Discs & Pads change

mattyboy199

mattyboy199

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Hi Guys,

Now i know the answer to this is gonna be do a search but, can someone recommend some good discs & pads to replace my worn set on my S3, i quite simply dont have time to be searching through 100's of posts.

From what i ve read previously S3 standard discs are pretty reliable & i m not particulary keen on buying a drilled / grooved set that may have the potential to warp nor do i have the cash to be replacing them with Brembos.

So i m looking at standard discs with a good pads. Also it would help if people could point me in the right direction for those that are reasonably priced.

Thanks

Matt
 
Ferodo DS 2500 are supposed to be the best i think.... About £100 a set, wouldn't know where to get them though.
 
£130 a set and you can get them from jabbasport, badgerbill, or motorsportworld i think but you need to phone them
 
echo the ds2500 advice, a nice pad on road. I would stick with Original discs, they are generally high qulaity steel material and tend to be less susceptible to warpage than aftermarket ones. Also, remember, they have a warranty on them and whilst I am sure if you took them back after 18 months they would tell you go whistle, if they warp wihtin a few weeks, you shold be able to get them replaced.
Whislt at it, Mat, it is worth some uprated fluid in theire, S3 is a heavy car brakes are relatively poor, but it is easy to boil the fluid after a couple of high speed applications.
ATE blue is a good compromise with good performace (wet and dry) and it is pretty cheap! Put it this way, it has 90% of the performace stats as Castrol race, yet costs about 6quid a litre, not 40+quid a litre!!

As a guide as to how much better than stock fluid, stock boils at less than half the temp as castrol race and about a thirs the temp as a "wet" boiling point!

So the ATE is a big improvemnt over stock. It is worth having someone do it though, as you need VAg com really to properly prime the ABS which is a pain!!!
 
Thank you guys the coments are appreciated, i ve recently had my brake fluid changed by Jabba, i assume they used a decent fluid. Ok so standard discs are the way to go. If i was to step down a level in terms of pads what would i be getting from the Ferodo DS range, i dont find the standard brakes that bad unless i basically go for a burn for the best part of an hour & then they start to fade, £100+ for pads seems a little OTT its only road use i m looking for.
 
thanks steve thats what i was thinking although, i have been looking for them discs with the xtreme pads as a better setup.
 
Yes i agree steve, unless theres a disc availble for similar money, which would allow me to buy the mintex xtreme pads separately.
 
Infact i ve just found the discs seperatley for £60, just need to find somewhere that sells the mintex xtreme pads. What sort of money do they go for ?
 
S3Steve said:
Just noticed the same company are selling the mintex setup for less under a tt listing.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/AUDI-TT-MINTE...289&_trkparms=39:1|65:10&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

These are the same price as ive seen the discs on there own for, so imo you may as well just get the complete kit and see how you get on with them before spending any more money on the extreme pads.
Click to expand...

I have these pads and discs fitted to mine. Bought from the same place but i picked them up locally. You cant go wrong mate
 
just brought two sets of s3 front discs and pads and one set of rear discs and pads for £199. including postage. Got a better deal buy ringing the Ebay Shop direct. They will more than likely be able to sort you out. mncautomotive 0161 925 0033
 
i thought **** it & went with the mintex setup sold on ebay, for the price you cant really complain.
 
I recieved my Mintex front setup on tuesday (ordered them on sunday) & to be honest i cant see much difference in terms of design from the standard discs they look identical, pads are probably different.

I fitted them all myself & if your compitent then you shouldnt have any problems at all.

Based on my 1st drive the brake pedal feels firmer which is good, i did previously wonder if my pedal felt soft due the old discs being well old & worn they ve been on there since new & done about 50k so i m not sure if thats average or a little to much.

Still waiting for them to bed in, initial thoughts are good especially for £76.


