Hello, new user around here.

 

My name is Pedro, i was reading this forum since the moment i found it, even before of buying my new car.

 

My skoda is a fabia combi mk3 1.2 tsi estate.

 

After almost 3000km i have the sensation that the brakes are not the best on their work. I mean that in comparison with my brother's car, a seat leon 1.2 tsi, wich has the same engine and almost the same weight, it seems that on skoda the response have a little lag and not a poweful effect on the speed and acceletarion of the car.

 

Comparing measures of disk diameter between both cars, skoda have like 2-3 cm minus on front, and 1cm on the rear.

 

Anyone have the same perception?

 

Maybe a braking pad change will have good effect?

 

Best regards.

 

Welcome Pedro, nice to have you on the site. 

 

I have the Mk3 1.2TSI hatchback and my brakes are really good. I've had the combi's before I had my new Mk 3 hatch and they too had really good brakes. If you have any doubts about your brakes, get them checked at your dealer. Ask them to drive it and give you their opinion on how good they are. It's difficult for us to give you any proper advice without feeling the brakes for ourselves, so a visit to the dealer is probably a good thing to do and shouldn't cost you any money. You shouldn't need to change your brake pads to get good brakes. It is possible you pads may have become 'glazed' if heavy braking was undertaken too soon after taking delivery of your car. The brakes do need to be run in or 'bedded in' with lighter use for the first 1000 miles. If that was not done then this may account for your brakes being less effective. The good news is that it can be easily remedied by deglazing the pads with emery paper and the disc just need washing with brake cleaner. Good luck with that and perhaps you will be kind enough to tell us know how you get on if you visit your dealer. 

You are never going to outbrake a Leon with the differential brake spec you report. Having said that, I agree with Estate Man about most points; also, if you have a brake efficiency check as part of your roadworthiness assessment, a friendly testing station might do just the brake test so you know how powerful the brakes are rather than just how they compare.

 

Different makes of tyre will also make a difference, as would your car not having the correct tyre pressures.

Well, regarding outbraking the Leon- what matters most in that situation is the tyres. Both cars should be more than capable of locking up the wheels (and triggering the ABS). It's up to the tyres to decelerate the car, not the brakes! Where the larger brakes of the Seat show advantages is in repeated braking, or long descents, as the larger brakes can absorb more heat.

Well, regarding outbraking the Leon- what matters most in that situation is the tyres. Both cars should be more than capable of locking up the wheels (and triggering the ABS). It's up to the tyres to decelerate the car, not the brakes! Where the larger brakes of the Seat show advantages is in repeated braking, or long descents, as the larger brakes can absorb more heat.

The Leon's brakes have more mechanical advantage too, which can make a difference.

As vc-10 says re brake size.

 

If you check the Kerb Weights and the Gross Weights between the Leon 1.2 TSI & the Mk3 Fabia Estate the Leon are around 150kg heavier, 

as to the smaller discs they will stop or slow the car perfectly adequately in normal driving with a maximum load and their is Brake Assist which can be increased if someone goes into the setting for 'Disability settings', as Steering Assist can be increased, the greater assist just makes the driver input easier, it does not have any more brake pad touching discs obviously.

The Leon and the Fabia brakes can both lock up the wheel- therefore, from that point of view, IE the single brake application they are both equal. You only need larger rotors if you have a heavier vehicle (like the Leon!), or are travelling at higher speeds, or to have more mass to absorb the heat of braking.

https://www.carthrottle.com/post/amp/engineering-explained-brake-systems-and-how-to-improve-stopping-performance/

This article is a good explainer. See part 2- as both the Leon and the Fabia can lock up the wheels, the first part of it (lack of stopping power) doesn't apply.

Of course- this assumes that the braking system is in perfect operation. No glazed pads, no leaks, no fluid with water in it, no air bubbles, etc etc.

Thankyou by your interest on resolving my doubts!

 

Today i have made a simple test on the ramp of my parking place consisting on full braking to seing how abrupt is.

 

It seems to be correct in force (translated to torque), but i think that the gain of the braking assistance have a little lag, like trying at every moment to avoid any abrupt braking on the road.

 

I don't know if this control circuit has an accumulative variable to see how each driver steps in order to adapt its response.

 

I miss something like bike braking mechanism to adjust the speed of reaction (actually it is desgined to compensate pad wear) that makes the brake more or less direct.