Hi all.

Seriously considering a jabba / revo / apr / amd / insert_your_favourite_tuner_here

It's all very nice having those extra horses, but what about braking ?

I haven't taken delivery yet, so I guess I'll have to judge for myself but for you lucky ones out there who already have their vRSes, what do you think would be a recommended route for improvement? Don't wanna spend a fortune, and wondering if just upgrading the pads are a viable solution, or are you looking at new discs as soon as you change the pads?

It must transpire from this that I'm a complete noob on the subject, so all comments (including insulting ones ) are welcomed!

Cheers

Well for me, horses and brakes are two separate things. Horses let you go quickly. Brakes stop you. Remapping the engine makes no difference to the weight of the car, so actually the brakes have no more physical work to do, it's just that your driving style may change to suit your extra horses. However IMHO on public roads you shouldn't get the brakes stressed to a point where they're going to let you down (although I have got them pretty warm at times). Track use is a different matter, of course.

JM2PW :cheers:

PS I forgot to say - if you're going to trash the brakes, you could do it just as easily with the stock engine (which kind of makes a case for upgrading brakes first if you're going to do it at all ....)

Not planning on any track stuff - yet

I guess you're right with the weight any everything. A remap won't alter the stop speed (at least not at an attainable level on public roads) so I guess it's just the same. It'll just get to that speed quicker...

Anyway, how have people found the brakes on the furby vrs ? Potent enough ?

From my 7yr old Polo, I know it'll be an improvement

I don't know if you find this insulting, but bear me in mind if you're planning a brakes upgrade - I'd be seriously interested in a set of vRS brakes as a replacement for my imminently fully worn set, and as (what I believe) is an upgrade from the standard setup I currently run.

I've seen no specs about the size of the vRS discs compared to normal furby ones, so cannot comment even slightly about them - I only hope the lick of green paint is not the only difference between the brakes on my car and yours...

furby vRS brakes are pretty damn big up front... 288mm i think!!

the fronts and rears are bigger than the standard TDi jobbies.

i cant really comment on the ability of the brakes, i think the brakes lack feedback, but i havent really done any heavy braking so they aint bedded in yet. and according to autoexpress the fabia stops quicker than its ibiza counterpart anyway.

the tdi 130 owners who are running 170-190 bhp dont seem to complain, although there are no pads that fit the ibiza mk 4 yet.

oooo [rubs hands together] - Will look into Fabia vRS brakes when I need them, even if I have to buy them from new. 288mm discs sound massive to me. I think my standard one's cannot be much more than 230mm or 240mm???

Standard on the 14 inch wheeled Fabia is 256mm. For 15 inch wheels it's 288mm...

Rob.

Yup.. just checked the website..

288 on the front.

and 239x9 on the back.

same size as the Octy vRS aint it?

nope - octy RS is 312 I think, 4x4 is 288.

Hmmm - I just fancied, that with the fairly sizeable gaps between the spokes on my wheels, a set of green-callipered vRS brakes would look flippin' good! - Could be my first upgrade in 2004, if my current brakes don't start falling to pieces totally before then. The rears have been squeaking a bit in certain conditions ever since I got back from the National, and it wasn't like I was pushing them that hard.

We could put together a Fabia version of our Octavia Group N kit, or a derivative of at least.

Also one of the guys on here recently upgraded his pads on standard discs to a DS2500 compound and appears very happy with the performance benefit.

We do both EBC upgrades and also Brembo GT kits. The Brembo kit comes with 328mm Front discs and four pot calipers. Bit I think youd need 17" wheels for them.

DS2500s on the front of mine and havent faded them yet!

Bit squeaky though, but i think thats down to me fitting them. :(

:wave: Got the 17s on the car.... hehe - I think having 328 fronts is a bit of overkill for me considering the little amount of money I have to spend on my car. :(

Still fancy some 288s on the front and similar on the back.

I personally think the Furby vRS brakes are outstanding. All I think I'm gonna do is fit some EBC pads when the time comes!

Originally posted by fab16v in this post

All I think I'm gonna do is fit some EBC pads when the time comes!

Read some of the threads about brake pads and you might just change your mind. :(

So, sounds a bit early - but how much would a set of front & rear discs/pads/etc from a Fabia vRS retail at? Out of curiousity.

Originally posted by DGW in this post

Read some of the threads about brake pads and you might just change your mind. :(

Cheers mate. Shall go and do that and see what I make of them!

Originally posted by fab16v in this post

I personally think the Furby vRS brakes are outstanding. All I think I'm gonna do is fit some EBC pads when the time comes!

just a quick question.

are your brakes quite hard? ie, you get the first bit of "travel" on the pedal, which is ok for stopping in traffic, but you have to press quite hard for extra braking force? as if there is no braking assistance? :confused:

i dunno if its just me from coming from a 1.2 clio with drum brakes, the fact the brakes havent really been used hevailly yet and havent bedded in, or there is a problem.

Sounds like bedding in (or lack of it) to me, but I don't have a Furby vRS, of course.

Originally posted by Neo_VR in this post

just a quick question.

are your brakes quite hard? ie, you get the first bit of "travel" on the pedal, which is ok for stopping in traffic, but you have to press quite hard for extra braking force? as if there is no braking assistance? :confused:

i dunno if its just me from coming from a 1.2 clio with drum brakes, the fact the brakes havent really been used hevailly yet and havent bedded in, or there is a problem.

To be honest mate. the brakes feel the same in use as the 16v I had, just pull you up a little bit quicker! Found that under hard braking on undulating surfaces though, the back end starts to wander!

Think the suspension best be getting changed once it's Jabba'd!

Well, i went down to the dealers on friday to see what they thought. had a go in their demo car which had much better brakes.. they said to give it a few more miles and to *ahem* hammer the brakes a bit.. they do seem to be getting better. so ill wait a bit and see how they are.

Originally posted by tfboy in this post

Don't wanna spend a fortune, and wondering if just upgrading the pads are a viable solution, or are you looking at new discs as soon as you change the pads?

Hi!

I put EBC Greenstuff with stock discs and killed them very fast (discs). :( It started shaking.

Remember that you should always put new pads when you change discs.

I tkink it's better to change pads and discs at the same time or live both stock.

just a quick question.

are your brakes quite hard? ie' date=' you get the first bit of "travel" on the pedal, which is ok for stopping in traffic, but you have to press quite hard for extra braking force? as if there is no braking assistance? :confused:

i dunno if its just me from coming from a 1.2 clio with drum brakes, the fact the brakes havent really been used hevailly yet and havent bedded in, or there is a problem.[/quote']

I'm more determined to do something about the braking. On the derby run last weekend, I was seriously scared at times on the way home. Slowing down from close to 3 figure speeds seemed to take forever in which a lot of distance was covered.

I agree with you Colin on the braking. Seems to have deteriorated after having bedded in. Now on 3000 miles and when going fast, I just don't have the confidence... Having said that, if I change the brakes, I'll deffo have to change those shoddy michelins when in the wet. :eek:

Why not try just changing the pads to Ferodo DS2500 and perhaps a higher spec fluid.

I would love to get either the Group N kit or the Brembo kit but I've got the weigh up the cost to the acutual usage.

Seeing as I may take in one track day a year I reckon I can get away with upgraded pads and fluid. Taking imore track days in I would definately get the Group N kit....which , lets be honest, is a fantastic deal. Brembo kit is good for around