Hello I’m sure this topic has probably been discussed on here before but I’m new to the form and can only find info on big brake upgrades for vrs Fabia’s. My Fabia mk1 1.2htp is due new disks and pads after its service this year. I was also advised that my front calipers are near the end of their life and either need a rebuild or replacing. I’m thinking of replacing them with the breaks from a mk1 1.9 vrs Fabia. Now obviously the 1.2’s whopping 64 horse power was held in check quite well by the old 256mm breaks but would the 288mm breaks make a big difference to breaking power and stopping distance? I’m aware that I’d need new calipers, carriers, disks and pads to fit them but is there much more needed to convert the old set up to this new vrs style? I know this is a bit of a strange choice but if I can get the parts cheap and it’s straight forward then I don’t see why not trying it. Thanks in advance for any tips or info on this.

7 hours ago, TheIrishFabia said:

Hello I’m sure this topic has probably been discussed on here before but I’m new to the form and can only find info on big brake upgrades for vrs Fabia’s. My Fabia mk1 1.2htp is due new disks and pads after its service this year. I was also advised that my front calipers are near the end of their life and either need a rebuild or replacing. I’m thinking of replacing them with the breaks from a mk1 1.9 vrs Fabia. Now obviously the 1.2’s whopping 64 horse power was held in check quite well by the old 256mm breaks but would the 288mm breaks make a big difference to breaking power and stopping distance? I’m aware that I’d need new calipers, carriers, disks and pads to fit them but is there much more needed to convert the old set up to this new vrs style? I know this is a bit of a strange choice but if I can get the parts cheap and it’s straight forward then I don’t see why not trying it. Thanks in advance for any tips or info on this.

It's probably easier if you have FSIII callipers to stop at 280mm discs.

With the integrated carriers on your bearing housings, you can't fit anything bigger without changing the whole bearing housing. 

 

You'd have to fit the suffix S parts of item 7 here:

https://www.lllparts.co.uk/catalogs/skoda/CZ/FAB/453/4/407/407010

 

Waste of time and effort.

 

That’s great info guys thanks for that. I wasn’t aware that the whole bearing housing would have to be changed as well. I’m not 100% sure if it has the FSlll calipers on it at the moment that’s something I’ll have to check later on today. If it doesn’t, do the FSlll calipers fit into the standard carriers on the mk 1? And would anything else need to be changed to fit them 280mm disk with the FSlll calipers?

@TheIrishFabia If you have FSIII callipers, it is literally cast into the outer side of the callipers.

If it currently has 256mm discs, it has the FSIII calipers.

On Fabias these calipers fit onto the integrated carriers, no bigger discs can be or are used on FSIII calipers on Fabias, 

 

The three variants on Fabia mk1 are:

FSII caliper with 239 discs, and bearing housing with integrated carriers to suit this disc size.

FSIII caliper with 256mm and discs and different bearing housings with integrated carriers to suit this disc size.

Lucas calipers with 288mm discs, carriers that bolt onto the again different bearing housing. 

 

So basically for any type of upgrade at all the bearing housing has to be changed. And you’re also saying that 256mm is the largest disk that’ll fit the FSlll the 280mm won’t fit with the standard setup?

5 minutes ago, TheIrishFabia said:

So basically for any type of upgrade at all the bearing housing has to be changed

Yes, except for 288 to 312mm change.

 

5 minutes ago, TheIrishFabia said:

And you’re also saying that 256mm is the largest disk that’ll fit the FSlll the 280mm won’t fit with the standard setup?

Yes, for the third time now. 

Have a look at your brakes, confirm that you see FSIII on the outside of the caliper casting. Look at how the caliper mounts, where the disc sits and imagine trying to squeeze a bigger disc into the same diameter opening.

 

Edited 21 January, 20251 yr by Breezy_Pete
sp

1.2 HTPs come on 239s, or at least my 2006 model does.

I checked which caliper was fitted and it was the FSlll so from the above comments it’s fitted with the 256mm disks if it has the FSlll caliper.

9 hours ago, AnnoyingPentium said:

1.2 HTPs come on 239s, or at least my 2006 model does.

Some do, some got 256mm; it's a strange one.