Ok well i have sorted out timing belt and that is getting done through week along with water pump.

Im planning on upgrading the brakes next but what is best to do? Just get same size discs but grooved/drilled and good pads or go for an upgrade in size?

look on group buys, the ones they're buying work so good i was told it feels like the back is going flip over your shoulder!

A lot of people, including myself, use 3G discs.
Like shifty says, have a look through the group buy section, not sure if the offers are still open but there was some good ones.
maybe give ricerocket a pm to see what he can do

thanks guys

The Pagid / DBA group buy is still live - When it finally closes, you're unlikely ever to see prices that low again.

just for the record, I reckon at least 75%-80% of braking performance is down to the pads, 15%-20% due to discs and the rest due to fluid (assumes the caliper is in perfect order)

However, if you also consider brake component life, then you also need good discs.

As an illustration, I normally get about 10,000 - 12,000 out of a disc / pad setup. I once tried Pagid Yellows on bog-standard pattern discs - wore the discs out in less than 5,000 miles

conversely, expensive discs and cheap pads are pointless - you need the best friction material you can afford, otherwise the brakes will last ages, but they won't perform well.

approximate order of brake setups, based on a combination of performance / price / longevity

standard discs with Mintex 1144 pads - Fine for everyday use, won't cope with any track work or repeated fast road abuse.

standard discs with Pagid Blues - OK for light track work, likely to warp the discs with any real heat.

3G discs with Pagid Blues - OK for light track work - discs may last more than one track day, pads will last for several.

DBA grooved discs with Pagid Blues - will stand for fairly serious abuse, will handle multiple trackdays and thousands of miles of spirited road use.

DBA grooved discs with Pagid Yellows - best cost / life balance - superb performance from the discs and great life from the pads

DBA 4000 discs with Pagid Yellows - probably the best life / performance combination money can buy.

DBA 4000 discs with Pagid Greys - probably the best performance you can buy, but will wear out faster than Yellows.

i agree the M1144 pads aren't very good. they dont last very long. i wouldnt even recommend them for road use - they dust waaaay too much. Ferodo DS2500 is a much better pad.

anyone care to give some opinions on TAROX pads, especially the 112 (Strada) and 114 (Corsa) pads?

redd

never used Tarox, although not much point in going for something not tested. The pagid race range is proven, and Ferodo DS2500's are also a top pad that will take the abuse of trackdays, whilst being very usable on the road.

For fluid, please use Motul RBF600, I keep going on about this stuff, because it's the best and you will not boil it.

I've used Ferodo DS2500s on my 16vt for a couple of years now and my only complain is that from cold they are very spongy. They need some warmth in them before they are even at the same level as stardard brake pads, then once you have heat in them they're far superior.

On my upgrade to Brembos I'm going down the Pagid Greys/ DBA 4000 route and cant wait to see what they're like.

DS2500's need 1 or 2 stops to get some heat into them, they can be a little soft on the first application! That's the compromise between a road pad, and a track pad. The DS2500 is more track pad than road pad (not as much so as some of the Pagid compounds though) but is still very usable on the road. This is from (3 years) use on a 20VT.

I'm sticking with standard discs and pads because they dont squeal! I gave them hours of fast road use over the weekend and they performed admirably

I'm not planning on tracking it in the near future but if I did I would upgrade them for that.

Just finished overhauling my standard brakes and fitted M1144's as an upgrade to the standard pads. They are MUCH better than the old setup for normal road use, work fine from cold and no squeal. Only gripe would be a slight grinding noise on gentle breaking.

Must admit tho with all the +ve comments about other disc/pad combinations I'm wondering what I'm missing.

I'm very close to buying a set of grooved discs and blue pads but I have one question....how good are new LE drilled discs (I would fit Pagid blues) in comparison to the 9 groove DBA's? I would prefer to keep the LE look but will drop it if the discs are crap. I have never driven the LE with new brakes before so can't compare.