My not so mighty Brembos...

[S3 Paul]

Ive put up with the problems im having for a while now , Changing things as ive gone...
The problem is that after a short spirited drive say maybe 4 hardish press's on the brakes they are shot.
The pedal goes slightly softer and the car just doesnt shed speed. a couple of times ive had to go for gaps i would never try by choice!
Im using the Brembo GT jnr kit , it was fitted to the car when i bought it, Since then ive changed the discs ( i tried both ones from Badger 5 and CRN ) ive tried Stock Mintex pads, EBC red stuff and now Ferrodo DS2500,
Ive also had a full fluid change to ATE super racing blue.
Once bedded in they always end up the same,
The rear has CRN groved discs and Audi stock pads,
I dont drive "balls out" but it will stop great first press and if left after a big "moment" the bite is back and all is well for another few stops.

Im about half way through the current set ups life but i am ready to change things as brakes are cheaper than a new front end !
Any ideas people???

 

[paddy]

Sounds like you are getting something on the disc's, maybe a few spirited stops is enough to near boil the fluid and its getting past the seal onto the disc's where after a while it drys off.

 

[jojo]

Very surprising Paul, I've taken my S3 out on the track with my Brembo's fitted and have never once experienced poor braking or even fade. I managed to warp a pair of brake disks at Rockingham circuit, which is classed as a 'braking' circuit, but that was because my brother In law didn't know he was suppose to do a cool down lap on his inlap.
Admittedly, it's continuous heavy braking into corners, not braking from silly speeds, but still quite a lot of stomping.

 

[Prawn]

I'll swap them for my 312mm S3 brakes paul! I'll even drive to you and do the swap if you like


I'd say it must be down to pads. EBC as we all know are a joke brand. DS2500's are fairly good for road use, but in track use they tend to break down and leave deposits on the disc surfacing causing judder, which people often mistake for a warped disc.

If you're serious about brakes, and want something REALLY good, try some Pagid RS29 pads. they're just about the most amazing pads I've ever experienced. I'm currently running the older RS19's in my brembo calipers, and they're awesome too.

What fluid are you running?

 

[jojo]

What fluid are you running?

Ive also had a full fluid change to ATE super racing blue.

.

 

[scoobyra]

I have a similar problem with my Brembos apart from the pedal stays hard but doesn't stop the car!

 

[badger5]

ds3000's for S3's driven hard - softer pedal sounds more fluid to me... too hot..
Motul RBF660 is what I use.. very high dry boil temp

 

[S3 Paul]

Hi Bill.
I tryed that fluid ( i had it sat around as i never got round to putting it in my vr6 )
I bought it from you,
The same feeling has been there with every set up.
I realy dont have faith in them, Even when on the road rather than track, It doesnt take for a massive "rag" to kill them. They will always pass an MOT as one press will make the car near do an endover ! but driven for a while and a few down hill stops from say 70 are enough to kill them,

 

[jojo]

They will always pass an MOT as one press will make the car near do an endover ! but driven for a while and a few down hill stops from say 70 are enough to kill them,

Ha, the guy that MOT'd my S3 said 'good brakes good brakes...'

I'm pretty sure I'm stopping from a higher speed than 70mph out on track, but not down hill, and still carrying speed to go round a corner. Needs to be checked out!

 

[S3 Paul]

Im planning on fitting s4 rear discs ( more for looks than anythingelse ) and changing the front pads or maybe discs and pads soon, Yet another change of fluid too.
But if its hard wear at fault... im wasting money time and time again

 

[jojo]

Im planning on fitting s4 rear discs ( more for looks than anythingelse ) and changing the front pads or maybe discs and pads soon, Yet another change of fluid too.
But if its hard wear at fault... im wasting money time and time again

I'm running ECS stage1 rears(308mm) Paul, makes quite a difference over the standard rears, but I never had these fitted for Rockingham. Definitely worth the upgrade if you like your heavy braking.

 

[S3 Paul]

People will slate me for adding weight... but its an S3 after all not a F1 car.
Im hoping to change wheels to lighter items so will counter the increase.
Is there any real way of testing my brakes under load ?
Other than handing the keys to some spanner monkey at charlie browns ?

 

[Mpathe]

jojo - what you running at the front and does it brake correctly still without the rear over brakeing

 

[jojo]

jojo - what you running at the front and does it brake correctly still without the rear over brakeing

Brembo GT kit up front, I've not experience brake inbalance, but them I'm running 19" rims with wider 235 tyres, which grip very well anyways.

@Paul, lighter wheels make a huge difference mate, the BBS RC's I'm currently running are quite a bit lighter than my 19" Porsche reps I have, I can feel the difference in turnin and pick up.

