General Dealers fitting your own supplied parts

[loveshandbags]

Michael! don't trust everything you read on a forum!

Note that both of those forum posts are from the US, perhaps in the US Ferodo do make Brembo's pads. But until I see something official it's just forum heresay.

This is an Irish forum which I had posted before and it would be pretty reliable...
One other thing - Brembo don't actually make pads (although the may be branded as Brembo). I'll see if I can find out internally here who the pad supplier is and maybe you can go direct....
Aside from hacking into Brembo's computer network (criminal offence) my view would be let Brembo demonstrate that they actually make pads. Still at £25 odd for a set of Brembos with the E rating I suppose you can't go wrong.
I wonder who makes the OEM pad for Fiat - or maybe I shouldn't go there.

 

[306maxi]

The OEM pads were branded Bosch.

 

[loveshandbags]

The OEM pads were branded Bosch.

Well at least we know that the Brembos are a step in the right direction although Bosch do make good washing machines.

 

[stu0710]

Just had some new brake pads fitted at 17K miles having bought them from www.nextdaybrakes.com as recommended by Maxi - total bill £23.50 for the pads (Brembo) plus £20.00 fitting by my local independent garage so I'm well chuffed and thanks Maxi!

The old ones were Bosch (OEM) and as previously discussed only had a sensor on the one pad which was the least worn, two of the otheres were nearly down to the metal! The discs were OK.

Hopefully these will last longer than the OEM pads!

 

[306maxi]

Just had some new brake pads fitted at 17K miles having bought them from www.nextdaybrakes.com as recommended by Maxi - total bill £23.50 for the pads (Brembo) plus £20.00 fitting by my local independent garage so I'm well chuffed and thanks Maxi!

The old ones were Bosch (OEM) and as previously discussed only had a sensor on the one pad which was the least worn, two of the otheres were nearly down to the metal! The discs were OK.

Hopefully these will last longer than the OEM pads!

@ 43.50 for a change it's not a deal breaker if they don't last that long. How do you find the brake feel? I really like how the brakes are a lot less on/off and a lot more progressive and you can still brake hard if you want, you just need to press your foot down a bit more. Any reason you didn't go for a set of discs? They're fairly cheap and they wouldn't have charged you much more to do them.

Always a pleasure to help and also a pleasure to help people save money

 

[RobW]

i have a Bravo now but the same principle applies:

the previous owner was told at 36k service that the front discs and pads were worn and needed replacing

i was told at the MOT in March on 44k miles that the front discs and pads were worn and needed replacing, quoted £250 by Halfords

i drove to Scotland in June and experienced a small amount of brake fade after sustained 'fast road' action

i was told at the 54k service that the front discs and pads and rear discs and pads were worn and needed replacing
to which i replied, yes i know, how much was quoted £500 for front and rear to which i laughted out loud
Fiat even called me to discuss how my service went so I explained aboutthe ripoff quote for brakes

i have now sourced 'zimmerman' uprated front drilled/vented discs for £100 and 'OMP' uprated fast road pads for £50
standard spec replacements would have cost less than £100

the brakes are still working fine (car now on 58k miles) and the brakes will probably last the winter but i have the parts ready for when they do need fitting

moral of the story is change your brakes when you establish for yourself they need changing, and shop around

 

[306maxi]

moral of the story is change your brakes when you establish for yourself they need changing, and shop around

A little late to the party there Rob!

For me it was the fact that the brakes were making a grinding noise. Sure I could have taken them to bits and greased up the calipers and so on, but they were fairly worn and the time and effort involved in stripping everything down meant it was less fuss in the long term just to do it there and then.

 

[RobW]

A little late to the party there Rob!

For me it was the fact that the brakes were making a grinding noise. Sure I could have taken them to bits and greased up the calipers and so on, but they were fairly worn and the time and effort involved in stripping everything down meant it was less fuss in the long term just to do it there and then.

Absolutely, not worth refitting worn consumables

 

[ahmett]

I changed my pads for Mintex ones. They any good?

 

[306maxi]

I changed my pads for Mintex ones. They any good?

Yeah Mintex are fine, we've got mintex pads all round on our Subaru.

 

[stu0710]

@ 43.50 for a change it's not a deal breaker if they don't last that long. How do you find the brake feel? I really like how the brakes are a lot less on/off and a lot more progressive and you can still brake hard if you want, you just need to press your foot down a bit more. Any reason you didn't go for a set of discs? They're fairly cheap and they wouldn't have charged you much more to do them.

Always a pleasure to help and also a pleasure to help people save money

The discs were fine - as they should be after only 17K! The new Brembo pads dofeel a lot more progressive and definitely more 'feel' to the braking, but that could just be because the old ones were knackered?

 

[306maxi]

The discs were fine - as they should be after only 17K! The new Brembo pads dofeel a lot more progressive and definitely more 'feel' to the braking, but that could just be because the old ones were knackered?

Nah, the standard pads are just really grabby. It gives people the impression that the 500 has "good brakes" when they go for a test drive. When in reality you can stop just as well with the Brembo's, you just have more of a choice between on and off with the brakes

 

[RobW]

Nah, the standard pads are just really grabby. It gives people the impression that the 500 has "good brakes" when they go for a test drive. When in reality you can stop just as well with the Brembo's, you just have more of a choice between on and off with the brakes

The standard 500 pads are pretty good tbh, good initial bite and suprisingly fade resistant

i replaced the brake discs and pads with brembo drilled discs and ebc greenstuff pads and the performance was actually worse on greenstuff pads, less initial bite and prone to fade!

 

[306maxi]

The standard 500 pads are pretty good tbh, good initial bite and suprisingly fade resistant

i replaced the brake discs and pads with brembo drilled discs and ebc greenstuff pads and the performance was actually worse on greenstuff pads, less initial bite and prone to fade!

