Brake Decisions....

[joby]

Hi All - getting a bit confused about choice of replacement discs and pads for my 2003 octy vrs estate and was hoping for some advice.

Not sure what are on there now as they were on when I got the car - I think they are OE stuff, but I know they are making grinding noises so I need to get them changed ASAP - seems to be the drivers side inside pad which has gone, but I understand the wear sensor is on the pasenger side (if the current disks have them that is)

I have trawled the numerous other threads and have found some good info, and although I like the idea of a nice set of tarox's or something, I'm trying to stick to a reasonable budget - but at the same time would quite like to put something better than standard on it.

If anyone can give any advice on the 3 following options I am looking at, or any others for similar budget that would be worth considering, I'd appreciate it.

Option 1 - £81 - Mintex Brake Box - The TT ones as they have the wear sensor pads - I assume these are slightly better than OE type replacements? - they seem a bit cheaper.

AUDI TT 1.8T MINTEX FRONT BRAKE DISCS & PADS. - eBay, Audi, Car Parts, Cars, Parts Vehicles (end time 20-Sep-07 10:39:55 BST)

Option 2 - £120 - Mintex Disks as per above, but with Mintex Extreme Pads - are the pads going to make a lot of difference on the std disks?

Option 3 - £170 - Zimmerman X-Drilled Discs from GSF + Mintex Extreme Pads - I have read that these are a good combo, but are the discs going to be a noticable upgrade from the Mintex solids above?

Any help muchly appreciated - must have spent hours and hours up to now looking at all the options and I'm starting to do my own head in........

[Timo]

Going to be doing mine soon and will be going for ATE discs from eurocarparts a mate has then on his vrs and likes them and they are cheap(ish)

[joby]

Thanks - I saw the ATE ones from ecp - wasn't sure whether it was a price for a pair or for singles. I just checked and its for 1 so they work out at £120 for the pair delivered - so a tenner more than the zimmermans.......hmmmm.......

[Silver Surfer]

im also looking at changing my pads and disks, as im getting a remap.

Think the pad and fluid up-grade is the way to go but also need new disks and dont want to send a fortune

[joby]

Mines mapped which is why I figured having slighlty better than standard brakes was a good plan. Wasn't sure about the brake fluid upgrade - I guess its fairly straightforward and wouldn't cost me too much labour at my local independent garage?

[Leeboy]

Suggestion: If your discs still have some life in them, I would spend money on the pads and have the fluid upgraded too. I know plenty (including myself) who swear by Ferrodo DS2500 pads and 4.1 superdot brake fluid.

These pads are not cheap (you're looking at around £100 for a pair of front pads) but make an amazing difference - they are more than up to the job of slowing down a Octy time and again so far as track day driving is concerned so will be perfect for road use.

[Silver Surfer]

The pads I am going with are Ferodo DS2500 part no. FCP590H and the fluid is going to be super dot 4 which you can get from halfords (castrol RS Super DOT4). Just don't know what disks to get.

[Silver Surfer]

Lee

You got in there before me.

Great minds think alike and so do nutters!

[joby]

Thanks for the suggestion - but TBH I don't think theres much life left in the discs - my mechanic guy said they might just be OK for another set of pads, but they look pretty worn and corroded around the edge to me, and they're also getting scraped at the moment because of the apparent state of my pads - I think I'd be happier just replacing the lot and being done with it for a while.

If I did go for one of the options above, would changing the fluid to 4.1 (what will be in it now out of interest?) still be a good idea, and would it take my mechanic long to do? Also how much would I need to buy for him to do it?

[KenONeill]

Your car's 4yo yes? If so, it's due for a fluid replacement anyway. DOT 4.1 doesn't seem to exist.

It's DOT 4.0, DOT 5.0 (silicone fluid; non-hydroscobic, but that's not always a good thing; a water bubble at a caliper leaves you with no brakes when the caliper temp goes above 100C) and DOT 5.1 (mineral fluid; higher BP than DOT 4.0, but not convinced that's necessary for road use).

[joby]

Yes the car's 4yrs old - I'm not sure whether it would have been done at the last service which wasn't too long ago - so I need DOT4 fluid then (I assume the std stuff Skoda would use would be dot3?)

I'm wondering whether I'm better of going with the cheaper mintex discs and spending the money on the DS2500 pads.....

[Leeboy]

Yes the car's 4yrs old - I'm not sure whether it would have been done at the last service which wasn't too long ago - so I need DOT4 fluid then (I assume the std stuff Skoda would use would be dot3?)

I'm wondering whether I'm better of going with the cheaper mintex discs and spending the money on the DS2500 pads.....

How do you drive, sedately or would you consider attending a track day? If never the latter, then go with the cheaper pads, everyday road use will be fine.

Long time ago on this forum someone said that standard Octy vRS brakes pass some test traffic police undertake to determine if a vehicle will be suitable for their use and I'm not aware anything gets upgraded on the braking front. Bear in mind their cars carry alot of extra weight (police men + donuts )

[cheezemonkhai]

On the brake fluid see this thread:

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/maintenance-performance/brake-fluids-hopefully-definitive-thread/65339/

I'd definitely be changing it if it is 4 years old as even the standard DOT 4 will have a massive improvement at that age.

I'd say that the mintex extreme pads are very reasonable price wise and the disk it is up to you whether you want grooved ventilated or solid ventilated. I would avoid cross drilled disks personally.

[joby]

Thanks for the advice guys - I dont do any trackdays - but I definately wouldn't say that the word "sedately" applies to my driving very often either

I know what you're sayting re the quality of the standard brakes - they are very good, and good enough for the S3, TT etc (although I guess they're a bit lighter!).

I think I might give the mintex discs a go, and the extreme pads to see how they perform, and get some DOT4 or super DOT 4 and ask my man to change it.

[vRS-IRL]

Thanks for the advice guys - I dont do any trackdays - but I definately wouldn't say that the word "sedately" applies to my driving very often either

I know what you're sayting re the quality of the standard brakes - they are very good, and good enough for the S3, TT etc (although I guess they're a bit lighter!).

I think I might give the mintex discs a go, and the extreme pads to see how they perform, and get some DOT4 or super DOT 4 and ask my man to change it.

the extreme pads are getting great reviews...bit on the dusty side though...ive ordered mine...picking them up on tuesday...and i have some black diamond 12 groove discs to go along with them:thumbup:

[joby]

Have just ordered the standard mintex brake box set off ebay - I spoke to the guy selling it about the extreme pads and he said that theres little point if your not doing trackdays, and that he didn't think they'd last very long which put me off (along with the dusty reports).

I kinda got fed up thinking about it, and hearing the things scraping every day....

I'll get hold of some decent brake fluid and get that changed and see how it goes - thanks for the advice on that as I wouldn't have thought to get it done.

[jungle fresh]

Hi Joby,

have you fitted your mintex brake box set from ebay yet?

I am looking at similiar options and would appreciate any comments you have.

Thanks in advance.

[joby]

Yes - I did get them fitted and the fluid changed - no problems to report and the braking performance seems very good.......

[Liverpool-Lad]

Good to hear. Was is just the front kit you used?

[joby]

Yes - just the fronts - have no reason to believe the rears wont be as good though......