What the hell brake pads do I need?!?!

[Benjiman46]

Hi everyone, Well I've had a crap day today... Got my new 334mm disks to go with my R32 Golf calipers today, and though WOOHOO! I'm finally going to fit them!!! The brake pads I ordered pitched up, some Ferodo Ds250, which to my horror upon opening the box were for single piston calipers... mine are twin piston.

So I rang Larkspeed, who I bought them from, and said the pads were wrong.. they protested until I said check for Audi TT 3.2 V6 instead because they're the same, and they had no part number... Which tells me Ferodo have duff gen on R32 golf brakes.. SO anyway, ferodo are sending a courier either tomorrow or friday to come pick them up and refund me... That's one problem solved...

The only problem I have now is, what do I buy?! Clearly Ferodo have no idea what they're making pads for, as I put in the exact details that was meant to go in, Mk4 golf 2002 3.2 R32... So I'm looking at EBC red or yellow stuff now. What's your opinions and where can I reliably get them from?

Cheers

Ben

 

[aragorn]

The standard Ferodo Premier Pad for the R32 caliper is FDB1001, DS2500 versions usually start with FCP instead, but they dont seem to do a DS2500 version of that pad.

I wouldnt be putting EBC pads near my car.

You might well find the Premiers are good enough, they seem to get a really good ratings over on SRS for road use.

 

[Benjiman46]

Ok then thanks, Whats wrong with EBC though? I had them in my old focus and they were ok.. Have you had different experiences?

 

[aragorn]

I've never ran them personally, but i've heard of many folk over the years having them fall apart or similar across all different forums over the years.

Maybe they've fixed them, but i wouldnt want to find out the hard way that they hadnt.

 

[Reload]

I did a review for EBC yellowstuff I have on my S3. A quick search will find it, in a nutshell I think they're a great pad

 

[S3 Andy]

i tried yellow stuff and found them ok... Very high wear on the discs tho and the first time you go for the brakes on the way to work in the morning it was noticable that they arent good from cold (not dangerously tho).

maybe see what the guys over at http://www.r32oc.com/forum use.

 

[Prawn]

More to the point, why did you buy stupidly heavy old school brakes with stupidly expensive discs that won't work any better than LCR brembos?

Sorry, one of my less helpful posts that one

 

[S3Zek]

More to the point, why did you buy stupidly heavy old school brakes with stupidly expensive discs that won't work any better than LCR brembos?

Sorry, one of my less helpful posts that one

makes alot of sence tho....

 

[Prawn]

It does, I hate R32 brakes, they're just nasty.

big fat heavy cast iron calipers, still have sliders and pins like a mk1 fiesta, MASSIVE heavy discs that are extra thick too so weigh even more, and cost twice as much to replace as LCR brembos, yet don't look or work as good :S

No offense intended ben, they'll be a massive upgrade from your S3 brakes I'm sure, I just don't see the draw to them myself

 

[ttdaveb]

i've had a lot of experience with EBC pads and discs, pm me and i'll steer you in the right direction.

 

[Benjiman46]

It does, I hate R32 brakes, they're just nasty.

big fat heavy cast iron calipers, still have sliders and pins like a mk1 fiesta, MASSIVE heavy discs that are extra thick too so weigh even more, and cost twice as much to replace as LCR brembos, yet don't look or work as good :S

No offense intended ben, they'll be a massive upgrade from your S3 brakes I'm sure, I just don't see the draw to them myself

I bought them cos they were very cheap and I don't fancy the £500 people want for old LCR brembos lol simple

 

[daz-20vt]

It does, I hate R32 brakes, they're just nasty.

big fat heavy cast iron calipers, still have sliders and pins like a mk1 fiesta, MASSIVE heavy discs that are extra thick too so weigh even more, and cost twice as much to replace as LCR brembos, yet don't look or work as good :S

No offense intended ben, they'll be a massive upgrade from your S3 brakes I'm sure, I just don't see the draw to them myself

Ive also bought this set up recently. I know most wont understand but the stopping power is great from these but the biggest reason for me was they look oem. Im not entirely sure why i want this style but i do?? Ive had ap racing brakes and porsche brakes on my previous cars and they worked great etc with no draw backs. But still wanted oem. Plus i got the whole kit so cheap in comparison to an lcr set up. As for pads the ebc red stuff pads for R32 are popular from what i see but as aragon says there seems to be as many people who hate them as those who rate them. They also meant to click or tap as you apply them. God knows what to do. Guess a good quality road pad??

Ps. Im using my phone and accidentally disliked someones thread so sorry for whoever that was. Not intentional

 

[daz-20vt]

bmw pads r32 brakes? - uk-mkivs

Hopecully this link works. Useful info on there.

 

[aragorn]

Give the Ferodo Premiers a try, they're only about 40quid, so no huge loss if you dont like them.

 

[Sam_]

Don't forget that the OEM R32 discs are floating 2 piece (albeit fixed rather than bolted) so will help with fade over a 1 piece. ECS also sell a proper 2 piece setup, which I've just bought.

 

[Prawn]

Don't forget that the OEM R32 discs are floating 2 piece (albeit fixed rather than bolted) so will help with fade over a 1 piece.

Yea, but any increased fade resistance from the disc will be countered by the stupid cast iron calipers that can't dissipate the heat like an alloy 4 pot!

Unsprung weight is a much bigger deal than people realise. Going overkill on brakes just ruins things. Spec the caliper / disc / pad correctly and try to minimise unsprung weight.

 

[Sam_]

Genuine question but do a lot of R32 owners cook their brakes? I mean they are similar weight to the S3?

A decent set of tyres, braided hoses and decent discs and pads on the S3 would probably do the trick and save the weight gain where, like you say, it's pretty key.

It's the reason I went for proper ECS 2 piece R32 discs, the weight. That said, the R32 disc design is pretty decent for what is, just heavy. They are even directional too for proper cooling.

 

[Prawn]

Genuine question but do a lot of R32 owners cook their brakes? I mean they are similar weight to the S3?

Probably not, the massive Boat anchor up front Sans turbo stops them from reaching any great speed where you'd be able to cook your brakes