Big brakes - are they worth it ?

[Westy]

I did the Nurburgring with bog standard 312s and it was damn tout dangerous. The brakes wouldn't even slow the car down for light bends and we completely fried after 3-4 miles.

A year later I went back with DS2500s and rbf600 fluid and it was 1000 times better. The brakes were fine for a whole lap at a reasonable pace.

A year later and I returned with brembo Porsche Boxster calipers. Now I know that Prawn isn't a fan of these but again they were much better then the previous year. I went on to do an all day track day at bedford autodrome an they were spot on all day. I really now need to upgrade again to some porka calipers that take bigger discs and see the improvement again but I'm happy with my brakes.

Something that never seems to get mentioned when these brake treads start is the tyres that are used alongside them! I've noticed huge braking differences between budget tyres and premium road tyres and then again between premium road tyres and semi slick tyres.

 

[s3dave]

So true .. some of the ****e that is coming out of the far east is unbelievable! trouble is general joe bloggs thinks it is a good deal until one rainy day.......

 

[firestorm]

Westy, so are you running 312mm discs with Boxster or Boxster 'S' calipers ?

re tyres - absolutely, the S3 were shod with SAVA tyres. Kept them for 3 weeks, then changed them for Conti sport contacts. Big difference. The only positive aspect of them, are they were quieter and gave a more plush ride.

 

[firestorm]

Here are the calipers in question:



996 351 425 and 996 351 426

They're huge compared to the standard calipers. I wanted to paint them black, but they're in such good condition I haven't had the heart to do it.

 

[Westy]

Westy, so are you running 312mm discs with Boxster or Boxster 'S' calipers ?

Boxster 986 fronts with 312mm discs. Yeah they might not be as good as the bigger brakes but they are a huge improvement over standard but you retain cheaper discs. I just ordered a pair of pagid plain front discs yesterday for £60. My car is a road car that does an occasional track say so it does just fine on braking. If like prawn I had a full on track car I'd now look to get bigger brakes.

 

[big harty]

I have fitted rs4 b7 brakes to my s3. And all I can say is fantastic. Go for it matey

 

[Richym]

sorry to dig up old tread. i ordered the new stock disks (bosch) when ordering i had a choice of 312 or 345mm has anyone seen these before?

 

[firestorm]

Richy
345mm ? strange size .... def not a standard S3/LCR/1.8T size.
Won't fit in standard wheels

 

[niallh]

345 is the size for the 8P s3 I believe. RichyM what year is your car?

 

[Prawn]

Niallh is correct.

8L S3 has 312x25mm front discs

8P S3 has 345x30mm discs.

 

[Richym]

its 2001.

thats a shame i was thinking there may be option to get bigger calliper carrier to fit 345s.