Can I ask what everyone's opinion are of the braking system on the cupra! It wasn't until this morning I really thought about it. First and foremost the brake discs are not vented? Secondly I don't feel as though the brakes are as best as they could be. My car has only done 800 miles so I do expect the brakes to increase with use but what are everyone's opinions would you have a brake setup to recommend. Discs and pads wise? Thanks
Cupra brakes
- Thread starter Andy305
- Start date
Mine are very nice. Leaps ahead of my BMW E91.
Give them time to bed in and avoid harsh braking for a while.
Give them time to bed in and avoid harsh braking for a while.
They are vented front and back. 340mm X 30mm vented on the front and 310mm X 22mm vented on the back. The Cupra doesn't have solid brakes.
Do you mean they aren't drilled?
Sorry mate 100% drilled is the word I was after ! I thought they would be drilled tbh I had an A class before this and they were drilled obviously no way near as big in diameter though.
Drilled brakes don't offer much of a performance gain, and can cause the discs to be prone to cracking in some circumstances.
Only the performance and R models have the drilled discs and 4 pot Brembos, but I agree with mty12345, slotted discs are better.
If you are unhappy buy some stoptech dics/pads, or racingline calippers/dics or EBC
If you are unhappy buy some stoptech dics/pads, or racingline calippers/dics or EBC
These manufacturers produce street use parts, they can withstand less or more track use.
Drilled disks are great, from an aesthetic point of view. That's about it, they offer no real benefits over solid disks, the slight increase in ventillation actually offset by there being less mass to absorb heat in the first place, plus they can crack easier.Now the chances of them cracking under regular use is incredibly low, of course.
Look at any purpose built track/race car, you won't see a drilled disk. You'll see grooved or, most common, C-Hook disks.
Look at any purpose built track/race car, you won't see a drilled disk. You'll see grooved or, most common, C-Hook disks.
drilled discs are for aesthetics mainly on road cars..... Think about it, brakes work on friction to slow the car down, therefore more friction = more stopping power...…. if you remove part of the friction surface (the disc) to make it look nice you get less friction material making contact with the pad and therefore less stopping power (yes I know its a simplistic view, but easiest way to describe it effect)
Friction is independent of surface area. I remember learning this at school. Friction is based on the material and the force applied. The reason for so much surface area is for heat dissipation and for longevity of the brakes. Having holes in a disc has zero impact on the friction of the braking system.
https://www.wired.com/2014/09/friction-isnt-always-think/
In normal use, that's true. However, in extreme cases (i.e. on track or a during a rapid stop from very high speed) heating of the pads can cause them to give off a gas, which then gets trapped between the pad and the disc resulting in a loss of friction. The drillings help to bleed away this gas, restoring friction.
However, few of us would ever experience this in the real world away from autobahnen and trackdays and grooves perform the same fuction with reduced risk of disc cracking and pad glazing.
School didn't tell the whole truth, as the URL article shows.
You kind of know this, otherwise no-one would fit fat tyres to powerful RWD cars.
Pretty sure you'll find that's also for heat dissipation and structural strength. A thin tyre wouldn't handle the forces and would destroy itself. The force through the tiny contact spot would be far too much.
Give them a little more time and if you're still not happy get better pads, the stock brakes are pretty decent. I recommend Ferodo DS2500 pads, sorry don't know the part number for the stock brakes. I've had them on a previous car and they're great once they're up to temp.
As far as drilled/slotted discs goes get what you like, for a street car the differences are minimal, personally I like the best of both worlds drilled and slotted combo. The cracks on drilled discs most of the time are hairline surface cracks and purely cosmetic, even performance cars have them, stop any Porsche you'll see on the road.
Not a gimmick in our AMG
As far as drilled/slotted discs goes get what you like, for a street car the differences are minimal, personally I like the best of both worlds drilled and slotted combo. The cracks on drilled discs most of the time are hairline surface cracks and purely cosmetic, even performance cars have them, stop any Porsche you'll see on the road.
Not a gimmick in our AMG
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They aren't really a gimmick on any car, they're just better looking and people associate them with 'performance' brakes. I'd wager equal quality solid disks on an AMG or Porsche would give near identical performance to drilled, but the drilled disks look better. Similar story to painted calipers, its aesthetics.
As I mentioned before, have a count of how many modern race cars you find with drilled disks. They're pretty much all either plain or groove/hooked disks if steel. Surely if drilled offered advantages in performance, racing would be one area to make absolute use of it.
Disks are honestly the lasty thing to upgrade on the braking system. Higher friction pads and better fluid will both have much more impact than any disk upgrade.
As I mentioned before, have a count of how many modern race cars you find with drilled disks. They're pretty much all either plain or groove/hooked disks if steel. Surely if drilled offered advantages in performance, racing would be one area to make absolute use of it.
Disks are honestly the lasty thing to upgrade on the braking system. Higher friction pads and better fluid will both have much more impact than any disk upgrade.
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