Afternoon all,

My car has done 45k but as it was sold by a main dealer I'm wondering if they changed the pads before selling it due to them being close or badly worn? The pads have loads of life on them but I find braking from any sort of higher speed (as in on the Motorway, or for a roundabout at the bottom of a dual carriage way) they really feel like they fade quickly. This isn't after hooning it around and getting them hot either.

Anyone else have this problem? At low speeds they work great, really sharp and no complaints but if you have to suddenly brake hard on a motorway for instance it feels like you run out of brake pretty quickly...

Is this likely to be the Pads the dealer has fitted? Is it also possible it's just the brake fluid needs changing?

I think I'll get it serviced anyway and get the fluid done in case it helps but I always thought the Brakes on the Mk1 Octavia were outstanding so thought the Mk2 would be just as good if not better.

yeh i had this it was terrible, turns out it had crappy Unipart pads, got some Mintex m1144's in and they are great oh i also had the brake fluid changed.

My pads had a lot of wear left in them at 55k but the disks were pretty worn. Maybe yours is due a change?

I've gone to Pagid all round and I'm finding them slightly better than OEM. no fade at all.

Brakes fluid should be changed every two years according to the schedule.

Never noticed brake fade although the brakes are not as good as they could be if you are pushing on.

I've got a 2011 Vrs and I think the same, they really bite initially but feel as if they have less affect as you come upto the junction etc when pressing on.

The thing is I don't know if it is simply an effect of the EBD doing its thing, a bit like when you can feel the XDS kick in mid corner sometimes.

Pads might be contaminated with oil? Or glazed?

Check the disks for wear first and take the pads out for a look.

The oe pads seem very hard wearing as does the disks - I've got 16k on mine and hardly worn.

Compare that to my last car and I was getting 12k road miles out of a set of pads and discs! That was with carbon Lorraine 5's which ate truly awesome but very aggressive both on wear and the dust and metal fragments.... Eating alloy wheels and callipers! Lesson learnt.... Track day toys only pads!

I must admit the brakes on my mk1 octy vrs felt lots better than my mk 2 octy vrs. Mine has had its fluid changed & the pads & disc's are fine yet the brakes still dont give me confidence.

I second the last comment, all relativley new on my mk2 too and not as good as my mk1 with 20k on them

I find mine very powerful but a bit grabby on first press. Takes a long time to get used to this, if I ever will !! Absolutely no fade though. 11k on the clock now.

Brake discs and pads wear to fit each other, so if you change only the pads, it can take a while for the new pads to bed in to the contours of the old discs, resulting in less contact area and hence a reduced braking effort.

I find mine very powerful but a bit grabby on first press. Takes a long time to get used to this, if I ever will !! Absolutely no fade though. 11k on the clock now.

You can reduce brake assist using Vcds by the way.

Didn't know that....thanks.

yeh i had this it was terrible, turns out it had crappy Unipart pads, got some Mintex m1144's in and they are great oh i also had the brake fluid changed.

Hey Grizzle, Unipart pads are a branded pad just in the unipart box I don't remember who makes them been a while now since i worked there. But to compare them to mintex m1144, they are two different type of pads, the mintex are a racing pad and the unipart are a road pad, I am a big fan of the mintex pads though, sold loads of them over the years.

I've replaced my discs with drilled and grooved. the pads are mintec and the braking is fierce. Done 15k with these breaks now and they are still just as good.