Oh BTW guts mintex xtreme pads have been discontinued, not sure what or if their replacing them.
 
mattyboy199 and Jester,

how are you finding the mintex setup? I am in need of new discs n pads brakes up front, and a set of pads on the back. I'm tempted by the ferodo ds2500 and some 'regular' discs (not sure on the brand yet - too many to choose from and don't want them being eaten up by good pads!).

anyway, when I spotted this setup I thought it would be worthwhile asking how you find them? Also being all the same brand - perhaps they would be less prone to warping etc. Those pads on ebay ain't extreme's are they?

whilst I'm on I think I'm probably gonna change the rears too - I'll run a regular OEM setup here I think - cheap and cheeful.

My car is an A3 T, with the 312mm TT setup, so this mintex should be adequate for my needs - and the price is a benefit also.

Whilst I'm on - if I was to change the hoses to that of braided ones, what's the best bet here - anybody know? Will I need S3/TT ones as my brakes are 312 or are would braided hoses be just the same as needed for the A3?

Cheers

Rob :D
 
I purchased the mintex set up from ebay (from the same place listed on this thread) great service, recieved the product the next day!
So far the brakes are fine no issues what so ever, although they were for the rears.

Straight forward fit with no issues, recommended!
 
I have the mintex pads on my A3 1.8T...with zimmerman discs I got from Murraysdirect.- £65 delivered
pads: £27 delivered from ebay for the pads

Did a brake fluid flush and I'm quite happy with the result.

I think braided hose for A3 is same as the TT/S3 since the calipers are actually same on both cars. Only the carriers are different.

I'm also running TT/S3 312mm setup
 
recomdos said:
mattyboy199 and Jester,

how are you finding the mintex setup? I am in need of new discs n pads brakes up front, and a set of pads on the back. I'm tempted by the ferodo ds2500 and some 'regular' discs (not sure on the brand yet - too many to choose from and don't want them being eaten up by good pads!).

anyway, when I spotted this setup I thought it would be worthwhile asking how you find them? Also being all the same brand - perhaps they would be less prone to warping etc. Those pads on ebay ain't extreme's are they?
Click to expand...

No they are not the Xtremes just the standard ones. For the price they are spot on comapred to OE and other brands. In terms of fitting as with any make very straightforward. So far they are good, feel very similar to the OE pads and discs. I've given them a good blat here and there and they feel sure footed. As and when I have the cash and time I will be getting the DS2500 pads and trying them out on the Mintex Discs to see how they feel and rate. From what i can ascertain any disc can be used but it is the pad that gives you the stopping power. I've contemplated grooved discs but for the money I can't justify them; i'll be going down EssThrees route of removing the brakeshields to improve cooling rather than hoping that the grooves can do the job.

recomdos said:
whilst I'm on I think I'm probably gonna change the rears too - I'll run a regular OEM setup here I think - cheap and cheeful.
Click to expand...

Same as, I have to change the rears soon and will be going the Mintex route for sure.

recomdos said:
My car is an A3 T, with the 312mm TT setup, so this mintex should be adequate for my needs - and the price is a benefit also.

Whilst I'm on - if I was to change the hoses to that of braided ones, what's the best bet here - anybody know? Will I need S3/TT ones as my brakes are 312 or are would braided hoses be just the same as needed for the A3?
Click to expand...

Not sure, though Goodridge is what i would use if I have too.
 
Ok so the Mintex sound like a sound purchase really. Abdus I've been tempted by zimmerman discs in the past. I'll probably go Mintex though as (one would hope) that they will be well suited to each other as a disc/pad combo - works out a bit cheaper too :D

So Mintex are close to OEM - what's the brake dust like? Is it as bad as the OEM equipment? I was running EBC discs and Greentsuff all round and to be fair the brake dust was a lot less than OEM. :)

As and when I have the cash and time I will be getting the DS2500 pads and trying them out on the Mintex Discs to see how they feel and rate. From what i can ascertain any disc can be used but it is the pad that gives you the stopping power. I've contemplated grooved discs but for the money I can't justify them; i'll be going down EssThrees route of removing the brakeshields to improve cooling rather than hoping that the grooves can do the job.
Click to expand...

