Brakes.. big brakes.. bigger brakes!

Max Read

Max Read

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The time is coming to change the brakes. So I've looked through previous threads for the last couple of days. Looking for people's experience, advice and opinions on different brakes.
I'm heading towards stage 2+ for definite and I'm not going to rule out stage 3 in the future.

Vagbremtechnic do their "track day light" kit which upgrades to the j hooked discs and the project MU pads with braided line which are just shy of £600

I've also heard a bit about "yellowspeed" brakes, looking for a bit of a review on these and how much better they would be over just uprating pads and discs?

There are then the alcons, APs etc which are a big jump in price.

I'd rather not change wheels from the standard pre facelift that are on at the moment which I hear the "yellowspeed" are good for?
Personally I don't believe there should be a tight budget for brakes and tyres as they are what's going to stop a potential accident, at the same time I don't want to go mental on cost. All input is welcome!
 
I got the vagbremtechnic ttrs kit + Mintex 1144s on j hooks, got some ttrs calipers for 400 of ebay fits under 18 rotors, spot on


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What spacers do you use ? I've been told TTrs brakes won't fit behind standard 18" rotors
 
15mm needed to clear calipers, wheels still inside arches and no rubbing, no issues yet probably wears the bearing quicker but no worries changing them for the great breaking performance


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How do the ttrs Calipers hold up? A big improvement? Do they go onto the standard discs?
 
With the right adapter they go well on the 340mm discs which is 2kg lighter than the 345mm standard on the S3
A good option would be to buy 2piece lighter discs at 8.5kg each, with directional cooling vanes , about 350 pounds/pair in UK.
 
I don't suppose you know of a link to these or where to buy? Do they go over pre facelift wheels do you know?

Apologies for 21questions!
 
Sound, they are only round the corner from me will give them a call. Anyone had experience with yellow speed or any other brands?
 
Heard nothing but positive things about yellow speed
 
I had a look on AKS website, the ttrs and the yellowspeed are coming out around the same price. The yellowspeed look a lot better IMO plus have the option of a lot of colours. Just have to track down someone who's got experience with them and what the fitment is like! Would like to see how they compare on performance.
 
kash_v said:
@leshkin iirc has yellowspeed
Click to expand...
giphy.gif


Yup, I've been running a 6pot YSR kit for a good while now. As a complete package, it pretty good, although I'd recommend splashing out for the DS2500 pads from the start rather than the own brand pads you get with the base kit - I got the cheap pads and while they lasted ok through some advanced handling training and a trip to Nurburgring, they did disintegrate quickly soon after that. I'd also recommend to go for painted finish calipers as anodized finish fades easily.

I'm running this kit with braided lines all around with stock rear brakes/pads, while front pads are Mintex M1155. While a bit noisy, the braking can be pretty brutal if you want it to, so pretty happy with the overall setup now.
 
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leshkin said:
giphy.gif


Yup, I've been running a 6pot YSR kit for a good while now. As a complete package, it pretty good, although I'd recommend splashing out for the DS2500 pads from the start rather than the own brand pads you get with the base kit - I got the cheap pads and while they lasted ok through some advanced handling training and a trip to Nurburgring, they did disintegrate quickly soon after that. I'd also recommend to go for painted finish calipers as anodized finish fades easily.

I'm running this kit with braided lines all around with stock rear brakes/pads, while front pads are Mintex M1155. While a bit noisy, the braking can be pretty brutal if you want it to, so pretty happy with the overall setup now.
Click to expand...
Sound like a good option, was it a big difference over stock? Did you go for the floating discs?

What was the fitment like? They will be going behind pre facelift alloys, not sure if I'll need spacers or not!

I'm surprised that the anodised calipers fade I always thought they were a better option over paint!
 
They fit without spacers however it's ****** close, after seeing Alex's I'm going painted finish
 
Anodised finish is good, but they really don't like acidic wheel cleaners.

They fit fine under my OEM facelift S3 alloys, but it's pretty tight. I use them as winter wheels and had no issues.

As far as effectiveness of the brakes goes I'd say that it's significant. Stock brakes would fade very quickly. Uprated disks and EBC Red Stuff pads would last a good hour and a bit on some Welsh B roads, but with YSR kit I have not had fade yet, even with their cheap pads. Although I did cook their blue fast road pads on some local roads near Nurb, they were still effective, but they did start to fall appart three months later.

The Mintex M1155 pads are unbelievable in terms of bite and I have not noticed any fade whatsoever.

With brakes it's always a combination of components and how they work together. It all depends on what you want out of them and you might find that uprated pads and braided lines will work well for you, based on your driving.
 