Most of us aren't going to take our cars on tracks though Rob, for most people that initial bit just causes people to brake in a jerky manner. Personally I wouldn't buy EBC stuff, it's cheap and a lot of people have had issues with them. I'll take Brembo any day, even if they're not made by Brembo (as Michael has said) they'll be made by a reputable manufacturer and will have good braking characteristics for the 99.9999% of us who just drive our car on the road and perhaps only occasionally drive fast on a nice bit of road.

 

[loveshandbags]

I'll take Brembo any day, even if they're not made by Brembo (as Michael has said)

The jury is still out on that one - I couldn't find any real proof . Anyway often the best threads are the ones where you get a little fired up. I just have to tame the beast !

Re the Mintex earlier on - the 'dear' ones are only available for the A500 on the fronts and the abarth boys use the standard (cheap ones) on the rear which is all that's available on the fronts of the F500. Reputable manufacturer. I would concure with you about the Greenstuff but they appear to be making a few wee changes with it. The other stuff e.g. the Yellow doesn't have the E marking and for the 'normal' bunter its overkill. So now we're back to the 'Brembos' and they sound good.
Remembering Jason's recent thread where he thought about putting on a set of 'heavy' A500 discs on his F500 - these look tempting (at least they're black for a reason)...
https://www.fiatforum.com/tuning/28...new-high-carbon-blade-discs-uk.html?p=2897883

 

[jnoiles]

Personally I wouldn't buy EBC stuff, it's cheap and a lot of people have had issues with them.

Link? I've used EBC stuff on all kinds of cars in all conditions and aside from the greenstuffs I've found their Red and Yellowstuff to be superb.

 

[Andy Monty]

I wouldn't buy EBC stuff, it's cheap and a lot of people have had issues with them. I

Link? I've used EBC stuff on all kinds of cars in all conditions and aside from the greenstuffs I've found their Red and Yellowstuff to be superb.

Having had 2 sets of their Mountain bike brake pads crumble and turn to dust. on the first ride after fitting......

http://www.ebcbrakes.com/mountain_bike_brakes/index.shtml

(one set was a replacement after i complained about the first set)


There is no way i would personally trust their products on my car after that...

 

[loveshandbags]

Link? I've used EBC stuff on all kinds of cars in all conditions and aside from the greenstuffs I've found their Red and Yellowstuff to be superb.

On the little bit of info that I gathered (primarily from your goodself) these are the references for the REDS...

https://www.fiatforum.com/500/277825-what-will-you-do-where-your-brakes-wear-out.html?p=2824772

Originally, I had EBC Red Stuff for the fronts too, but as I am quite spirited in my driving (as safe as possible and none of those boy racer moves), the Red Stuff gave up very soon. First, they overheated on a long downhill run, so I let them cool down, but thing is, once they have been overheated, they are cooked and never provides the performance they once gave.. It became dangerously weak when cold (and in Hong Kong, the coolest you can get here is 30c in the summer).. You have to give it a few good dabs before you make progress.

https://www.fiatforum.com/500/277825-what-will-you-do-where-your-brakes-wear-out.html?p=2825408

The EBC Reds that Jeffreyli86 used are not recommended for the 500 and are used on ‘muscle’ cars.

Unfortunately the reference article for the last one is no longer available to see unless I pay a sub. Got the impression that they were recommended for 'heavier' cars and did not suit the 500.

That just leaves the YELLOW for Maxi to explain.
Personally I was very tempted to buy a set on a slightly worn set of discs until I realised they weren't E rated (still tempted though) and they were in same price bracket as a set of Ferodo DS2500.

 

[306maxi]

Link? I've used EBC stuff on all kinds of cars in all conditions and aside from the greenstuffs I've found their Red and Yellowstuff to be superb.

Just stuff I've heard like things mentioned on this thread. If a company can't make low end products that don't crumble like some people have had with green stuff pads then I personally don't trust their higher end products. But you know me, I'm just really particular about things

When there are so many good brands out there I don't really see a need to buy stuff from a company who makes some products which are crap. As I like my motorsport I also like to make purchases from companies with a proven motorsport heritage too. That's why there's a set of Speedline's on the Subaru, Brembo discs and pads on the Fiat, Brembo discs on the Subaru and any dampers I get for either car will probably be Bilstein's or Koni's. If a company is good enough to manufacture a wheel or friction material for Sebastien Loeb's DS3 or a top F1 manufacturer then I think I can trust them to make good quality stuff for my car, ditto with dampers and so on.

I'm just the sort of person who if I don't have complete trust in a company, then I have none. I'm just a picky git

 

[ahmett]

Just stuff I've heard like things mentioned on this thread. If a company can't make low end products that don't crumble like some people have had with green stuff pads then I personally don't trust their higher end products. But you know me, I'm just really particular about things

When there are so many good brands out there I don't really see a need to buy stuff from a company who makes some products which are crap. As I like my motorsport I also like to make purchases from companies with a proven motorsport heritage too. That's why there's a set of Speedline's on the Subaru, Brembo discs and pads on the Fiat, Brembo discs on the Subaru and any dampers I get for either car will probably be Bilstein's or Koni's. If a company is good enough to manufacture a wheel or friction material for Sebastien Loeb's DS3 or a top F1 manufacturer then I think I can trust them to make good quality stuff for my car, ditto with dampers and so on.

I'm just the sort of person who if I don't have complete trust in a company, then I have none. I'm just a picky git

The same goes for tyres with me. Thats why i never buy Korean! There are so many brands around with racing heritage for a good price, so why would you buy Korean or Chinese?

You have Goodyear, Bridgestone, Pirelli, Dunlop, Yokohama, Continental, Michelin (dont know why they are so expensive) and more!