Hi,

Well for those that have been involved in the Fabia vRS brake performance debate over the last couple of weeks I thought i'd report my current findings having just replaced the pads.

It was apparant that some people think the standard brakes on the fabia vRS are very good indeed, whilst others think they are inconsistent, quick fading bags of rubbish.

Being in the second camp myself I was eagre to try and improve the brakes even for normal driving. It occured to me that it was possibly a simple case of differing pad compounds on standard set ups and given that pads are the cheapest and easiest thing to change I decided to order some EBC Greenstuff pads.

I did the change over saturday morning and all I can say is the difference is unbelievable.

Now I should stress these pads have not been run in yet they've only covered arpund 40-50miles so their behavious may change, although usually pads get better as they bed in not worse.

Anyway, at the minute the brakes now feel so completely different. The biting point of the brakes is right at the very top of the pedal (it used to be about halfway before any real bite occured), i've had to be careful because if I brake even half as hard as I did before I head butt the steering wheel and the ABS kicks in. Now I can't test their fade capabilities until they are run in properly, but I did notice this morning that they didn't require anytime at all to warm up unlike the OEM pads.

So basically I'm hoping this has solved the issue, hopefully the pads won't get worse as they bed in. I shall let ya know in a weeks time when i've done 500 miles on them to see how they handle braking at speed and whether they've got better or worse. If they don't get worse and they stay like they are at the minute then I would say the braking problems some people are experiencing is almost certainly due to the pads.

Thanks ill watch with interest

How much for a set?

about £50 I think. The proper test will be tomorrow when driving to work. Given i've done the journey in both my spirited and sunday driving style it will be a good comparison to the OEM pads.

thanks for the post Schtopper, being part of the debate, and never having problems, I suspected that it may just be a different compound used on different cars....

keep us updated as to how they go when bedded in...... I'll watch with interest

I'd be interested to know how dusty/dust free they are.

Schtopper, where did you order the Pads from?

I have had to revert back to 288mm discs due to insurance not covering uprated discs/pads.

However my insurance co is fine with just performance pads :confused: (madness I know!).

www.motorsportworld.co.uk is where I got mine from but they came direct from EBC (so you can probably get them direct from them). I ordered wednesday afternoon they arrived friday morning so not bad.

One thing I do have now is squeaky brakes. I've greased the back of the pads and the runners and the piston (and anything else I could lol) but they're still squeaking. I'm guessing the problem is they are painted pads with no shim. Someone said you can buy stick on shims for the back of the pads, does anyone know where you can get them from??

Schtopper' date=' where did you order the Pads from?

I have had to revert back to 288mm discs due to insurance not covering uprated discs/pads.

However my insurance co is fine with just performance pads :confused: (madness I know!).[/quote']

Would you get away with changing the calipers? If so use the calipers from the 312mm setup. I'm sure someone would swap the caliper carriers.

Just generously spray some WD40 on the front of the pads, and the disks, that will solve any squeeking problems you have, and provent rusting too.

On that note, i once had extreme break fade with my old saxo, took it into the garage and they give it the once over, no fault found. Next week i took it back saying there really was somthing wrong, they looked at it again and found out a the break fluid pipe had come off and the break pad had been saturated. But i didn't have any problems with squeeking.

Just generously spray some WD40 on the front of the pads' date=' and the disks, that will solve any squeeking problems you have, and provent rusting too.

[/quote']

Please say that was a joke :eek:

It will definitely sort out the squeeking. Just in case someone doesn't think it's a joke - imagine what oil would do for a brake :P - i.e. no squeeks, apart from from driver + passenger(s) due to no braking at all :eek:

Just generously spray some WD40 on the front of the pads' date=' and the disks, that will solve any squeeking problems you have, and provent rusting too.

On that note, i once had extreme break fade with my old saxo, took it into the garage and they give it the once over, no fault found. Next week i took it back saying there really was somthing wrong, they looked at it again and found out a the break fluid pipe had come off and the break pad had been saturated. But i didn't have any problems with squeeking.[/quote']

:eek: :eek: :eek:

I didn't like greenstuff performance, although they were dust free. What didn't I like? The way they caught fire :eek: Maybe I should learn to brake less aggressively?

Yes i was joking about the WD40, i use a mix of engine oil and sand, oil to provent rust and sand to get the grip.

Cant remember why now but dont a lot of uprated pads squeak when doing town driving due to the pads not warming up properly?

brakes squeek on most cars anyway... just turn the stereo up

I wouldn't mind if they were squeaking when braking but they're squeaking when I'm not braking at low speeds. This usually implies it's the pads on the callipers that's squaking not pads on disc, but normally applieing plenty of grease/copper slip does the job.

I'll see if it dissapears once they are run in, if not i'll go in search of some shims.

Squeaking is caused by vibration.

The best cure/prevention for squeaking is the application of Copper Grease to the back of the pad during fitting. Applying the grease after the inital fitment will also work fine, but it will require you to remove the pads, coat the back (Don't be shy) and refit. You can do it in about 20 mins with wind in your sails.

As i said there is plenty of copper slip and grease on the back of the pads, on the edge of the pads in the where they sit in the carriers and on the piston shim where it touches the pad. I can only assume that it has had little effect due to them being painted with shiny paint, I will wait a while to see if they bed in and rub the paint off.

Are they a softer compound (ie will they last less time)?

i got mintex 1144 on my current car (206) and they squaled violently, and i mean howling for nearly 700 miles then they quitened down...

incidently been looking on motorsportworld for 1144's but no fabia option. can i order golf pads for the vrs?

incidently been looking on motorsportworld for 1144's but no fabia vrs option. can i order golf pads for the vrs?

anyone help on this one at all??!!

EBC fabia VRS Front pads

Pt no: DP21479 - £58 + postage.

http://www.ebcbrakesdirect.com/car/parts_pad.asp?part=pad&make=SKODA&model=Fabia&year=2+%282001%2D%29

(Put in a search for a 2.0l petrol fabia 2001> as they use the same pads)

squeaking probably caused by sintered metal particles in the friction material , i used ebc pads on a mini i used for sprinting 6 years ago andi didn't rate them at all maybe they've got better ,with regard to the standard pads i've never had a problem , they smoked a bit after my first track day session but after that they were fine including heavy braking into lodge corner and knickerbrook chicane at oulton park