I've just fitted 312mm brakes to my Fabia today and have been comparing them to the brakes on the Octavia vRS that we bought earlier in the week and think that there is a difference in the way they seem to work. The Fabia seems to have quite a spongey dead period before the brakes start to bite whereas the Octavia seems to bite almost straight away. Obviously the brakes are still bedding in on the Fabia but will they really change to the same sort of response as the Octavia has?

I've posted this in here as I couldn't decide which Skoda specific forum to post in!

The spongyness could be down to not bleeding the brakes correctly when you fitted the new setup ?

I'm pretty sure they've been bled correctly, it was a 2 man job and we made sure we put plenty of fluid through before tightening the nipple. They feel very similar to how the 288mm felt in use but they definitely bring the car up quicker with less pressure needed on the pedal, but theres the same dead period before they start to work that the 288mm had.

Then there's the whole petrol vs diesel brake servo thing as well,

I'll wait 'til someone more technical comes along to shed more light on the matter

I'm pretty sure they've been bled correctly, it was a 2 man job and we made sure we put plenty of fluid through before tightening the nipple. They feel very similar to how the 288mm felt in use but they definitely bring the car up quicker with less pressure needed on the pedal, but theres the same dead period before they start to work that the 288mm had.

Did you bleed these by pumping the pedal???

Yes, pedal was pumped until no bubbles came out with the fluid. Nipple was tightened whilst fluid was still being pumped through. Only around half the pedal travel was used.

I would have thought pressure bleeding would be best.....

What difference would it make? Just different way to the same end isn't it?

they should get better as the pads bed in

my 312s on the Fabia were awesome , especially with DS2500 pads, pedal feel spot on and no spongyness

even when i had standard pads in the were excellent

oh and i bled my by myself , by just letting the fluid come out of the nipple until no air bubbles were present , although i had clamped the pipes when changing the calipers

What difference would it make? Just different way to the same end isn't it?

by pressure bleeding you reduce the risk of damaging the seals in the master cylinder whilst pumpng the pedal

does the leon FR have 312mm brakes? If so then I have noticed a difference too. The Leon bites quite hard very early on where as the fabia requires alot more pressure before it will do the same. After driving the Fabia and getting into the Leon I have on a few occassions put my foot on the brake and nearly gone through the screen - there is that much difference.

(If the brakes on the Leon are different then the above is all b0ll0x)

does the leon FR have 312mm brakes? If so then I have noticed a difference too. The Leon bites quite hard very early on where as the fabia requires alot more pressure before it will do the same. After driving the Fabia and getting into the Leon I have on a few occassions put my foot on the brake and nearly gone through the screen - there is that much difference.

(If the brakes on the Leon are different then the above is all b0ll0x)

other variations to consider between vehicles are master cylinder bore, servo size, pedal leverage ratio

other variations to consider between vehicles are master cylinder bore, servo size, pedal leverage ratio

Very true. If the 312ss on the Fabia bit like the brake do on the Leon, with the Fabia being a lighter car I think they would be quite difficult to use for normal driving.

Sounds like the difference between 2 sorts of pads

Sounds like the difference between 2 sorts of pads

Both cars are running OEM pads, but the Fabia is still bedding in. Only done around 60 miles since fitting so far.

by pressure bleeding you reduce the risk of damaging the seals in the master cylinder whilst pumpng the pedal

What he said. It's a very real problem with pump bleeding. The brakes need to be pressure bled. It's more effective, quicker and the kit only costs £15.

Which Octy vRS are you comparing them to?

The pads need bedding in, and frankly the first 10 miles were scary at the time, I pulled of the motorway to find some backroads to be able to safely start/stop a few times to get the brakes 'going'.

After they were bedded in, the 312s were spot on

Which Octy vRS are you comparing them to?

It's a MK1 Estate.

Was 312mm standard on all Mk1 Octavia vRS?

it could be down to a variety of things really.

different size servos

different brake fluids(is yours new, or have you re-bled the original fluid)

Pads at different states of bedding in

I have read on another forum tha when fitting r32 brakes to a mkV golf, you should change the brake bias settings on the brakes via VCDS. Could this be true for the fabia also????