Yeah - from my reading the pads seem to be the most important factor of the two. My discs are drilled and slotted, and I took my time bedding them in - though they warped well quick. Pretty disappointed with them to be honest. I'm happy to go for solids this time - pad life should last a while longer too.

Obviously I have a lesser weight without the haldex etc, so I should see a decent return on such a setup.

With the rear setup Jester are you going to stay mintex? I read elsewhere (on here) that it's better to have different pads on the front and back - or is that if they are just good pads up front?

Cheers
Rob
 
What 'make' are your discs? I've looked at Rosinni & Ultimax Discs when do the fronts and wondering whether to try them out, but the price of £180ish for a set just put me off plus for an extra 300 you could probably get a used Brembo Set. I saw on ebay that an Alcon 4 pot set-up was sold for £395.00 to some lucky indivdual, currently there is a Alcon 6 pot set up going for £495+ but you would need 18" to run them I believe.

On the rears I will go the Mintex route purely on price and being marginally better than OE. If you have good pads on the front then you don't want the rears with too much biting power compared to the front to unsettle the car under braking. Reading some of the other threads most stay OE at the rear even with a brake upgrade, however if I got some Brembo fronts I would prefer to have the set and get some Brembo rears to compliment it.
 
What 'make' are your discs? I've looked at Rosinni & Ultimax Discs when doing the fronts and wondering whether to try them out, but the price of £180ish for a set just put me off plus for an extra 300 you could probably get a used Brembo Set. I saw on ebay that an Alcon 4 pot set-up was sold for £395.00 to some lucky indivdual, currently there is a Alcon 6 pot set up going for £495+ but you would need 18" to run them I believe.

On the rears I will go the Mintex route purely on price and being marginally better than OE. If you have good pads on the front then you don't want the rears with too much biting power compared to the front to unsettle the car under braking. Reading some of the other threads most stay OE at the rear even with a brake upgrade, however if I got some Brembo fronts I would prefer to have the set and get some Brembo rears to compliment it.
 
jesters3 said:
What 'make' are your discs? I've looked at Rosinni & Ultimax Discs when doing the fronts and wondering whether to try them out, but the price of £180ish for a set just put me off plus for an extra 300 you could probably get a used Brembo Set. I saw on ebay that an Alcon 4 pot set-up was sold for £395.00 to some lucky indivdual, currently there is a Alcon 6 pot set up going for £495+ but you would need 18" to run them I believe.
Click to expand...

Currently EBC drilled and grooved up front, with greenstuff pads. Wouldn't buy them again (the discs that is). Yeah - you could buy the brembo setup with a bit more cash indeed, though it never really works out that much cheaper (IMO) as you'd just end up buying new discs n' pads not long after. I reckon 4pots are enough though in comparison to 6! heh

On the rears I will go the Mintex route purely on price and being marginally better than OE. If you have good pads on the front then you don't want the rears with too much biting power compared to the front to unsettle the car under braking. Reading some of the other threads most stay OE at the rear even with a brake upgrade, however if I got some Brembo fronts I would prefer to have the set and get some Brembo rears to compliment it.
Click to expand...

Yeah - I know what you mean. Keeping it all inline etc. I reckon I'll probably go mintex all round and see how I get on for now. As I say I guess I'm at a wee bit of an advantage without the weight on the car being an A3.

Any comments on the produced brake dust from the Mintex pads then? Greenstuff do seem to produce quite a bit less than OEM.

Cheers
Rob :)
 
Just normal brake dust as you get from the original setup. I'm not too bothered since my wheels are already anthracite/black..lol
 
just alongside the topic does anyone know where i could get a set of grooved rear discs for an s3. i've looked without any sucess.
 
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