Brake options with standard SE rims

[Paul C]

Hi there,

Have an issue somewhere but brakes are not too good, brake light shows

despite level being fine, might be pressure switch, servo, who knows, anyhow...

Car goes in for C service, MOT etc the week after next and i'm going to spend

on sorting this out too, so the cause of the above is of no concern to me, nor do

i know if it's a cheap fix.

I've never been as excited by big brakes/calipers etc as i know a lot of owners

are. My plan is to have the stock brakes/discs/calipers/pads/servo/whatever of

these needs doing/refurbed/rebuilt and then continue to run with stock as i always

have done.

I understand the rims i have mean a lot of the options i found when searching the

forum are a non starter due to the large disc size. But is there an obvious upgrade

that i should be thinking of? Money is no too much of an issue as this is my once a

year spendout on the car, i'm just interested in any thoughts on me sticking with

stock V anything else i can get in the smaller SE rim.

Car goes in on the 24th.

Cheers,

[Artie]

Perhaps you could go with uprated pads(like EBC reds) and some new EBC performance discs. Many times this upgrade is not only cost effective but retains the stock sizes and therefore doesn't interfere with your wheel size. If you are content with the performance of the stock brakes, then there is no need to upgrade to larger discs and calipers. Many of us do track our cars and the TMC brakes are not up to task so something of a more performance orientation is warranted. Also, perhaps the brake level sending unit in the master cylinder is simply hanging up on itself and not indicating a full level when in fact it is. Or an ABS sensor has given up the ghost.

Cheers,

Artie

[SE Owner :-D]

Hey Paul,

Say hello to Steve when you see him.

Brakes - i've got the PNM Hi-Spec kit front and Brembo (Elise) rears and used Hawk and EBC redstuff pads and they don't suit me, Hawks were ok but messy and didn't seem to last very long after bedding in, redstuffs are clean but need to get hot to work (more suited to tracking i understand) and even then i am unconvinced.

I am about to fit Pagid Blues to the back (not cheap) they are sitting in the boot at the moment and Mintex on the front as a temporary 'fix' until i get my new Rims at which point i'm fitting AP front and rear along with bigger hubs up front.

Steve recommended Pagids to me - he is not a fan of ebc as i recall.

Keeping the rims limits the possibilities as i've learned but it was always my intention to get S4s Rims so this PNM kit upgrade front and rear was always a temporary thing and therefore served the purporse well and is value for money for what you get. Just putting the stainless hosing on all round makes sense and is where i would start if i were you with a decent set of pads like pagids. My upgrade kit will all be available at a bargain price around Easter time when i put Mr Williams to work on the next stage of my upgrades. Let me know and i'll leave em at Steves.

Hope there is some help among these ramblings,

Rog

[Jonathan]

Depends what you want, lots of info on LEW.

For me the SE brakes are a bit scarey, tbh even on the GT3 (which is a marked improvement on the faster SE) they're not real supercar material.

I certainly think you can make big steps to improving the performance of the car from standard.

If you don't want to change anything then as Artie says, pads are the only thing you can really change. I would also slap on stainless braided hoses (~

[Artie]

Paul,

Also, if you do decide to upgrade to better/bigger calipers/rotors keep your eyes peeled as I'll be installing my homebuilt Porsche caliper based brake kit! I will most likely buy rotors/hats from John Welch and have a machine shop make me some brackets to space the calipers just where I need them.

Artie

[SE Owner :-D]

Art,

Apart from being a piece of head attire what is a hat? Sorry if that is a dumb question - but i am not sure excuse my ignorance.

Thanks,

Rog

[Artie]

Art,

Apart from being a piece of head attire what is a hat? Sorry if that is a dumb question - but i am not sure excuse my ignorance.

Thanks,

Rog

Rog,

The hat is the piece that's attached to the rotor. On big brakes the rotor is in two pieces, the rotor itself and it's bolted to typically an aluminum hat(shaped usually like a top hat, hence the name) and this part attaches the rotor to the hub.

Artie

[SE Owner :-D]

Thanks for that Art,

Would love to see a pic of what mr Welch sorts you out with as i am hping to go down that route under my S4s rims this easter.

Cheers again and hats off to ya,

Rog

[andydclements]

I've just been upste by the realisation that 298mm discs are probably as large as is practical on the 17inch fronts, without going really tight on clearances, could go to 309mm, it does mean the lug mounted calipers I am planning to use will have to move round slightly in order to move out the extra 6mm, maybe it's worth it.

Ah, it's such fun having an engine far more powerful than the brakes were built to cope with isn't it?

[Jonathan]

I've just been upste by the realisation that 298mm discs are probably as large as is practical on the 17inch fronts

How come ? The S350 has 320mm front disks on a 17" wheel.

Dermot has 330mm on his standard S4 Brembo !

[andydclements]

How come ? The S350 has 320mm front disks on a 17" wheel.

Dermot has 330mm on his standard S4 Brembo !

I guess it's a combination of factors, dermot says 330mm form Steve, so i guess that's not Steve's normal set-up, he offers 2 for the post '93 cars, 315 for Brembo and 305 for any.

I guess my calipers are slightly thicker then Dermot's Brembos, and I did pop outside to the garage a few mins ago, realising I'd measured up for 298mm discs, and had 15mm between caliper and wheel, so increasing 11mm leaves 9.5mm not 4mm as my tired brain 1st thought.

Andy

[Vulcan Grey]

How come ? The S350 has 320mm front disks on a 17" wheel.

Dermot has 330mm on his standard S4 Brembo !

Yeah, and I can fit 328mmx35mm rotors in my 17" AWI (96 & 97 Esprit V8 wheels)... with enormous calipers I might add.

They are actually designed for a 15" forged wheel, but for a cast wheel, 17" is the lowest you can go.

[andydclements]

I fabricated some parts to mock it all up this evening.

With 309mm x 31.8mm rotors

I have the 5mm expansion gap on the rotor to caliper area, and approx 9mm rotor to wheel.

I've ordered the rotors and bells, they'll need to be machined to exacvt off-set and hub pcd when they arrive so I will not be fitting them for more than a few days, especially since the engineer I planned to get to do it wasn't at his place when I called round to see him.

I think going form 50 something single pot slider on a 258mm x20 to 4x30mm pots on a 309mmx31.8 should improve things, then it's the back next.

Andy

[WayneB]

Hi there,

Have an issue somewhere but brakes are not too good, brake light shows

despite level being fine, might be pressure switch, servo, who knows, anyhow...

The brake warning lamp will stay lit if the servo is not obtaining or holding the vacuum it needs to function properly.

Might be caused by Vacuum pump worn out , belt off, vacuum pipe leaking or off (behind the dash by the radio?)

If your servo has no vacuum it will be very hard to get her stopped.