S3 brakes

[Effect]

Yes yet another thread on the S3's brakes.

I have seen many threads asking about uprating the whole setup ie calipers disks pads etc.
But being as I am a tightwad I am only gonna pay for better disks and pads so what is the best way to go about it ?

I was thinking some sort of fast road pads and somewhere around an 8 groove disk, would this be wise ?

 

[sprout99]

std pads are pagid fast road type and are pretty good TBH.

Go for zimmerman cross drilled disks - they are the OEM style upgrade

 

[Ess_Three]

Personally I'd avoid cross drilled discs like the plague.
They crack around the holes.
Even the Porsche ones which are cast with strong points for the drillings..

If you want more bite, go for grooved...noisier, but they work well in my experience.

 

[S3 AD]

I have Ferrodo DS2500's pads on my S3 - they are a lot better than standard especially when they warm up, but when not using much brake pressure usually when just pulling up gentle they have always squeeked and squeealled, but with windows closed and stereo on I hardly notice

 

[ChriS3]

Even the Porsche ones which are cast with strong points for the drillings...

Tell me about it. Cracked and 'warped' now.

 

[Dave_Bayern]

+1 on Ess-Three's comments. I'd avoid cross drilled as they are awful, awful beyond words.

Having tried Zimmerman, EBC, Brembo MAX and Black Diamond, I'd go for Black Diamond every time.

The Zimmerman discs I had were better than standard, but still wore down pretty quick and the grooved ones are noisy. The EBC were the worst discs I've ever had, even standard discs were way better (although didnt look as cool). The Brembo max were brilliant, last for ever but are prone to rust on the hub face and dont look bling enough ;-)

The Black Diamonds so far are fantastic, quiet most of the time, very VERY good and a reasonable price. Plus I had my supplier ring Black Diamond for an emergency set of fronts for the next day and BD made them up in the morning and shipped directly to me that afternoon. (Black Diamond discs are all solid and they are machined to order)

The 312mm Grooved fronts will cost around £130 per pair and if you want to upgrade your rears (not strictly necessary due to 70/30 braking bias) then they do the 256mm rears at £97 per pair.


As for pads, if you want the absolute best performance and don't care how much you have to pay, then Ferrodo DS2500's are the best for road and track use combined, but not cheap at £130 per axle set.

I've heard good things about Pagid blue, Pagid yellow and Mintex fast road.

Avoid EBC ceramics like they are the devil himself and run very fast away from EBC greens.

Also, as odd as it may sound, standard pads are very good and very good avlue for money and I know lots of people who use them on the track with no issues.

 

[Effect]

how long would you expect those stupidly expensive pads to last ?
If they last a bit longer i would consider them otherwise i will be looking for cheaper alternatives i think

 

[Dave_Bayern]

If you are worried about cost, then 'uprating' or 'getting better performance' is a moot point.

How much would you like to spend on this? Are you wanting the same replacement intervals as standard sets?

 

[Effect]

How long would you expect these pads to last ?
How long would you expect a standard set of pads to last ?

 

[rodenal]

If u drive normally they'll last the same

I go through a set of pads every 1.5 yrs doing 30,000 miles a yr - maybe 1 yr a set at a push

 

[leecs3]

I've got cross drilled discs on both my cars and never had a problem. (zimmermann on the S3 with Pagid, HiSpec with Ferodo on the VR) I do bed them in for 500miles to ensure than the pads aren't over heated causing the resin move to be drawn to face of the pads.

 

[Ess_Three]

Tell me about it. Cracked and 'warped' now.

Ah well...

I think cooling is an issue on the S3...in that the design of the front bumper doesn't allow good cooling of the front brakes - especially with the inner shields on.

Again, where Porsche brakes are concerned, they are specifically designed to run on cars with optimised airflow over the brakes...

Might be a factor.

Also Chris, are your wheel bolts torqued up correctly using a torque wrench?
I've warped discs before where the wheel bolts haven't been at the correct torque.

 

[dultanur]

effect, if you don't regularly run track days, i would sugges you stick with OEM discs wit fast road pads. would also be cheaper i guess..

 

[Dave_Bayern]

Speaking of OEM, I overheated some OEM pads in about 3 minutes yesterday, I had just fitted new front discs to a friends car but hadn't changed the rears, these were again, OEM rear discs.

Several hard stops later and the brake pads completely overheated front and rear and I was forced to roll to a stop.

The rear ones also set themselves on fire.....

Thus my views on OEM is somewhat less than satisfactory. OEM Pads are Textar by the way (or the two sets I've had always have been).

I'd agree with the above, if its a massive budget excercise, then OEM discs (or the cheap Brembo max alternative) and fast road pads.