on the yozzasport website. I find the ferodo's a bit frustrating as I think they're not the best from cold.

This is the package I would go for.....

http://www.yozzasport.co.uk/store/prodd ... ax&cat=148

I think this pretty much sums up the endless discussions on here.

Luke.

 

[Cue]

aqs above if you're going to be using the oem callipers or for a top notch (but pricey) alternative then have a gander at the AP racing 4 pot kit - awesome!

 

[trophyfan]

Desperately need to do this too !.

When I drive the missus's mk3 Clio Dynamique 1.6 and use the same brake force as in the 'T' it nearly sends me through the windshield !!!.

Toying with the Ferodo DS2500 and Brembo HC 280 discs or the kit as suggested by Luke335. Prob buy in the week and fit bank holiday weekend by myself. Really don't want any low noise squeal though which I think some guys have with the Ferodo's. The grooved Max discs might look cool to

 

[SharkyUK]

Luke and Cue, thanks for the replies guys. If I'm being completely honest (which I am) I think I might save that bit extra and go for something along the lines of the AP 4-pot's. With the roads as they are around here top-notch brakes are essential and I'd rather spend on handling / setup mod's before looking for increased power output.

Thanks for the link Luke - will check it out along with the brands you mention. Knowledge is power and all that!

If anyone else has any ideas and suggestions then please do post them up - maybe they'll help others, too. Thanks all.

 

[g40steve]

Don't waste your cash on four pots, invest that in some trackdays & learn how good these cars really are when pushed.

I have the DS 2500's HC's & lines, never had a problem here & no squeaks. The squeaks & squeals are caused by glazed or i'll fitting pads.

Seen many a pad fitted & filed yet shims still in place no wonder some have problems :lol:

 

[Cue]

Steve, i'd tend to agree or rather i used to.... having been in a clio with AP 4 pot's they are a lg above even mine with max disks and pagid blue's... Much better than the wilwood 4 pot's i've seen.. just not sure they fit under 15" wheels - AP would tell you.

 

[Luke335]

I know what you mean. I have been considering 4 pots too. I guess AP's and Brembo's would be 1 - 1.5k though. There doesn't seem to be much information around on upgrading calipers. Cheaper versions include HiSpec, CompBrake and willwood. There was a group buy for compbrake calipers on cliosport. Maybe someone over there has given some feedback (I'm not a member).

I had problems with my brakes overheating at Spa (ds2500) although they didn't always give us a cooldown lap which didn't help. My biggest problem with them is road driving as they need a little heat. My daily commute doesn't give them that and you need to work them hard now and then to stop them glazing. Had a scary moment on the A303 once. 100+ miles of dual carriageway driving straight into a roundabout with almost no brakes! :shock: I'm sure a decent set of 4 pots would be in a different (and very expensive) league.

If you do get some then please let us know what you think.

Luke.

......out of my Explorer favourites....

http://www.espdesign.co.uk/Brakes-Renau ... index.html

http://www.shedmotorsport.com/brakes.htm

http://www.compbrake.co.uk/Renault%20Clio.htm

http://www.performancebrakes.co.uk/ap_f ... e_kits.php

http://apracing.com/info/products.asp?p ... _1786_1740

 

[SharkyUK]

Don't waste your cash on four pots, invest that in some trackdays & learn how good these cars really are when pushed.

Cheeky sod... I have got an idea how good these cars are when they are pushed...! But I get where you are coming from and thanks for the advice / opinion. Good to get an all-round impression. I appreciate you can't get anywhere near the full potential / enjoyment out of these cars from road-driving alone; although I still find myself grinning like a loon when faced with a cracking stretch of tarmac ahead. :twisted:

Again, thanks for the links. Just the sort of information I'm looking for. I realise that something like the four-pots is overkill for my daily commute (the Trophy is my daily driver as well as the weekend fun wagon) but they'd be ideal for hitting the mountain roads and passes that my partner and I tend to do pretty much every other weekend. Also useful for the Euro trip we are planning for next year with our Club - especially when visiting the 'Ring and Spa again, as well as the passes over and through the Alps. Hence the reason why I'm looking for top brakes now and not ending up buying something that I then decide to change 6 months down the line (if that makes sense).

Appreciate all the help and feedback - thanks fellas. 8)

 

[trophyfan]

Just ordered these :-

http://www.yozzasport.co.uk/proddetail. ... ax&cat=148

Will try and put together some sort of 'How to' guide with plenty of pics as I go along. Hoping to do this in stages Friday pm and Monday. The calipers will get treated to a rubbing down and fresh coat of black paint at the same time.

 

[Jimboss]

i got that package fitted by Yozza. Great stopping power, very please with them, however they do squeel a bit a low speeds, but IMO its a small price to pay for some seriously good stoppers!

on the subject of big brakes, check out this link! ten pots on a Clio anyone! imagine the unsprung weight! plus the £2K cost!

http://www.primaracing.com/ProductList.aspx

 

[Cue]

haven't heard anything positive about prima - more max power i believe than racing pedigree.

 

[Jimboss]

definately agree cue, just wanted to point out that there's some crazy upgrades out there! they even have 8 pots for standard 1.2 / 1.4 clios! begs the question as to why???!

 

[SharkyUK]

Well - thanks for the feedback guys. I've pretty much made my mind up and decided to go with the AP 4-pots. Might be a month or two before purchase though as my partner (also on this site) is looking to do similar with her Type-R and we are going to get it done together... aaah! :lol:

 

[Cue]

Sharky, if you do a meet in N wales at all next year i'll make the trip just have a passenger ride..... =D>

 

[George K]

I used Pagid RS15 as I needed a pad with lots of bite from cold. They met my criteria brilliantly, but like all 'race' orientated pads do sqeal a bit - largely because they do not use shims or any other damping on the backplate - also based on feedback from the new owner, who did not like the squealing, they need a lot of filing to make sure that they are a loose fit (I thought that I had filed them enough, but obviously not). I would be wary of conversions with bigger pads as it will take longer to get heat into them - my Integra (sorry about that dirty word) has a nice small 4 pot Brembo set up which does seem to have good initial bite.

 

[George K]

I have just checked the Pagid data sheets and the following coefficients of friction are very revealing

RS 4-2 Blue Cold 0.40 300C 0.43 Max @ 550C 0.46
RS 4-2-1 Black Cold 0.36 300C 0.42 Max @ 500C 0.45

RS15 Grey Cold 0.50 300C 0.54 Max @ 600C 0.62 (Just make sure the backplates are well filed to ensure a loose fit!)

enough said!!

Details from Pagid data sheets on the Competiton braking products website which iirc is racepads.co.uk

 

[trophyfan]

Caliper's will need another coat of paint but looking forward to trying these out tomorrow :-
[attachment=0:lxtel37y]2792832887_f1f2e9cac1_b.jpg[/attachment:lxtel37y]
Started with a mallett but had to 'Go Large' and use a sledge hammer to get the old discs off which were badly worn after only 16k. Changed the fluid to DOT 5.1 at the same time.

Might look to do something with the rear's next weekend :twisted:

 

[Cue]

you'll need to change dot 5.1 every 6 months, otherwise it'll corrode your fluid lines.

 

[BenG]

you'll need to change dot 5.1 every 6 months, otherwise it'll corrode your fluid lines.

I never knew that ! Is this the same with dot 4 brake fluid?