What is there? May not upgrade calipers but thinking of upgrading disk and pads, changing the fluid to 5.1. I don't want anything that generates loads of brake dust but stops and won't fade. What are my options?

I used the Yellow stuff pads on the track and they were good, no fade on the track day I did earlier in the year, however they were bad the next day when cold so would not recommend to leave them in, I believe Ferodo pads will be recommended in this thread for every day use or if you want extreme, I hear Pagid blue pads are very good also.

I'd be putting them on and leaving them on. Since it's a daily it has to be fine on the road and for B road blasting too. My yearly track time is 30 mins a year but I do want something better

Maybe worth looking at the Hard Wear that vRSy has for sale if its still there,

nice Brake Calipers.

george

I wouldnt waste the time changing the discs. Grooved or drilled wont give much benefit over what you have already especially when you take into account he cost.

Id look at some pads like the Ferrodo DS2500 or some PAgid RS 4-2 (Blues) if you have a little more cash paired with some Motul RBF600 brake fluid. That will reduce fade a fair amount allowing you to brake harder for longer. You will still get a little fade with this on track though when used hard, but if its only a 30 min session then i wouldnt worry about that.

Maybe worth looking at the Hard Wear that vRSy has for sale if its still there,

nice Brake Calipers.

george

Yep, my brakes will be for sale very soon at less than half the price of their cost from Tarox. All dependent on when i eventually get my car back! Plus they have brand new pads as well.

On the brake topic, as I thrashed the Fabia at Combe yesterday on standard pads and discs, is it normal to see lots more pedal travel after this? I assumed discs all round that the slack would be taken up to at least bring the pedal back?

I might need to throw a set of standard pads on it and see if this helps?

James, as far as I know brakes are self adjusting ad pads wear should not have any effect on your pedal travel. It sounds like you might have boiled the fluid and have has on the lines now perhaps? What fluid did you have in your system?

Jabo, I went out completely stock as the car was delivered. Being a mere 15 minute stint I assumed we would be ok, how wrong was I! I guess a trip to the dealer is in order to say my brakes feel funny and then act dumb?

Or I could just swap the fluid for performance stuff ready for how fast, I am guessing this will be hard on the car.

BTW, I noted the oil temp for you yesterday, it peaked at 123'C after twelve minutes of thrash, outside temps were around 10' to 12'.

Being a mere 15 minute stint I assumed we would be ok, how wrong was I! I guess a trip to the dealer is in order to say my brakes feel funny and then act dumb?

Or I could just swap the fluid for performance stuff ready for how fast, I am guessing this will be hard on the car.

BTW, I noted the oil temp for you yesterday, it peaked at 123'C after twelve minutes of thrash, outside temps were around 10' to 12'

longer peddle travel is a result of the brake fluid having got above its operating temperatures and potentially boiled. Its nowt to do with the pads. It wont recover from that either, once you boil the fluid, your fluid is no longer effective. Id highly recommend the motul RBF600 fluid. Its got to be the most competitively priced fluid on the market when it comes to its temperature performances. Having tried many much more expensive options i found myself coming back to it as it had the same performance as far as i could tell.

Pads and fluid should always be the first thing changed for trackdays, as fade and long peddle travel can and will ruin your day out. Grooved or drilled disc in my own past experiences made no noticable difference other than extra noise and of course a large difference in my bank balance. Id only bother with uprated discs if they are part of a larger brake package/kit. I have the Tarox F2000 grooved discs on my kit. if i was to keep the car they would have been swapped to stock 323mm Leon Cupra R OEM discs when a replacement was required.

The How Fast Event wont be anywhere near as hard on the car as a half or full day session as you will be doing substantially less tracktime overall. But that said, as you have found out you can cook the brakes with stock power in a mere 15 minute session which id imagine at coombe is only about 8-10 laps? Imagine doing it on stickier tyres and a mapped car!!!

FWIW, my oil temps on a typical dry trackday when i was running stock hardware, but stage 2 software were 125-135degrees C on a 15-20 minute bash. Upgrading the radiator dropped those figures down to 115-125degreesC for the same setup.

Why not get these?

