New Brakes Fitted

[hardhitter]

I finally got around to fitting my new brakes last weekend, after putting up with the standard solid discs and pads for far too long.

I fitted the VW type II callipers and carriers on my GT that allow you to have vented discs on. All of Mk III Polo's except the G40 were fitted with the VW type I callipers and carriers that only take solid discs, which are pretty poor (especially on the GT). I used them with Black diamond 12 grooved discs with EBC greenstuff brake pads which should help improve the braking a bit more.

Because they have only been on for about week they still need to 'bed in' so I cant comment much on their performance. I have noticed that they have started to bite a bit more now I have done a few hundred miles with them.


Before


New brakes fitted.


After, much better. The suspension looks a little high as it was jacked up so it hadn't settled properly, before anyone comments obout that

Any comments ?

[polo2k]

yep yep yep all we gots here is dem der red Xs

[Josh_PoloGTi]

Anyway...

Congratulations on fitting the stoppers, I imagine they'll be 100 x better than your old ones!

We'll have to go out for a blast when it's not foggy and wet!

[polo2k]

Before





sorry for being sarcastic the other day but my comp had just died in a big fashion so i was more than a little miffed i hope the pics work now. again sorry for my previous post [/asskissing]

edit ok ive just had a little check as to why they arnt working and it seems that they are in a password restricted area of yahoo. some peeps registered with yahoo may be able to view them but not others (im not yahoo registered ) therefore try uploading them to http://www.imagestation.com

[hardhitter]

The photos are uploaded on yahoo photo's. It says this album is shared with everyone in the setting, I'm wandering if you need to be regiseterd with yahoo for them to work ? Anyway I will upload them somewhere else to sse if it works.

I can see them BTW.

[polo2k]

there workin now and they look sweet (love the wheels) but remember that you must check your pads weekly now cos grooved disks are a lot more agressive and every pass of a groove literally shaves off a tiny sliver of pad

[hardhitter]

Cheers, thought you might recognise the wheels

I know the grooved discs will wear the pads down quicker than normal, its easy to see the pads through the weels though.

[polo2k]

185 65 14" by any chance cos i think thats the only size you can get the bfg profiler in and im running them as my summer tyres and they hold the road real well wet and dry unfortunatly ill be changing to bridgestone sp-03`s next cos i can get them cheaper

[hardhitter]

They are 185 55 14" Hankook Ventus K102. I'm thinking of changing to 185 50 14" when I need new tyres.

[KarlM]

I'm not sure if this is right, but apparently if you put the discs on the other way (so the grooves go against the pad)it reduces noise and makes the pad last longer, without being overly detrimental on the performance.

I read this in a Haynes/Max Power manual for the Golf (sorry for using the G word again!) so the Polo should be the same

[polo2k]

the reason for fitting the disks that way is that as the wheel turns in its natural direction of rotation the air that gets caught in the groves (along with pad dust etc) is forced to the outside but if you fit them the otherway round everything is forced inwards which can cause exessive brake heat under extreme driving. the best way to fit these kind of discs is to use a higher temperature pad so that with all the ageression caused by the grooves, the pad does not over heat ( i opted for 600 degree pads and can still overheat them on mountain roads). also the discs are designed do operate in one direction so if you fit them the other way round you will loose all homologation and if you have an accident due to brake failure then your insurance may be void due to the equipment not being used for its desired intention.

[hardhitter]

I chose to fit the discs that way round because as polo2k explained that the natural direction of rotation helps keep them cool and remove dust. If you look closely the grooves dont start right at the centre of the discs, but they do go right to the outer edge. There was no instructions with them telling you which way they should be fitted.