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General Aftermarket brakes...are they really worth it???

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General Aftermarket brakes...are they really worth it???

Donkey

Donkey

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MOT is greatly approaching on my car and the discs are all heavily lipped and need replacing. been looking at getting posh aftermarket grooved and drilled discs and these are a min of 100 quid a pop plus the 50 quid or so for the red stuff pads.
now compared with only 40 quid for the pair of standard discs and 20 quid for the pads...is it really worth double the money on the abarth??
 
Sorry Bozzy but I would say No - although that's on the premise that the standard OEM brakes can stop you very ineffectively in an emergency - which at least on the JTD I believe they can.

If the OP is getting an issue with fade then I'd suggest he changes his driving style and starts reading the road a bit better. In any case, I've always found you get from A to B a lot quicker if you lay off the brakes ;)

If the brakes are for track use then fair enough but I'd like to point out a little experiment Top Gear tried out. They fitted some heavyweight brakes to a production car and found the track time was worse :eek: They didn't say why so I can only assume it was due to the extra weight bolted on the car (which admittedly shouldn't be the case with just changing discs & pads)
 
Thats rubbish about top gear. They made those mods to purposely put down the boy racer.
They put an F1 spoiler on the car ffs and for some strange unknown reason it slowed the car down so do you think you take take the rest of that program with anything more than a pinch of salt.

At the same time they uprated the breaks with the most stupendously sized things they added the worlds biggest and heaviest wheels which will have a hell of a lot more adverse affect than the OP would notice putting a set of Vented disks and fast road pads.

I dont like this section Argo, it seems that every time somebody asks something about modifying a car you have too boo hoo it as rubbish. If i were to ask if adding a turbo to my car what would you say. :bang:

So back on topic. IMO no its not worth the money on uprating the breaks on performance alone, but they do look a lot better if you are modifying the car. I have had a few close calls with my uprated ones that have made me wonder if the standard would have stopped me as well.

But be careful or you will do what i did and glaze them so you get a horrible screach.
 
Argonought said:
Sorry Bozzy but I would say No - although that's on the premise that the standard OEM brakes can stop you very ineffectively in an emergency - which at least on the JTD I believe they can.

If the OP is getting an issue with fade then I'd suggest he changes his driving style and starts reading the road a bit better. In any case, I've always found you get from A to B a lot quicker if you lay off the brakes ;)

If the brakes are for track use then fair enough but I'd like to point out a little experiment Top Gear tried out. They fitted some heavyweight brakes to a production car and found the track time was worse :eek: They didn't say why so I can only assume it was due to the extra weight bolted on the car (which admittedly shouldn't be the case with just changing discs & pads)
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Yes I agree the brakes they fitted were bloody huge, Stuff you'd expect on a F1 car of yesteryear. this will have added substantial weight (similar effect of adding huge heavy alloys) more power needed just to turn the wheels. Reducing their lap time.

They'd have been better of getting aftermarket disks and pads but either way they need time to "bed in" (about 300miles normal driving) before they are fully effective anyway.

If your an "enthusiastic driver" and or do the occasional track day then go for it.
 
volxstu said:
I dont like this section Argo, it seems that every time somebody asks something about modifying a car you have too boo hoo it as rubbish. If i were to ask if adding a turbo to my car what would you say. :bang:
Click to expand...
I lot of people here, including myself, give common sense advice - and I'd like to think most people appreciate it.

Would you rather I egged them on and then had a good laugh when they'd blown their engine (ref your turbo idea) and ended up skint :rolleyes:

So back on topic. IMO no its not worth the money on uprating the breaks on performance alone, but they do look a lot better if you are modifying the car. I have had a few close calls with my uprated ones that have made me wonder if the standard would have stopped me as well.
Click to expand...
At least we're agreed on that then ;)
 
I would reckon that grooved or drilled discs are never worth it on a road car of this level. Remember that drilled discs are only required when venting large amounts of gas when bedding in race pads to put it simply. Grooved discs alone would be more suitable but even then for a couple of hundred quid I'd know where I'd rather my money be. You're best bet is going for some more aggressive pads and yes they will destroy your discs more quickly but hey they're only £40 a set or so, not £200. Buying uprated discs and pads simply sets you up for every expensive brake replacements later if you stick with them.

Remember that you're brakes will be ventilated front and solid rear I assume so just pads alone should see good improvements (y)

If you're having problems with brake fade it would pay to look at adding some cooling to them first rather than aftermeerkat discs and pads as they won't hold considerably more heat.

bozzy said:
I would say yes, if they work better than the standard gash. Some have put Brembo's on their Abarth's but if I remember their performance wasn't much to write about. Any improvement though is worth that bit extra.
Click to expand...

