Brakes

Hi there fellow Skoda owners,

I'm currently in the process of doing a few mods on my Elegance 1.8T and am starting with wheels and brakes, before moving on to remap and possibly suspension. I've already posted a couple of times and read all the threads so I have most of the info I need so thanks to everyone for that.

My next question will show my ignorance but when I change to 17" wheels and 312mm brakes and new pads at the front, I've been told I will need new carriers. Are these the calipers ie the bright green bits on the vRS, or are they something less substantial? Any advice appreciated.

Also, I'm thinking of going for the stock vRS brake discs rather than grooved discs, with Mintex Extreme (or similar) pads, to save money. I figure if the discs are good enough for the vRS they'll be good enough for a remapped 1.8T and the quality pads will do the stopping business more than adequately. Am I an idiot?

I'm not planning any race days or extreme illegal driving, just a bit of fun when the wife and baby aren't with me.

Finally, is it worth putting lowering springs on existing shocks, or would new shocks and existing springs do it. I want to lower slightly and improve the handling..

Cheers