I have just changed the front discs and pads on my 2003 Octy Vrs with 53k on the clock, they needed doing anyway but I also used to suffer from the same feeling under hard braking, i.e is it going to stop or not :eek:.

I fitted a pair of Zimmerman drilled discs (which is owned by Brembo) and Mintex Extreme pads which I bought from German and Swedish car parts (gsfcarparts.com), total cost £160 inc the Governments bit.

GSF don't list the drilled discs for the Octy, but they do for the MK4 Golf with the same size disc (312mm), unfortunately they don't do a grooved disc as I would have prefered those., but I'm very impressed with the stopping ability of the set up I've fitted.

I would be tempted to check the wheel bearings as it can throw the pads away from the disc's

I worry about some of the stuff garages fill their customers heads with. If you are boiling dot4 brake fluid you must be driving at near competition speeds for a prolonged period. As long as your fluid is changed regularly, ie every few years there is no problem. Do these garages think that their knowledge is suddenly greater than the development engineers at Skoda? Sounds like an excuse to charge you more money. Even fluid full of water would stop you, it would just boil quicker, which is why it needs changing.

As for the wrong cylinders comment, once the brakes have been applied for the first time, the shoes will only pull back to a point controlled by the master cylinder, the length of the slave would have no effect.

I would recommend using a Skoda dealer and OEM gear. If you know your way around a car then buying genuine parts is the way to go.

My two pennys worth, I just hate to see people fleeced

Neil

I had DOT 5.1 put in as my old fluid was knackered and I was about to go down to the south of Germany taking advantage of the Autobahns and was going past the ring.

For the sake of an extra £20 I'm not going to chance boiling the fluid as the brakes not stopping the car at 140mph is a very bad thing.

Yes it's £20, but I'd rather have over spec fluid. That plus it actually improved brake feel for me

Wow, some really interesting info on here! Thanks...

I think ill keep an eye on it, and see what happens. Being that its my only car(wife doesnt drive) our only transport, my way of making money, and I ferry the family about, im very wary of anything that isnt exactly perfect!

To this end I think ill just get the lot done, front and rear pads, fluid etc with Genuine OEM stuff. Being brakes its just not worth the risk of not doing them...

Credit card here I come....!

Thanks again for everybodys replies.

Regards

Rob

You might want to try aftermarket groved disks and quiality pads as these will probably cost no more than OEM discs.

Although its important to change your brake fluid this doesn't sound like your problem, Knackered brake fluid causes the pedal to go soft. I had the same problem in the rain with my Vrs for 2 years until i fitted groved discs. Brakes respond instantly now and far more reasuring. I got some good advice about grooved discs and there vast improvement in wet weather performance. As for performance in the dry there is little if not no improvement. Well worth the money IMHO.

Used to get this problem with OEM brakes, but changed to Tarox G88 grooved discs and Tarox fast road pads all round with Silkolene ProRace 2000 brake fluid and what a difference, no fade at all , and no lag in the wet, just totally reliable stopping power far in excess of the OEM ones.

Not cheap, but quality never is.

I worry about some of the stuff garages fill their customers heads with.

.......

As for the wrong cylinders comment, once the brakes have been applied for the first time, the shoes will only pull back to a point controlled by the master cylinder, the length of the slave would have no effect.

Neil

Sorry Neil, you're wrong - maybe that's what you think should happen but in fact it didn't. I worked with the garage on this one and both drove the car with the 'wrong' cylinders' in, and then was there when the brakes were dismantled for investigation, and it was quite clear that no movement in the rear cylinders occurred until the brake pedal was half way depressed.

It is apparently a known problem and changing to the 'automatic' cylinders removed the problem.

I wouldn't have posted the story unless a) it was true and confirmed, and it might have relevance to other Octavia users.

Rob