Great, thanks for all the info! I'm about to be at stage 2. I'm looking to get the car to a good platform first with braking and handling then up to 2+ and potentially a TTE in the future.
Mainly looking for a good base to give a fair bit more confidence, uprated discs and pads will help but for the cost I'm debating if it's worth putting it towards the YSR kit which will definite be needed in the future I imagine! I'll check out the pads, do you know if braided lines come with the kit as well?
 
Yeah, the kit has lines for the front, but make sure to get done for rear too
 
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With calipers, is it a general rule of thumb that the higher the Pot the better the performance?
Obviously on a level playing field with same discs and pads The RS calipers are 4 pot and the YSR kit is 6pot
 
Not always the case, likes of ap and Alcon are fantastic brakes, bigger doesn't always mean better, however to fit your needs yellow speed are perfect
 
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All things being equal (pad material, piston pressure distribution over the pad, etc), the larger friction surface area of a bigger disk should generate greater braking force. There is a lot of science that goes into brakes at many levels and a huge, unbranded brake kit from China, is probably going to lose to a smaller, but higher quality kit from the likes of AP, Brembo, etc... Things like weight of the disks/calipers comes into play as the larger and potentially heavier kit can significantly affect the handling of the car due to the potential increase in the unsprung weight.

The YSR kit was much bigger than the OEM S3 gear, but significantly lighter due to use of lightweight materials and two-piece rotor/disk design, so it was always going to improve on the original. YSR are pretty well-known in the JDM motor sport scene, so it's not like they have never done this sort of thing before.

The other side to that is that is if your front brakes are too good, while the rears are stock, you may find that the braking balance is shifted forward too much and under hard braking the car starts to become unstable, with the rear becoming a bit lively. My car tends to do this under extreme breaking, but not overly so. I'm planning to replace the rear pads with Mintex M1144 to try and improve things when the time comes to chuck the OEM pads away and review the disk situation when they are due to go too.

There are plenty of alternatives to YSR kit too. I know Forge also do a similar sized kit for very similar money, so there are options now. YSR UK distributor, Tegiwa, do like to do sales on things like brakes and exhausts during the Black Monday sale season, which is how I managed to get my kit for close to £900 a while ago, which was a big saving over their retail prices at the time. Given that the pound took a bit of a dive lately, imports have gone up in price quite a bit as a result, so YSR kit may not be as good values as it once was.

Like @Moxy89 says though - bigger does not always mean better... When it comes to brakes that is... But they do look good though :)

All things aside, I do not think you will regret buying the YSR kit if you use my experience (go with painted finish and spec DS2500 pads from the start) - solid, well-made kit that stops a heavy car like S3 with spectacular force and I have not had any fade with them yet (and she does get used :) ). There are plenty of choices when it comes to alternative pads from Ferodo or Mintex and replacement disks are priced competitively if compared to the big names too.
 
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Max Read said:
With calipers, is it a general rule of thumb that the higher the Pot the better the performance?
Obviously on a level playing field with same discs and pads The RS calipers are 4 pot and the YSR kit is 6pot
Click to expand...

Not necessarily.

Some companies such as Tarox seem to try to squeeze the maximum number of pots in,without being noticeably better than for instance a 6 pot AP system.

Maximum pot count doesn't always equal maximum braking.
 
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Thanks for all the info guys! I am really swaying towards the YSR BBK over the RS3/TTRS setup at the moment but will have a look at the forge as well.

The YSR kit is currently £1300 but that's on their own website, I haven't managed to find any brake kits through tegiwa site. I used them a fair bit when I had a EP3 civic and were always useful! Either way it's going to make the wallet wince abit but when the car is around where I want it to be (stage 2+\ 3) it will definitely be needed. Wanting to buy once instead of cheaply and costing more in the long run..

Trying to keep the sensible head on, instead of going for all out power and the car not being able to handle it.
 
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Correct thing to do bud, I stayed at stage 2 and have done everything possible to make the car handle well first, next is wheels and brakes then garret
 
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Just had a browse and noticed a few people mention "K Sport" over the forum. Does anyone know how they hold up against YSR/ RS kits?
 
Moxy89 said:
Not always the case, likes of ap and Alcon are fantastic brakes, bigger doesn't always mean better, however to fit your needs yellow speed are perfect
Click to expand...
The RS3 standard brakes are 8 pot and I switched to AP Racing 6 pots! Better braking force though apparently.

TX.

Sent from my STV100-4 using Tapatalk
 
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Max Read said:
Just had a browse and noticed a few people mention "K Sport" over the forum. Does anyone know how they hold up against YSR/ RS kits?
Click to expand...

