Disappointed with 312mm brakes?

[Stevoraith]

So after reading yet another post saying how much bite 312mm brakes give, I'm just wondering if anyone else has experienced the same disappointment as I did when fitting them?

Bought one of the kits from Golfturbo a couple of years ago. Brand new everything, including discs and pads. I fitted them just after I moved into my house so that's about two and a half years ago (car was about 2 years old at this point).

Now I was a bit scared with all the warnings about turning master cylinder seals inside out when manually bleeding the brakes so I bought an Eazibleed.

Bled the brakes but the pedal was still a bit spongey so I took it to a local garage to get them properly bled.

The pedal still felt dead at the top of it's travel so I just assumed maybe they hadn't done it properly. As the brakes still worked well enough once you got past the dead point I decided to leave it until it was due a fluid change and get the main dealer to do it.

Unfortunatley it was still the same. That was about 9 months ago and I was recently reminded of the problem when trying to haul the car down from big speeds on the motorway. I don't drive it all that often and got a fright when nothing happened until deep into the travel. It stopped well once I actually got some bite but it's not confidence inspiring.

Anyone else experienced anything similar with 312mm brakes? Do I have a problem with my master cylinder or something else more sinister?

Any help/suggestions would be appreciated.

[SimonK24]

Afraid not chap, mine certainly don't have what your experiencing, just awesome stopping power. I take it the pedal wasn't spongey when you had the standard brakes?

I suffered horrible judder for a while after fitting, but that was down to having to use the brakes heavily when they were still bedding in

Had to replace the discs in the end, but they are working brilliantly now.

Edited 2 July, 2010 by sleithykeithy

[Gaverick]

Sounds like something is up there. Have you checked all the hoses and connections for fluid leaks, are the bleed nipples on the top of the caliper? (I put mine on upside down at first lol). Are the slider pins greased up and not sticking? Just a couple of things I would be checking.

[vRSLen]

I think you need to take a few high speed runs with a good brake application.

Release the brakes before you stop. That will sort them out

[Guest BigJase88]

I had them with grooved discs shoulda came standard, there not mind blowing by any means

[oilburninnut]

I ran mine with tt disks, ferrodo ds2500 pads and race fluid, i could put my passenger through the windscreen if they didn't have the seatbelt on,they were stunning, i would say there is somthing wrong somewhere

[boro86]

deffo sounds like u got problem, had mine fitted few months now and difference is huge, feels so much better and wen i tested the car on rolling road the front brake readings were just simple amazing for the fabia. go get them checked out again.

[warwick hunt]

I ran mine with tt disks, ferrodo ds2500 pads and race fluid, i could put my passenger through the windscreen if they didn't have the seatbelt on,they were stunning, i would say there is somthing wrong somewhere

ditto

[Stevoraith]

I take it the pedal wasn't spongey when you had the standard brakes?

Well, to be honest I can't remember exactly :S

It's a long time since I fitted the 312's and it's my wifes car so I wasn't used to driving it every day. I do remember the brakes not being that good though- that's why we went for the 312s in the first place.

Sounds like something is up there. Have you checked all the hoses and connections for fluid leaks, are the bleed nipples on the top of the caliper? (I put mine on upside down at first lol). Are the slider pins greased up and not sticking? Just a couple of things I would be checking.

I'll double check that I've got the calipers on the right way I'm pretty sure I followed a guide when fitting but it's definitely worth checking! It doesn't appear to be losing fluid so I don't think there are any leaks but again i'll check all the hoses and connections.

Just to get it right- you're saying the nipples should be at the top of the caliper? I know thats the obvious way but I have helped changed some some (Lotus Elise for example) where the nipple has been at the bottom.

I think you need to take a few high speed runs with a good brake application.

Release the brakes before you stop. That will sort them out

Tried that before. The problem is that the wife drives it 95% of the time and she's only up and down the motorway and around town so the brakes are never used hard and rarerly get much heat into them. There's every possibilty that they are glazing up.

If I can't spot anything obvious I may sling some new pads in and see if it improves things.

Edited 3 July, 2010 by Stevoraith

[geordie_21]

yeah I reckon something is not right, I have zero360 discs and Tarox pads on mine and if I've had a few days driving my family wagon then jump in my vRS they really do catch me by surprise with the bite they have.