 

[badger5]

Hi Bill.
I tryed that fluid ( i had it sat around as i never got round to putting it in my vr6 )
I bought it from you,
The same feeling has been there with every set up.
I realy dont have faith in them, Even when on the road rather than track, It doesnt take for a massive "rag" to kill them. They will always pass an MOT as one press will make the car near do an endover ! but driven for a while and a few down hill stops from say 70 are enough to kill them,

thats not normal for these at all

 

[S3 Paul]

Somebody mentioned i should...
1 change the master cylinder ( audi say every 3 years or something )
2 only use brembo drilled discs.

The brembo discs are expensive at around 300 ( expensive if nothing changes i mean )
If i had a problem with my master cylinder wouldnt i feel it in daily driving or on the few good stops i get from speed?

 

[finesse]

Master cylinder every three years?

 

[S3 Paul]

Ye, that was my reply,
My car was serviced by audi up until i bought it so was around 5 years old and shows nothing in the service book about this ever being done. I have never heard it mentioned on here either...

 

[Prawn]

really Paul, it just must be pads mate. it has to be.

If you've had the discs from Bill, everyone else uses them without trouble. you've got decent fluid, what on earth is happening?

Could it be that the brakes are binding and some how overheating the pads before you're even braking?

I just don't see how they can be so bad it makes no sense. Something MUST be up with it.

 

[finesse]

Ye, that was my reply,
My car was serviced by audi up until i bought it so was around 5 years old and shows nothing in the service book about this ever being done. I have never heard it mentioned on here either...

lol, well the cylinder is 150 quid so not extortionate

good luck with the brakes, hope its not dangerous

 

[S3 Paul]

really Paul, it just must be pads mate. it has to be.

If you've had the discs from Bill, everyone else uses them without trouble. you've got decent fluid, what on earth is happening?

Could it be that the brakes are binding and some how overheating the pads before you're even braking?

I just don't see how they can be so bad it makes no sense. Something MUST be up with it.

Thanks,
I fitted some mintex standard pads a while back and they worked fin but didnt like the heat as they lasted about a month.
I would say pads myself but ive tried soo many.
The car free wheels nicely

 

[jojo]

2 only use brembo drilled discs.

DO NOT get these Paul, they are £350+vat, and are very easy to warp, I found out the hard way! lol, but not just me, there's been problems with the OEM Brembo drilled for other members in the past too. I'm running LCR solid disks atm, and they work perfectly with my ECS stage1 rears. I did have a set of grooved disks which I sold to Dane on here, they we're a bit noisier when braking, and you could feel the grooves slightly during braking, stopped well too those.

 

[S3 Paul]

I heard this too jojo,
To the extent that with the LCR cup cars used to do testing after which the discs were warped then brembo would skim them and refit them.

 

[s3_kev]

id say you have to give changing the master cylider a pop, its not going to be either the discs or pads at fault imo, i run ds2500 pads and there absoloutly spot on. the fault would'nt continue from diffrenet discs and pads if it were to be them at fault would it. need to look further a field.
brakes can be a pain to trace the fault back to but only possibilities your left with that i can think of right now are
-sticking piston causing brake to bind on slightly
-master cylinder sticking and slow in return causing brakes to bind on for a while
-air in the system my s3 took ages to bleed the brakes through right even with a pressure bleeder
-hand brake sticking on slightly? check the calipers are returning to there stops

 

[s3_kev]

DO NOT get these Paul, they are £350+vat, and are very easy to warp, I found out the hard way! lol, but not just me, there's been problems with the OEM Brembo drilled for other members in the past too. I'm running LCR solid disks atm, and they work perfectly with my ECS stage1 rears. I did have a set of grooved disks which I sold to Dane on here, they we're a bit noisier when braking, and you could feel the grooves slightly during braking, stopped well too those.

ebc ultimax discs mate, not heared anything from mine as of yet

 

[S3 Paul]

These are what i have in at the moment.

I fitted these after the set of disks from bill. Same problems as before though

 

[S3 Paul]

Im concidering replacing the discs and pads with items from seat dealers.
And maybe then look at the master cylinder?

 

[aragorn]

Is it possible your overheating the rears, which in turn makes the fronts work harder and harder as they're doing all the braking?

Whats your rear setup?

 

[S3 Paul]

Groved discs and at the moment. ( i think ) either Audi standard replacement or EBC red stuff

 

[s3_kev]

Im concidering replacing the discs and pads with items from seat dealers.
And maybe then look at the master cylinder?

be wasting your money imo, you have said you have all ready replaced discs and pads for this fault but it has'nt fixed it.... also you have used parts that most on here have tried and tested with no known faults, id say the problem is else where