Uprated brake pads on standard discs

[Mattieuk]

I'm looking at doing something with the brakes on my 172. The discs on the car (front and rear) are the standard ones newly fitted 6 months ago, so are in very good condintion.

So my questions are:- Would it be worth adding some performanace pads to the standard discs?? Would this make a noticable difference to the stopping power? Would performance pads increase disc wear?

Any advice would be great Cheers

 

[Middo]

probably best to stick with your current set-up as performance pads (being a harder compound) can lead to standard discs warping.

not sure if all performance pads do this, but to be honest i'd leave it until they've worn, and get a new set of discs and pads.

 

[edde]

Harder pads usually wear the disks as well.
Unl;ess you've got to chnage your pads or are having problems with the stock setup I wouldn't upgrade personally.

 

[Lunner]

LOL at harder pads warping the disc

Discs warp if you sit wiht your foot ont eh brake, or put the hand brak on when the dsics are really hot, and then part of the disc gets hotter then others and cools down at a differnt speed, resulting in the disc wapring.

Performance discs imo are a waste of time, i'm runnign pagid fast road pads on std discs and they are more then enough, althoguh as edde says unless you are having problems wiht lack of braking power, brake fade etc then i wouldn't bother,

 

[Phill1978]

LOL at harder pads warping the disc

Discs warp if you sit wiht your foot ont eh brake, or put the hand brak on when the dsics are really hot, and then part of the disc gets hotter then others and cools down at a differnt speed, resulting in the disc wapring.

Performance discs imo are a waste of time, i'm runnign pagid fast road pads on std discs and they are more then enough, althoguh as edde says unless you are having problems wiht lack of braking power, brake fade etc then i wouldn't bother,

what if the discs look cool though ??? i.e grooved/drilled or name engraved that `d do it for me

 

[Lunner]

what if the discs look cool though ??? i.e grooved/drilled or name engraved that `d do it for me

*rolls eyes*

Go for it, pay more money for something that is weaker and more expensive, but looks 'cool'

 

[Mattieuk]

Lunner,

Do the Pagid fast road pads, make a noticible difference over stock pads?

 

[Lunner]

Yes, i can go from 30-0 in about 2 mtrs, and i've done 3 track days on this set of pads and had no brake fade, and done about 10k miles as well as the track days and still got over half the pad left

 

[Christopher]

Lunner is right. I have Pagid fast road pads on standard Brembo discs on my Mk1 172.
No matter how hard they get used, i never get an amount of fade that knocks my confidence.

If your are getting grooved discs for looks, fair play. but they are really not worth the money for the 172 imo.

 

[Mattieuk]

Cheers for the replies guy's

My car now has had a few mods on it, so the next logical step is brakes / suspension. My current brake set-up is totally stock standard, so I am looking at what options I've got to improve whats on it already (within £££ reason).

Like I said the disc are virtually new, so unless changing the discs would give me a massive increase in braking power then I am reluctant to change discs.

Are the pagid's good from cold? and what cost am I looking at pads all round?

 

[Phill1978]

*rolls eyes*

Go for it, pay more money for something that is weaker and more expensive, but looks 'cool'

ok

dunno why it would be a weaker disc though ???

i want some of these...

http://www.hexcentric.com/cpdcatalogue/so_rossini_brakes.cfm

 

[Lunner]

Hummm.....let me think, you ahve a piece of metal that spins at god knows how many thousand RPM, that it subject to a massive clamping force, and then you go and remove metal from it.

Its a well known fact that by grooving a disc you weaken it, and its also a well documented fact that during large termperature changed drilled discs crack, or can crack around the holes.

Grooved discs are a waste of time IMO, why do you think F1 cars run std discs?

Pagid fast road pads for about £30 for the fronts from GSF, and i run std's on the back of mine, no point in uprating the rears, and i was still getting my rears locking up around Anglesey (makes metal note to adjust bais valve before Donnignton).

Pagids are fine from cold, but obvously work better when fully up to temp

 

[Mattieuk]

Lunner thanks for the advice

I'll come and say Hi at Donnington. I only live down the road so I'm going to come with my camcorder and watch you boys thrash around the track (to chicken to do it myself )

Thanks again bud.

 

[Lunner]

No worries.

If you are really nice i'll take you round for a couple of laps

 

[Mattieuk]

I'll hold you to that

 

[Fishy Dave]

Just to add.....

I've yet to take my 172 on track, so can only speak from my experience of the Fiat Coupe, which is very hard on discs and pads. Grooved discs make a BIG difference to these cars, I have plenty of exerience of this from track work. As above, drilled discs are pretty good but they do crack over time.
the best discs i've tried were grooved and dimpled 3G discs, no cracking, but plenty of power.
The grooves allow the escape of hot gases from the pad surface.

I'll bow to the experience of others on here though if they say the 172 doesn't need uprated discs. My MX5 was the same, no need to uprate anything.

 

[Rob669]

Are you absolutely certain you need to upgrade? Autocar magazine reported in July 2000 that the 172 will outbrake a 911 Turbo and 360 Modena. I've always found the brakes to be excellent and I keep an eye on my rear view mirror when braking hard - in case the car behind can't match me.

 

[Phill1978]

why not try yozza`s braking package which is cliocup racer pads (friction 97 pads i think) braided hoses front and rear and a certain type of fluid. very cheap but meant to be awesome.

im sure someone can give you the exact details.

 

[Fred@BTM]

meggerman, you forgot to add that kit comes with NEW Brembo GrpN discs too

only problem with our track kit, is it squeals like a bugger with normal driving, but thats due to the race pads

we do offer the same package but with a choice of pad

Goodridge braided lines
Brembo grpN discs

Ferodo Ds2500
EBC greens (new version is very good!)
Pagid blue
Pagid FR
PF 97
OE

new discs are in the pipeline too

 

[Swervin_Mervin]

DS2500s are the tits.

 

[Phill1978]

meggerman, you forgot to add that kit comes with NEW Brembo GrpN discs too

only problem with our track kit, is it squeals like a bugger with normal driving, but thats due to the race pads

we do offer the same package but with a choice of pad

Goodridge braided lines
Brembo grpN discs

Ferodo Ds2500
EBC greens (new version is very good!)
Pagid blue
Pagid FR
PF 97
OE

new discs are in the pipeline too

just out of interest are the new discs grooved ? hope so

id be interested in the kit with the new disc`s but with Ferodo Ds2500 OR OE pads.

 

[Fred@BTM]

its a possibility, whatever the owners want we'll happily consider it

if they're crap, we won't sell them


we did test some grooved discs, they were good, but didn't last long!! mainly down to the metal they were made from

 

[Lunner]

What are the Brembo group N discs?

If they aren't grooved then they aren't the Brembo max's, so i guess they are solid vented discs....but how do 'group N' differ to teh normal brembo ones?

 

[Lunner]

just out of interest are the new discs grooved ? hope so

id be interested in the kit with the new disc`s but with Ferodo Ds2500 OR OE pads.

Why in god's name do you want to upgrade the discs and keep OE pads, pads prolly make the largest difference going

 

[Fred@BTM]

not always Lunner, disc material plays a part too

Brembo GpN are purely a stock fitment item, made from a different material

 

[Lunner]

Ahhh gotcha, High Carbon?

 

[Fred@BTM]

correcto