Sure there made in the same factory, mate had k sport on his focus rs and loved them, personally I would get yellow speed
 
They have mixed reviews over the JDM forums which is interesting! YSR seems a better way to go still. Does anyone else know anything of Ksport?
 
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terminator x said:
The RS3 standard brakes are 8 pot and I switched to AP Racing 6 pots! Better braking force though apparently.

TX.

Sent from my STV100-4 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

I've used Alcon and AP previously on my old Cosworths,and now swapped to an AP kit on the S3 from a VWR brake kit.
The AP kit is more expensive,but way better.

Max Read said:
They have mixed reviews over the JDM forums which is interesting! YSR seems a better way to go still. Does anyone else know anything of Ksport?
Click to expand...

The Forge rear brake kit on mine is we think,K-Sport sourced,and is definitely better than the stock rears,when you seriously upgrade the fronts,and alter the brake balance.
I'd found the rear getting really light and snaking under heavy braking with the stock rears,and added the Forge/K-Sport kit to restore the balance,which it seems to have done.
 
APs are a lot more, I know you can't really go overkill on brakes but I'm not sure if I can justify it.
I am aiming for a potential stage 3 but track days won't be a regular thing. I'm more looking for the safety and performance on the road that will handle around 420bhp.

If forge and k sport are the same kit surely that says something about the k sport being fairly on par with performance. A lot of people say it will need ds2500 pads which I think any kit at that price range will.
 
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Max Read said:
APs are a lot more, I know you can't really go overkill on brakes but I'm not sure if I can justify it.
I am aiming for a potential stage 3 but track days won't be a regular thing. I'm more looking for the safety and performance on the road that will handle around 420bhp.

If forge and k sport are the same kit surely that says something about the k sport being fairly on par with performance. A lot of people say it will need ds2500 pads which I think any kit at that price range will.
Click to expand...


I'd be wary of DS2500 pads if you do any track days at all.

I had those on the previous brake setup and by the end of the day they'd basically melted and left deposits all over the discs.
A set of Mintex 1155 pads would work much better on and off track.

I chose the AP kit for two reasons.....firstly the VWR kit I had was basically worn out and the calipers were single piece castings,and not repairable( I do think the current VWR kit is serviceable),and also I needed something a little more capable.
I think the YSR kit should be fine,and has the bonus of being less costly,and having a good reputation here also.
 
I’m running the ttrs kit with 340 j hooks at the mo with Mintex 1144s, really nice set up.

The kit allows up to 356mm discs but I don’t get why that is better as the Mintex pads cover the whole disc as it is, larger discs just give more metal that won’t be in contact with the pad???

Are the bigger discs better at heat dissipation?


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I believe its the bigger the diameter the better due to having a larger service area for the pads to clamp, its leverage, same as having a longer ratchet or wrench to undo a bolt.

I've had a look through AKS and the Aston martin DB9 calipers came up with 340mm disc and mintex pads for a similar price to the ttrs and YSR kit
https://www.akstuning.co.uk/brake-k...14mm-disc-and-aston-martin-db9-brake-kit.html

Has anyone looked into these before? or know the difference between them and the ttrs, they are both 4 pot brembos.
AKS is shut today so cant give them a call and im just being impatient:whistle2:
 
Max Read said:
I believe its the bigger the diameter the better due to having a larger service area for the pads to clamp, its leverage, same as having a longer ratchet or wrench to undo a bolt.

I've had a look through AKS and the Aston martin DB9 calipers came up with 340mm disc and mintex pads for a similar price to the ttrs and YSR kit
https://www.akstuning.co.uk/brake-k...14mm-disc-and-aston-martin-db9-brake-kit.html

Has anyone looked into these before? or know the difference between them and the ttrs, they are both 4 pot brembos.
AKS is shut today so cant give them a call and im just being impatient:whistle2:
Click to expand...

^^^ Looks like @psmurphy has this setup: http://www.audi-sport.net/xf/threads/s3-8p-daily-and-track-day-car.312334/page-2
 
Max Read said:
I believe its the bigger the diameter the better due to having a larger service area for the pads to clamp, its leverage, same as having a longer ratchet or wrench to undo a bolt.

I've had a look through AKS and the Aston martin DB9 calipers came up with 340mm disc and mintex pads for a similar price to the ttrs and YSR kit
https://www.akstuning.co.uk/brake-k...14mm-disc-and-aston-martin-db9-brake-kit.html

Has anyone looked into these before? or know the difference between them and the ttrs, they are both 4 pot brembos.
AKS is shut today so cant give them a call and im just being impatient:whistle2:
Click to expand...

Not sure I get that the pads are only a certain size and they are fully touching the 340 discs. Bigger discs won’t give any more surface area contact


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