Have just had my coop a week - and am loving it by the way - thanks to Mad_hammer for selling me an awsome car for really a very small amount of money. In the words of my friend and forum member olly 'it pulls like a f**kin train'

However...... and it hurts me to say this, I have to say though my old 1.8 astra does beat it in one respect.....brakes

- a brave and perhaps stupid thing to say in this company. hehe.

Let me explain thou - I'm sure this is due to the fact that the pads, fluid and maybe discs need changing. At the moment its a bit too weavy under heavy braking (know this is to be expected a bit), and really hard braking feels like a squigy scary nothing, getting noises from the rears under braking and pulling away as well - just don't feel quite right.
First time I came up behind something a little bit quick on the motorway I scared myself a bit - was used to a much lighter brake pedal in the astra as well - didn't improve things...

This is a quick car..... I've been used to driving my astra fast and EVERTHING is just quicker in this and the brakes just arn't as good (BTW can't believe how small the rear discs are on the coop - though I guess theres not much weight back there) Havn't done that much track driving - but enough to know that to be quick round the twistys stopping is almost as important as going - but you all know that... also wana be safe ya know

Anyway... have read threads on here recommending several pads including red dot and Pagid Yellow's. Have found these:

http://www.europerformance.co.uk/pages/products/product_info.mhtml?id=572446

Has anyone had any experience with these on a coop? Seem to have got good reviews and are half the price of the yellows.


Any other suggestions? - discs too if anyone has any ideas - although I'm gonna just try the pads first and see what its like.

sorry for the over sized post (could have been 'any pad reccomendations guys?' couldn't it?) I should go to bed lol.

thanks for any replys guys

there is a group buy going on at the moment for DBA Discs and Pagid pads. that should help things quite a lot. the braking on coupe's is quite heavy, you do have to put a bit of weight behind your right foot to get the best results!

I would strongly recommend EBC Yellowstuff pads with 3G20 Grooved front and rear discs, plus Motul RBF600 Fluid.

Cold performance is average but once warmed up the stopping power is excellent, remember though cheap tyres will decrease braking performance evern with the biggest brakes installed.

when i bought my coupe it used to veer all over the place on hard braking. it turned out to be the rear wheel flapping around due to worn trailing arm bearings!

btw if you want std pattern rear discs and pads i got a set from wilco for...are you ready...£34...for a pair of discs and pads!

boonman

When set up right, the Coupe will brake VERY hard with absolutely no fuss from over 160.

Its not rocket science - there are four very simple steps

1) use good quality pads - I've tried more than most and I will now only ever buy Pagid - nothing else comes close. I've tried and killed most makes, including EBC, Black Diamond, Mintex, Red Dot, Ferodo.
2) Use good quality discs - I've tried more than most an I will now only ever buy DBA (I've warped all other makes, including 3G, Tarox, Black Diamond)
3) Use good brake fluid and replace it every couple of years max
4) maintain the calipers - you should clean them down every time you change the pads - they get a lot of abuse and a LOT of heat - very easy to get sticky pistons and jammed pads.

Quite simply, for £300 or so, you can have an unbeatable braking setup that will fill you with confidence.

Don't worry too much about the rears - as long as the calipers are floating on the pins and you're using Textar pads (Group Buy on right now) you'll be fine.

Nigel, I would seriously recommend you try EBC YellowStuff as they perform better all round than the Pagid Greys I had before. Better cold bite, fantastic when heated up (Castle Combe really punishes!) and they are the first pad in the last 4 years (on second set now) including standard, Mintex, Pagid that have never ever squealed. Coupe brakes don't squeal do they?

Flea - I only ever used RedStuff - they were amongst the best I've used, performance-wise (about 80% - 90% as good as the Pagid yellow IMHO), but they didn't last very long.

There is also a pad that I would rate at 25% better than the Yellows - Red Dot race pads. They were utterly staggering, zero fade, massive bite, loads of feel, no squeal at all - definitley the best performing pad I've ever tried. However, they lasted about 2,000 road miles (I tried two sets, in case the first was duff in some way - second set lasted just over 2,000 miles).

I'm getting 15,000 out of my Yellows, so when you look at it from a performance / cost / life viewpoint, they stand up well.

What lifespan are you getting out of the EBC Yellowstuff?

I am happy enough with mine to recommend red dot pads and 3G10 disks on the front. Great for everyday use and no need to step hard on the brakes at all.

Anyone tried the Ferodo DS3000?