I've read about 312mm conversions and all sorts but I've always thought the standard vRS brakes were good....until today. I was 'making progress' down a country lane which had a hair pin in it, I had to fight the car around the corner as the there just wasn't enough braking power. I wasn't even going over the speed limit and I tend to brake early anyway, I was just shocked that the thing wasn't slowing down as much as I expected.

Since then I noticed if you knock the car out of gear and relie entirely on the brakes the brake performance is noticably less (when compared to other cars I've driven).

Without going the big brake route...can any improvement be made?? Ie different pads.

You can get uprated pads and discs, but for £250 odd the full barely used 312mm conversion makes economical as well as peformance sense.

The original 288 mm brakes on my vRS never gave me much confidence.

The 312's do. Every time.

The original 288 mm brakes on my vRS never gave me much confidence.

The 312's do. Every time.

:iagree: .stand on the brakes and you can just about get the rear wheels off the ground.............exciting..........

:iagree: .stand on the brakes and you can just about get the rear wheels off the ground.............exciting..........

I have just fitted EBC pads to my drilled Zimmerman 312 setup.

Absolutely brilliant, fade free and plenty of power, I know a lot of people dont like EBC's but I think the newer composition is a lot better. Total cost of the upgrade including the pads - about 300 quid and worth every penny especially in this current heat.

Your tyres and shocks can also makke a big difference to braking mind you.

To draw a parallel, but the original Subaru Impreza had 277mm vented disks with "2pot calipers", same style as on the Fabia. The next factory evolution was 294mm vented disks with 4pot calipers.... On a car weighing 1230-1300kg developing 200+bhp.

It's been said that a cross-slide calipers are "only" 90% efficient as opposed to opposed piston types.

Personally, I think the brake disk needs to be big enough and the braking system needs to be properly cooled. So I'd be inclined to try cooling the original brakes before any upgrades.

J.

Biggest problem is the dive of the car - sort your suspension first, I bet the braking will suddenly feel better too

IMHO the biggest problem was (pre-312mm & suspension etc) you brake, nothing happens. You brake a bit harder. Then the car drops into the front suspension and you think you're braking hard (actually you're not). If you let the car settle and continue braking it will slow down well.

Basically for me the problem was the lack of being able to slow down fast without feeling like I was doing an emergency stop. The brakes are decent but lack of feel + body dive gives a lack of confidence.

Went for the 312mm upgrade from Golfturbo, in my case the standard one (not cross-drilled) with standard pads. They've been on the car for 25k+ miles and I've never felt any reason to uprate further.

There are peeps on here that drive their cars much harder on the brakes, be it due to the roads they're on, their driving style, or occasional track enjoyments - in that case I'd also consider slapping something more race-worthy on it

Decron, you'll have to show me the difference these mods make tomorrow!

What's people's opion of the eibach suspension kit with the standard alloys, does it make the car look daft? Is the ride a lot firmer? I found teh standard setup pretty jarring at times.

Ian the 312mm make alot of difference over the standard jobbies

I've driven a re-map fabia with 312's and full eibach set up and it really does stop well................late braking into a bend becomes fun rather than scary!

After some hair raising experiences playing on the milly road recentely, I feel I need the upgrade in the brakes and I don't even have a remap. I would probably kill myself if I did