Hi all,

After having a bump back in august I have lost faith/confidence in my tyres and brakes. Because of this next year I want to improve them both.

What are a better set of brakes pads, discs and maybe callipers to get without breaking the bank and same for tyres. £300 max i am saying but have no real idea of prices so I can go bigger.

Good quality OE discs such as pagid and a set of ferodo DS2500 pads will see you right. Tyres i rate falken 452's

I was thinking more about upgrading the callipers more than anything. Providing it would actually make a difference. How much do the falkens run at?

http://www.camskill.co.uk/m54b0s304p6202/FALKEN_TYRES_CAR_FALKEN_FK452_FALKEN_FK_452_-_205_50R17_93Y_XL_TL_

Good price here, although I can get them fitted for localish for about £315 so it hinges on if you can get free fitting off a mate really.

In Cardiff I'd be looking at £350 I reckon

I love these tyres, I used to run toyos, but found I couldn't make them last and the price was creeping up each time.

I'm hard pushed to tell the difference between the two grip wise.

I think the toyos were better in hard rain, but dogdy in standing water.

Falkens seem to give about 13k on the fronts comapred to 9k on the T1r's

I switched yesterday to my Sunny winter tyres( the irony could be killer literally) , more on these later so my Falkens are now on hold

Don't go for kuhmo's as they wear out really quickly, only put them on in may and they are just about dead. The 452's which i switched to the back have loads of thread left and really liked them when they were on the front

I was thinking more about upgrading the callipers more than anything.

The brake upgrade path on the Mk1 VRS is very similar to the power upgrades... you can either spend a three figure sum to get modestly better braking/power or you are looking at a massive jump in price (a four figure sum) for the next stage.

Without upgrading the calipers I'd go for:

Ferodo DS2500 front pads £169 (Europerformance.co.uk)

Pagid front and rear high carbon OE discs and rear pads £165 (Awesome GTI)

Silkolene ProRace DOT4 brake fluid (1.5 litres) £44 (Opie Oils)

Four Falken FK-452 tyres (fitted) £360 (Blackcircles or Camskill)

(some of these places would offer a Briskoda discount too)

If you want to upgrade the calipers these are on ebay at the moment:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Seat-Leon-Cupra-R-brembo-brake-calipers-carriers-/140641118410?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item20bedd28ca

Plus you'd need to get the other bits mentioned above (discs and pads to fit these calipers)

If you have ££££s to spend then any of the big brake kits are good but really only needed if you are running a big turbo etc.

I'd try changing your tyres before uprating the brakes as tyres have alot more todo with braking than people think. My vrs has the best brakes of any car that i have owned even when the pads and discs were worn, just changed the front discs and pads to OE type pagid ones and they have gone up a notch on performance.

Ive had drilled and grooved discs on cars that i have owned in the past and they wern't much better if at all than the original ones, if anything they just wore out quicker

I'd try changing your tyres before uprating the brakes as tyres have alot more todo with braking than people think. My vrs has the best brakes of any car that i have owned even when the pads and discs were worn, just changed the front discs and pads to OE type pagid ones and they have gone up a notch on performance.

Ive had drilled and grooved discs on cars that i have owned in the past and they wern't much better if at all than the original ones, if anything they just wore out quicker

I agree, i can outbrake my tyres grip when pushing the vrs hard, i have bosch discs and pads up front and bosch rear pads (don't know what rear discs are one when i got car),

I'm due some front tyres before MOT, just debating if to stick to the 205's or go 225's on the spyders

I'm due some front tyres before MOT, just debating if to stick to the 205's or go 225's on the spyders

I've done both and the only real advantage of 225's is they are slightly cheaper.

They use more fuel though and tramline sometimes.

I went up about 6-7 mpg on Mway on the 205's

I lost mpg when I went up to 225's too. No noticeable increase in grip feels like a slightly harsher ride aswell. Won't be doing it next time round will be getting 452's on 205 size