Hi everyone,

I see this is a hot topic, but I'm looking for some personal advice on this one.

I have a 2007 fabia vrs, 38k miles. It's completely standard and well serviced etc.

The brakes are truly awful, despite the pads and discs still seemingly having a way to go before needing replacing. For instance my girlfriends 2005 corsa's brakes are so much better it's embarassing! The other day I went clean through a red light with the car full, the weight was just too much for the brakes.

A few non briskoda friends have suggested replacing the pads for more sticky ones, but I've seen a lot about upgrading to 312 discs. How much is this likely to cost? I have limited knowledge so it'd be a garage job to change them.

Any advice or suggestions much appreciated.

Thanks.

Interesting when you say they are poor. The brake pedal feel is poor but I was never thinking they lack power.

312's is a very popular upgrade, big increase in stopping power and much improved pedal feel. Probably looking at £120 for calumets and carriers, £80 discs, £30 pads.

You could try a higher friction pad but you'll be looking at more the ferodo ds2500 or pagid race pads. But for the price you'd be better putting it towards 312's.

Interesting when you say they are poor. The brake pedal feel is poor but I was never thinking they lack power.

312's is a very popular upgrade, big increase in stopping power and much improved pedal feel. Probably looking at £120 for calumets and carriers, £80 discs, £30 pads.

You could try a higher friction pad but you'll be looking at more the ferodo ds2500 or pagid race pads. But for the price you'd be better putting it towards 312's.

thanks for the advice. I'm keen to upgrade really as I commonly drive down single track country lanes and feel it could avoid some head-ons in the future.

What labour is requied to upgrade them and what are the likely costs? (would be good to know so I know what I'm talking about when i book it in at the garage!)

Also is it just the front brakes that you change to upgrade? Anyone have any web links to a good brake package to get the ball rolling...

Edited 2 September, 201015 yr by wiffola

I bought my set off ebay sellers, was about £140-150? for the calipers & carriers iirc. Mintex pads & disc about £70-80.

Labour wise, I did it myself, took me 1-2hrs per side and 1hr of poor attempt of brake bleeding . Im quite a novice spanner monkey and was prepared to head to the garage with minimal brakes (as it was only down the road) if I didnt get it done properly but it went pretty well! I assumed it will be 2hrs labour if it was done at a garage?

Nothing mechanically difficult, simply undoing bolts, swap over and doing them up again. (been recently been asked by me and a couple of others for procedures etc)

Imo no need uprated disc/pads, I've never been on trackdays before so I cant comment requirements for that. I dont think I ever gone past 60-70% of brake pedal power, that being said the car is std atm..

Edited 2 September, 201015 yr by JLneonhug

Im in a similar position myself, although dont want to upgrade for 312's... Ive suffered quite bad brake fade recently, and i think my rear discs are warped.

Now, im thinking of getting ds2500 pads and grooved discs for the front. For the rear, would OEM pads and discs suffice, or would i need to upgrade them to ds2500 and grooved discs

I assume its the front pads that suffer from brake fade, and not the rears?

There are many many many many MANY thread about brakes already out there.

Common thinking seems to be that the 288mm OEM set up is fine for stopping power but lacks feel and can fade badly after prolonged abuse.

There are people out there who run over 200bhp and are happy with the 288 set up and just use upgraded pads and discs.

312mm brakes from a TT, Leon, Mk4 Golf, do have more stopping power, better feel and stands up better to abuse (especially on track)

However this is an improvement over brakes with are fine rather than replacing horrific standard ones.

I only had my 312's put on when my front and back brakes were all down to a couple of mm friction material and knackered discs (all MOT failures) so needed replacing anyways.

Even just before that replacement with completely fecked brakes i NEVER had an issue stopping at a red light though.

A mechanic mate of mine did mine and it took him about 4 hours to do all 4 corners.

If your discs and pads do have loads of life left in them I'd have your brake fluid changed (and possibly upgraded) before anything else.

A few hard stops (such as if your going to fast and the traffic lightc change) can boil the standard fluid quickly which reduces its efficiency for every pedal push there after.

I boiled mine on track and stopping (with still hot fluid) was a struggle on road on the way home; and definitely felt worse even after it had cooled.

Common thinking on rear brakes is that with the Fabia being so nose heavy the majority of the braking is done at the front (some say 80%/20%) and upgrading the rear is a pointless expenditure

Edited 2 September, 201015 yr by PastyBoy

I'd get them looked at sooner rather than later, as pastyboy said, I had mine before my 312's, and yes they give more feel, but I never had issues stoppping with the standard ones, even when they were well past their best they would still get the abs kicking in at most speeds. Sounds like a accident waiting to happen tbh!

Matt

Only issue I ever had with the 288's was the fluid boiling. Simple change to super dot 4 or 5.1 solves this. Never tried any other pads on the 288 as none were out at the time.

For 312's I'm currently running oem pads which seem good for everyday use but I've not taken them for a Brisk run or trackday yet. For trackday ds2500 and super dot 4 is awesome

Just leave the rear to oem spec.

help

i looking for a set of front 312mm calipers with carriers for my fab vrs. does anyone have any for sale.

Sean. tel 01592 651465 of [email protected]. cheers

P.S. R vrs bad for master cylinders?????

help

i looking for a set of front 312mm calipers with carriers for my fab vrs. does anyone have any for sale.

Sean. tel 01592 651465 of [email protected]. cheers

P.S. R vrs bad for master cylinders?????

There are a couple of sets in the for sale section

Just saw you have posted in there lol.

There were plenty of sets on eBay the last time I looked. Before I got a set of brembos

Edited 28 November, 201114 yr by armstrong21490

help

i looking for a set of front 312mm calipers with carriers for my fab vrs. does anyone have any for sale.

Sean. tel 01592 651465 of [email protected]. cheers

P.S. R vrs bad for master cylinders?????

Holy Thread Revival Batman - The 1st & last Posts in this thread were over a year ago.....

There's a WANTED section for requesting errr.... things that you want

and indeed a FOR SALE section......

I hope you find what you're after.