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/273450-312mm-brake-setup-and-mk1-fabia-genuine-roof-bars/

A small refurb and your sorted with an OEM 312mm upgrade.

Id try changing the brakes lines to braided ones, been reccomended to me by a few tuners as the standered ones swell once the temps get up and it looses pressure

Thanks for the info guys, I have ordered some fluid and I will also be swapping the pads for How Fast, I did this when I did an open pit lane at Oulton Park, braking was much better on the yellow stuff pads.

Braided hoses may be an option but lets see, it is my wife's car and really the track days are just a bit of fun, IF I fulfil my wishlist of brakes, map, suspension and so on the Fabia will have cost a £25k lol

However, the OEM 312 upgrade? I think the Fabia has this anyway, not sure though, will have to measure, I know the Yeti had big brakes, maybe these are 312mm.

The Fabia has 288mm front brakes.

Mine hasnt needed braided hoses, so given the amount of trackdays you plan to do in comparison id wager they wont benefit you much either.

On the hunt now for 312 upgrades, I assume they bolt straight on?

I have the Yeti outside, it has big brakes because it is the 170 tdi, I could swap em and see if leaseplan notice

No, I will buy them, they will also fit my MK 3 Golf we get that on the track later this year and I can give the Fabia back to the missus.

not sure about hte Mk3 platform, but the 312mm from the Mk4 golf Platform is what you need. you'll need carriers, carriers, discs and pads from the likes a Mk4 Golf Anniversary(Not all Mk4 GTIs had the 312mm kit) or alternativelt a Mk1 Leon cupra, or Mk1 Octavia vRS will be 312mm as well

If factory brake fluid boils so easily (provided James was no resting his right foot on the anchors pedal ) then I think I will have to change to the one Sy is recommending - If I boil it I'd have to change it anyways. So If I change before hand at least thi would not spoil my track day...

If factory brake fluid boils so easily (provided James was no resting his right foot on the anchors pedal ) then I think I will have to change to the one Sy is recommending - If I boil it I'd have to change it anyways. So If I change before hand at least thi would not spoil my track day...

Ive seen people post up about how VAG brake fluid surpasses most of these alleged racing fluids and that you never need to upgrade it etc etc, but In my experience on all my previous cars, stock fluid has caused braking issues which always disappear and do not reoccur with better fluid. Its the biggest complaint you will here from anybody at a trackday and its such a simple fix. You also need to bear in mind you will be driving home after the trackday so you want your brakes to still perform after.

I would Jabo, the brake pedal got progressively worse from lap three, and did not recover, I have just been out in it now as the wife is home from work and the pedal goes way down, still stops though.

As soon as the fluid arrives it will be swapped out.

For How Fast the yellow pads are going back on too, I might even look at some temporary ducting to the callipers from the front of the car, cable tie technology will be fine for this.

Cheap enough for motul, any ideas how much I will need, 500ml or 1 litre?

Ducting was my next plan, but i didnt want a heath robinson setup. If you get a duct make sure that the air flow is aimed into the centre hub of the disc as the its then forced out though the cooling vanes of the disc so you will have the largest impact.

I also thoguht about doing TRSS Brake Ducts/airflow guides bolted onto the lower wishbone.

Part numbers

Guide 8P0863149A (Right Side)

Guide 8P0863150B (Left Side)

Bolt x 2 N10422203

Nut x 2 SN90761102

Sleeve x 2 8J0864133A

They might be too wide, but you could trim them to fit snug with minimal effort on your part. I think they are only about £40 as well!!

Are you sure Motul RBF 600 is the fluid of choice? I only ask because it is listed as DOT 4

http://www.camskill.co.uk/m1b1101s113p342/MOTUL_-_RBF600_Racing_Brake_Fluid_-_500ml_

There is also Dot 4 and super dot 4 fluids. The RBF600 is classed as super Dot 4. Most Super Dot 4 fluids have a much higher wet/dry boiling point than Dot 5.1 fluids. if you want to go for something even better there is Motul RBF660 or Castrol SRF as well, but IMO they are not really neededfor light trackday work and are more expensive.

