Brake Upgrade for S1 - S2

[M@H]

Hi All,

Just wondering about stopping power...

Having replaced the standard Ford bits on my Puma (ahem.. sorry all) to EBC cross dimpled (!) spiral grooved discs and Greenstuff Pads on the front, its like driving a different car and was by far the best £130 I've spent in years.. Stoping is now Fun !?!

Anyway.. Thinking of the S, I'm convinced that this should be the way to go to increase the braking power as its a bit lax in that department, but wondered if anyone else had any better/different ideas...?

(I only said S1-2 in the title as we don't have the rear discs like the S3 's (is this an easy conversion/worth it?))

Cheers and Happy Christmas.
M@

[M@H]

O.K. Sorry S3's too, I hear you have rear drums too

[tvrmark]

You should also replace your brake pipes with braded ones.

Mark

[shpub]

If you want better performance then bigger discs to increase the leverage is the way to go. Tower View do them where the existing calliper is reused and mounted on a special bracket that allows a bigger disc to be fitted. As the calliper is further out, it can apply more leverage. The bigger thermal mass of the disc helps heat dissapation as well.

I would also recommend using Dot 5.0 fluid as it is less prone to boiling. All this pretty well covered in the S bible.

Steve
www.tvrbooks.co.uk

PS Don't forget to tell your insurance company - what you've done constitutes a car modification.

[M@H]

Cheers Steve... (and Mark)

You'll be glad to know that someone in my family bought you a pint last month..
I got "the Bible" for christmas and its spot on.. makes Mr Haynes and co. look a bit pants!

To anyone who hasn't got it yet.. I'd highly reccommend you get a copy if you want to DIY your S at all..

Cheers
M@

Edited by M@H on Friday 28th December 12:09

[shpub]

Thanks... as for beer tokens I think I have already spent my 2002 allowance on yet another engine/brake/suspension upgrade for the 520!

Steve

[M@H]

One thing though... the modification I did to my Puma cost me £130, and this kit from Tower View is £300, is there a middle ground here as £300 for a pair of discs and an adaptor bracket seems a bit steep to me..
(or hould I jsut get use to it )

Cheers
M@

[loudandfast]

i ve done my s2 front brakes with the green stuff pads and drilled grooved discs. 100% improvement cost me £110. got the discs and pads for a 1,6-2.0 litre non abs 1989 model ford sierra. easy swoped in an hour.

[shpub]

I think you are not comparing like with like. You can easily spend over 1000 pnds on an S series brake upgrade with discs costing 2-300 pnds ago. I suspect that your Puma upgrade was replacement discs and not bigger ones which the Tower View kiut gives you and really is the way to get performance. The larger disc cost a lot more to make and so you pay more. In the end, it is up to you and what you want to do.

Steve
www.tvrbooks.co.uk

[tvrmark]

Which ever size you go for, a word of warning cross drilled disc are more prone to cracking then plain or groved one.

Mark

[M@H]

Thanks all for the advice, and yes Steve I entirely agree with you that I am not comparing like with like, I was just interested in what other options were about, and yes, I replaced the origina Puma disc with others the same size. I don't do trackdays and don't have the driving experience to be driving the car to the limit so I'm just after something to improve a bit on the original setup. I'm certain that there are ways of spending a stack of cash on brake upgrades that will make the car stop on a sixpence, but I don't really have the budget for that. Having been used to VW and Ford costs, £300 for discs just seemed a bit much, however I'm more than happy to accept that they are well worth it for the benefit they give, I'm just not sure I need that level of benefit if you know what I mean .

Is there any way of quantifying the difference between improving the standard size setup (i.e with kevlar pads and grooved discs etc) v.s. The Oversize discs from Tower?

LoudandFast thanks for the info, I agree with TVRMark about cross-drilled discs (they can crack I believe) and would guess you've got cross-dimpled discs like I fitted to the puma (holes don't go right through), did they come from EBO by any chance..? £110 seems like a good price! where was that from... ..and will those be the same as on my 2.9 S1.5 (89)?

Cheers
Matt.



Edited by M@H on Monday 7th January 12:56