Anyway to improve the braking without going down the new bigger caliper route?

The one thing about the VRS is the brakes are **** other than that i think the car is great!

Thanks

312's are the way to go

Could try drilled and/or groves discs. I think it helps more with cooling.

Bigger brakes won't stop you any quicker unless you upgrade your tyres. They just cool quicker, meaning you can use them heavily for longer before they cook :p

Could try drilled and/or groves discs. I think it helps more with cooling.

Bigger brakes won't stop you any quicker unless you upgrade your tyres. They just cool quicker, meaning you can use them heavily for longer before they cook :p

my mk1 Leon with 312s stops better than my mk4 Golf did with 288s, both were on crappy part worns

I think they are both valid points though, the tyres are a bit **** on the car but i didnt put them on.

Think they are primewell!

Braided break lines

New brake fluid

Decent pads and disk

Just change pads to something like carbon Lorraine cl5+ or similar . Expensive but Awsome!

Bigger brakes won't stop you any quicker unless you upgrade your tyres. They just cool quicker, meaning you can use them heavily for longer before they cook :p

Correct.

If you tested 2 cars where everything is identical, other than disc size, on the same bit of road, then press the pedal until the ABS kicks in, then both will stop at the same point. The only advantage of bigger brakes is you will stop faster with the same pedal pressure, and with more surface area on the disc,it will be able to dissipate heat better, keeping them cool.

If you want to improve the braking, without changing disc size, then I'd consider, different pads. I'd suggest Mintex, Ferodo or EBC. However avoid Ferodo DS2500 as they are technically not road legal. Of course, make sure you don't have cheap ditch-finder bits of rubber on your wheels!

Edited 28 September, 201213 yr by Jim H

If you want to go all out you can get 4pot calipers (brembo do a kit for about £1100) this gives more force grabbing the discs and will stop you quicker than bigger discs.

The factory fitted pads are ferodo - they did me well until I upgraded to the 312mm setup.

Correct.

If you tested 2 cars where everything is identical, other than disc size, on the same bit of road, then press the pedal until the ABS kicks in, then both will stop at the same point. The only advantage of bigger brakes is you will stop faster with the same pedal pressure, and with more surface area on the disc,it will be able to dissipate heat better, keeping them cool.

If you want to improve the braking, without changing disc size, then I'd consider, different pads. I'd suggest Mintex, Ferodo or EBC. However avoid Ferodo DS2500 as they are technically not road legal. Of course, make sure you don't have cheap ditch-finder bits of rubber on your wheels!

I actually tested this when I changed the brakes on my Polo. I went from stock (256), to G60 (280) brakes, to a 4pot setup (280), all with Pagid disks and pads.

The 256 and 4pot got the same stopping distance from 60 (averaged over 10 runs to try and see if fade started to come in). The G60 setup took a few meters longer! (That said, the 4pots stopped from 30 in 1/2 the distance of the other setups, and gave much more feel.)

The piston size in the 312 brakes is the same as the 288 setup (and the 256 on my Polo) at 54mm, so you've not got anymore pressing power (as I understand it), just a bit more surface.

*Edit* Worth noting, the 256 -> 280 change uses the same calipers and pads, so it is literally the size of the disk (so amount of leverage) that changes, not the contact area or pressure.

The 4 pots had either one of these piston sizes, I'm going to assume the middle one, but can't measure them atm.

Piston Size: 4 x 34.6mm; 4 x 38.6mm; 4 x 41.2mm

Edit edit - done some quick maths:

On the 54mm caliper setup (288,312) you've got a piston area of ~2300² mm (per side). With a 4piston setup listed above it's either ~3,800²mm, ~4,700²mm or ~5,300²mm (dunno what a LCR setup would be though as I don't know the piston sizes). That's a pretty big difference - over twice as much on average!

Hopefully my maths isn't too out, I've been focusing on my dissertation today with only getting 3 hours sleep and my mind is dead !

Edited 28 September, 201213 yr by TriggerFish

Drive slower!!?!? (Sorry, been a long day!)

I got a full brembo setup from a LCR. fits straight on, easy to get discs and pads for, funny watching the mrs head butt the dash when she brakes lol. They look schweeeeet too.

I got a full brembo setup from a LCR. fits straight on, easy to get discs and pads for, funny watching the mrs head butt the dash when she brakes lol. They look schweeeeet too.

Have to agree, do miss mine at times :(

I have a complete 312mm setup for sale if you are interested

What's your issue exactly?

Not being funny it's juat answers depend on what your not happy with?

Pedal feel? Try fluid change and new pads

Overheating? Look at competition pads.

Fluid boiling? Move to super dot 4.

Braking power? Bigger discs or bigger pads (requires different calipers), stiffer suspension.

Thanks guys, it's simply it doesn't stop quick enough as if it just and so can't cope.

312's...

I have a complete 312mm setup for sale if you are interested

What is included and how much?

You have a PM

My issue with the standard 288's was even as a standard (non-mapped) car, they felt as though they struggled to slow the car down properly. Pedal felt good, until you had to stand on the pedal, then it was just ****... I even managed to have all 4 discs glowing, and almost no brakes at all, driving down the A93 (Braemar-Blairgowrie road, great fun )

Car was then mapped, and upgraded to 312's with EBC Redstuff pads. Never suffered from fade again, ever, despite the extra power, and inevitably driving faster...