The ABS system will be fighting against stronger brakes below say 80mph, for the same tyres of course. This is because of the 'possible' braking rates in the ABS system.

Dan
 
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Brake fade could be due to brake fluid being past its best, it should be changed every couple of years as it absorbs moisture which causes the fluid to boil up at a lower temperature with heavy use, causing an air lock as steam compresses very easily allowing the pads / pistons to lose pressure on the disc. For normal road use the standard OEM equipment is fine if in full working order IMO.
 
Dan89 said:
The ABS system will be fighting against stronger brakes below say 80mph, for the same tyres of course. This is because of the 'possible' braking rates in the ABS system.

Dan
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Interesting point there Dan (y)

My oem brakes were remarkably good (at least that's what a passenger told me) and yet after fitting green stuff pads I've noticed ABS seems more active (and effectively has degraded braking very very slightly). Now this seems all rather odd to me as I thought ABS can't activate until a wheel is locked (which I try to avoid). Could I suppose be down to some coincidence or other but it has got me thinking that there might be more to the ABS system than immediately seems obvious - and that it might actually be better to keep it standard :chin:

Obviously, I'm not referring to fade which can certainly be helped with larger brakes but a lot of folk miss the point that it's the tyre/road surface contact point that dictates how quickly you stop and NOT how big your brakes are! In fact a skilled driver will likely stop quicker if he can stop ABS from engaging (but only just) by reducing the braking load on the tyre/road surface
 
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When the OP was asking should he upgrade I assumed he was on about the discs & pads only; I chucked in the Brembo's as an example if he felt flush cashwise. If pads/discs offer a slight improvement to the standard Stilo then go for it. My opinion of the Stilo brakes is that they are very poor. I am not basing this on my current car's brakes/performance either.
 
wow really got a debate/bitching session going here...
think im gonna chuck it in for its mot see if she passes if she dose then i will treat myself to some groved discs, but if she dosnt i will get standard as money is tight atm.
anyone ever tried to fit some coupe brembos to a stilo??
 
Argonought said:
Interesting point there Dan (y)

My oem brakes were remarkably good (at least that's what a passenger told me) and yet after fitting green stuff pads I've noticed ABS seems more active (and effectively has degraded braking very very slightly). Now this seems all rather odd to me as I thought ABS can't activate until a wheel is locked (which I try to avoid). Could I suppose be down to some coincidence or other but it has got me thinking that there might be more to the ABS system than immediately seems obvious - and that it might actually be better to keep it standard :chin:

Obviously, I'm not referring to fade which can certainly be helped with larger brakes but a lot of folk miss the point that it's the tyre/road surface contact point that dictates how quickly you stop and NOT how big your brakes are! In fact a skilled driver will likely stop quicker if he can stop ABS from engaging (but only just) by reducing the braking load on the tyre/road surface
Click to expand...

Cheers mate. ABS works to try and prevent wheel locking in the context of stopping distance. What I mean by 'possible braking rates' is that basically the ABS system measures wheel speed and therefore can calculate deceleration rates at each wheel, these deceleration rates are used to calculate what release of brake pressure and for what time is required to prevent wheel locking. These values are only relevant with the standard braking parameters, they also take into account suspension and tyres.

The problem you have is that your ABS system sees different results from what it's actions should cause. This causes re-calculations to be performed in addition to the new calculations as you continue to brake. Milliseconds of calculation and reaction time increase stopping distance by feet. This is assuming braking neccessary to cause the ABS system to act and not general braking.

This is just considering the ABS system, as soon as EBD and ESP become involved you are not only affecting your stopping distances.

What Ffoxy said is also important, your braking system should be kept in excellent condition. Brake fluid should be changed every year ideally.
 
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Dan89 said:
This is just considering the ABS system, as soon as EBD and ESP become involved you are not only affecting your stopping distances.
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As an aside, I'd guess fitting bigger tyres than recommended (say wrong profile) would also muck up these internal tables good and proper :chin:

Brake fluid should be changed every year ideally.
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Every 3 years according to the book (mine will be up for it's 2nd change soon)
 
Argonought said:
As an aside, I'd guess fitting bigger tyres than recommended (say wrong profile) would also muck up these internal tables good and proper :chin:
Click to expand...

Yes changing the rolling diameter can affect the ABS system in the same way.

Every 3 years according to the book (mine will be up for it's 2nd change soon)
Click to expand...

Yep I really mean for optimal 'fast road' use where you will be putting more heat into the fluid more often than usual. This type of schedule will keep it working better in these conditions (y)
 
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