[foey]

As you may of seen my thread, I've recently had my 312s fitted. There was nothing wrong with the OEM brakes, although there was a dead zone on the top of the pedal before they bite.

With the 312s fitted, they bite almost instantly with very little pedal travel. You no longer have to stamp on the brakes to slow the car down, I've yet to plant my foot as they stop very quickly on half the pedal.

[Decron]

ditto

Ditto

[Gaverick]

Yep bleed nipple on the top as any air trapped in the caliper will naturally rise to the top so that's were you bleed them from.

Unlikely it is this as my pedal was extremely spongy and I needed to pump the brakes up before using them but it's quick and easy to check so worth a try.

[Fab vRS]

I have the 312mm conversion and found they spongy for a while (presumably until they bedded in) but a year and 8000 miles on they are great. If I was forced to do one mod only on my vRS, the 312s would be it.

[warwick hunt]

Sounds like something is up there. Have you checked all the hoses and connections for fluid leaks, are the bleed nipples on the top of the caliper? (I put mine on upside down at first lol). Are the slider pins greased up and not sticking? Just a couple of things I would be checking.

hoses wouldnt reach if upside down.

[Decron]

hoses wouldnt reach if upside down.

Good Point. The standard hoses will only just reach the right way up.

OP - I would suggest a bleed, in fact, change the fluid to either 5.1 or super 4. Only takes an hour, costs about £10 and is a really good upgrade especially if you have never changed it before.

[Gaverick]

hoses wouldnt reach if upside down.

They do, trust me I found out the hard way.

[warwick hunt]

Good Point. The standard hoses will only just reach the right way up.

OP - I would suggest a bleed, in fact, change the fluid to either 5.1 or super 4. Only takes an hour, costs about £10 and is a really good upgrade especially if you have never changed it before.

They do, trust me I found out the hard way.

the way i see it...

[Soot1e]

So do you suffer from a spongy feel to the brakes or just excessive pedal travel at this present time? What brand of pads were fitted? If they were racing pads then just light use by the wifes delicate fee, would not match the use of the car.

Excessive travel only but good stopping brakes I would put it down to the rear self adjusting mechanism on the handbrake.

[Stevoraith]

So do you suffer from a spongy feel to the brakes or just excessive pedal travel at this present time? What brand of pads were fitted? If they were racing pads then just light use by the wifes delicate fee, would not match the use of the car.

Excessive travel only but good stopping brakes I would put it down to the rear self adjusting mechanism on the handbrake.

I’d describe the pedal feel as some dead travel, followed by a small amount of travel where you can feel them biting but it’s spongey, and then once properly into the travel you get the full stopping power.

The discs and pads are OEM TT (the kit came from Golfturbo complete with discs and pads). To be honest the 312mm kit is probably overkill for the wifes needs but I figured being able to stop quicker is never a bad thing (and having your alloys full of brakes looks pretty damn cool! )

That’s an interesting theory about the handbrake adjuster. Can it be adjusted manually to compensate? I’m assuming the fact the rear brakes are pretty worn will effect it?

[Soot1e]

Its the TT pads I have as well and I'm pleased with them so its deffo not a pad problem. I have rear disc wear myself but only the handbrake is affected by excessive travel, which I'll be sorting out soon. The handbrake adjusters on most VAG cars are under the handbrake lever either inside the gaiter or under the floor, haven't looked for mine yet. Also the rear brakes tend to rub the discs after driving off, due to no springs fitted. They are a pain in cold weather and many a Thread posted about this on Briskoda. Can't think of anything to help you though.

[digitaldwarf]

as some have mentioned try adjusting the handbrake

it sorted out the long travel that i had on my vrs brake pedal

[Stevoraith]

Thanks guys.

As I said, rear brakes are in need of replacement so I'll get those done and get the handbrake adjuster checked at the same time and report back if there is an improvement in feel.

[Stevoraith]

Just thought I'd update this for anyone having similar problems.

Had new rear discs and pads fitted last week and pedal feel has improved considerably.

Still not perfect but I think fresh discs and pads on the front would sort it