The difference between Dot 4 and Dot 5.1 fluids is not related to performance but instead the type of fluid. Dot 4 is glycol based and dot 5.1 is silicone based. You need to be comparing Wet and Dry boiling temperatures. The higher the better. With Super DOT4 look for the ones with the highr wet boiling temperatures IMO. DOT4 fluids absorb water over time, so the higher the boiling temp(they quote for 3% water content)

Edit

quotes and specs from the Opie Oils website

About Motul RBF 600 Factory Line racing brake fluid (Super DOT 4)

Motul RBF600 Factory Line brake fluid is a 100% synthetic brake fluid particularly suitable for the demands of racing and for those requiring a high performance brake fluid.

This high performance DOT 4 brake fluid is particularly suitable for race applications and exceeds the DOT 5.1 and DOT 3 standards, except for viscosity at - 40°C (-40°F).

RBF 600 brake fluid is suitable for all types of hydraulic actuated-brake and clutch systems requiring a non-silicone synthetic fluid. RBF600 is specially designed to resist the high temperature of racing brake (steel or carbon) and clutch systems

100% synthetic brake fluid from polyglycol bases.

For more information, please see the RBF 600 data sheet (PDF format)

Very high dry boiling point of 312 °C / 593 °F

Very high wet boiling point 216 °C / 420 °F

About Motul RBF 660 Factory Line race brake fluid (Super DOt 4)

Motul RBF660 race brake fluid is suitable for all types of hydraulic actuated-brake and clutch systems requiring a high quality, dot4 non-silicone synthetic fluid.

Specially designed to resist to high temperature of racing actuated-brake (steel or carbon) and clutch systems, this quality brake fluid is particularly suitable for the demands of racing and for those requiring a very high performance brake fluid.

RBF660 also exceeds the DOT 5.1 and DOT 3 brake fluid standards, except for viscosity at - 40°C (-40°F).

RBF 660 is a 100% synthetic brake fluid from polyglycol bases

Extremely high dry boiling point: 325 °C / 593 °F

Extremely high wet boiling point: 204 °C / 420 °F

About Castrol React SRF Racing Brake Fluid (Super DOT 4)

Castrol React SRF Racing brake fluid is a high performance brake fluid of special value in competitive motor sport where extreme braking conditions are encountered. It is an exclusive Castrol product registered under patents in many countries. Castrol React SRF Racing exceeds US Federal Standards FMVSS 116 DOT 3 and DOT 4, ISO 4925, JIS K2233 and current SAE J 1703 specifications.

Castrol React SRF has been especially formulated to maximise braking performance under arduous competitive conditions. In order to achieve the optimum benefits in such applications, advanced materials have been employed in a unique and patented Castrol formulation. The use of Castrol React SRF should be restricted to not more than eighteen months before draining and refilling for maximum efficiency. Prolonged use in excess of the recommended period may give rise to a deterioration in performance at very low temperatures. Castrol SRF is suitable for all disc and drum brake systems with the exception of those for which mineral oil is prescribed.

dry boiling point: 320 °C

Extremely high wet boiling point: 270 °C

About Motul DOT 5.1 brake fluid - long life 100% synthetic (DOT 5.1)

Motul Dot 5.1 brake fluid is a long life 100% synthetic brake fluid suitable for all types of hydraulic actuated-brake and clutch systems that require DOT 5.1, DOT 4 and DOT 3 manufacturers’ brake fluid recommendations.

Particularly suitable for use with anti-lock braking systems (ABS).

Long life brake fluid

100% synthetic brake fluid from polyglycol bases.

Dry boiling point 270 °C / 518 °F

Wet boiling point 185 °C / 365 °F

thanks for clearing that up, I like the TT deflectors, might make a tidier fob than cable tied ducting. I will get the 600 brake fluid and see how we get on, it is cheap enough, 1.5 litres be enough?

Thanks for clearing up the brake fluid issue. How much does the Fabia need? The 312mm setup you posted is mine so I guess I could just keep them, clean them up, paint them red and use them myself again.

Thanks for clearing up the brake fluid issue. How much does the Fabia need? The 312mm setup you posted is mine so I guess I could just keep them, clean them up, paint them red and use them myself again.

OR you could sell them to me Martyn.................