Brake Upgrades...

[A3_Turbo]

Hi guys im guessing it's going to be time to change my pads all round soon, Havnt been touched since i bought the car a year ago!

I havnt got the money at the moment for the Brembo GT kit, Having a remap and my ARB'S done first.

So.. if i wanted to upgrade my braking all round is it better to just replace them for OEM when needed and wait for the Brembo GT kit?

Or.. Is there an alternative? Can i see an improvement from aftermarket discs and pads all round?

Cheers

 

[Aky]

How about S3/TT brakes? Cheaper than Brembo. Not sure whether you would need to change the hubs. What size are your discs at the moment?

 

[Dave_Bayern]

You will see a MASSIVE improvement from uprated pads and discs.

You're pretty close to me so I can demonstrate at some point if need be, but I am running 288mm fronts and 256mm non vented rears, so completely standard sizes but aftermarket discs and pads, and Nick from here who has uprated discs and pads on his S3 even commented how much better they are compared to his.

The right disc and pad choice makes a big difference.

Basically, the best discs I have had to date are black diamond grooved. They were approx £120 the pair of fronts.
These are also popular in the VW scene, its useful to take a lot of information from the Mk4 GTI owners as they are far more numerous and its essentially the same car as the FWD A3 T Sport.

Drilled discs are a no-no if you intend to run them hard, so its best to stick with grooved.

I use Ferrodo DS2500 pads on the front which are a dedicated track pad and have some of the best cold biting characteristics of any track pad. Obviosuly they work superbly when heated but the DS2500s are fantastic cold too.
The other pads I would consider would be Pagid Blue, Pagid Yellow and Ferrodo DS3000, depending on your usage.

The rear brake bias is about 30%, so you don't need to upgrade the rears really, so I run Brembo MAX on there and standard pads (Textar).

Its remains to be seen if standard pads will survive a track day, as previously I ran EBC greens.

Don't, whatever you do, consider EBC Red stuff pads. They are cack.

Not considering Brembo upgrades, my brakes are the best out of anyones A3/S3 and Mk4 GTI I have ever driven.

To give you an idea of price:

Black Diamond front Discs from Venom Motosport £120
Ferrodo DS2500 from Jabbasport £135
Brembo Max Rear discs from GSF £30
Audi rear pads from a Dealer £30

So total price would be £315, you could downgrade to Mintex fast road or similar pads if you dont intend to track it, which would save you £70, or upgrade the rears to Black Diamond grooved rears for an extra £70.

 

[Prawn]

also, its worth noting that a 312 front upgrade is really pretty cheap.

on top of the other stuff, you only need to get the calliper carriers from vagparts, which are about £115.

personally, i agree with what dave says, ill be going for black diamond discs when i come to do a 312 upgrade on my A3.

 

[Dave_Bayern]

Yeah, if you are doing a disc/pad upgrade, the 312 upgrade is a sensible move. I'll be getting caliper carriers from a scrpayard next time I come to upgrade but the discs are the same price, and pads also obviously are due to the same calipers.

So even with Black Diamond fronts, rears, track pads on the front, fast road on the back using new calipers, thats still considerably less than a Brembo kit and for normal road driving with occasional track use, equally as viable.

It'd be basically £500 if you got caliper carriers from a Dealer, and £392 plus whatever your calipers cost if you got them elsewhere.

Obviously prices become shocking if you can't fit them yourself, but its easy.