Brake choice for S1 Sport 160

[Saied]

My car is currently in Sinclaire's hands for its 'C' service.

All four pads and the rear discs required replacement. I've opted for ali-belled discs and Pagid RS42's all round.

For fast road use and hopefully the odd track day, I thought this was the best overall package. Was going to go for the EBC turbogroove disc but decided to push the boat out.

Thoughts?

[S Works]

Complete overkill for road use. Regular discs plus either Pagid RS42's or SBS Protrack will be fine. Ally-bells only really worth it if you're doing a lot of track work and expect to change the rotors a lot.

[cej]

I have the EBC discs and the pagid rs42s and it's a great combo

Well, your setup might be a bit of overkill,but when it comes to brakes that's good in my opinion.You can never have enough stopping power

[TIPPER]

I haven't any experience of the Pagids so can't comment.
I'd previously have steered you in the direction of Mintex 1144 for road and occasional track use but have a look at the review of EBC yellows that I put up today.
Unless your doing lots of trackdays then why the ali-belled jobbies?

[RT]

good choice.

Less unsprung weight and a nice pad - with heat in them there is no beating the 42's - they are superb.
EBC discs are not great quality to be honest (IMHO and experience).

[Saied]

TIPPER said:

Unless your doing lots of trackdays then why the ali-belled jobbies?

My intention is to have this motor for keeps. My reasoning is if I replace a consumable on the car, i'm going to look for a higher quality item along with less weight if possible. With lighter discs, its unsprung weight, so will have greater effect. The ali-belled discs seem to have a high reputaion in SELOC's technical section.

The car has enough power for me but any improvements I can have in the braking / steering / handling department is where i'm looking at. A full geo check and adjustment is to be done to, so the first two bases are now covered.

24,000 miles the car's done now. I reckon the LSS is coming towards the end of its optimal performance. I want to go Nitron when I replace. Affordability means it gonna be next year, though. I'll wait. Do it right, do it once.

Sinclaire's were actually steering me towards the cheaper EBC disc for the use my car gets, but I had reservations. Not just some opinions on here and SELOC, but also from my Honda ownership days, too.

No trackdays as of yet, which I hope to rectify soon. Its no daily driver though, and when taken out and her fluids are hot, it is usually driven hard.

Anyhow, i'm hoping the car will be ready to collect on Saturday in preperation for a 2/3 day hoon in Wales.

Will give you my opinions on the brake setup next week. Already have braided hoses and the fluid is being replenised too, so she should stop well.


cheers


Justin

Edited by Saied on Thursday 19th June 05:17

[S Works]

If money's no option, you plan on having it for keeps, then you're laughing and future-proofing the car. Enjoy

[TIPPER]

See where you're coming from Saied.
Deffo get the car on track - very addictive.
Regarding the Nitrons: great idea, especially if you intend tracking the car and although a bit more expensive than the standard set-up (£1500 vs £1250) the 'Randy' set-up is supposed to offer a worthwhile improvement over the already excellent standard Nitron offering.

[piooly]

TIPPER said:

See where you're coming from Saied.
Deffo get the car on track - very addictive.
Regarding the Nitrons: great idea, especially if you intend tracking the car and although a bit more expensive than the standard set-up (£1500 vs £1250) the 'Randy' set-up is supposed to offer a worthwhile improvement over the already excellent standard Nitron offering.

whats the Randy set-up???

[Saied]

Guys, thanks for all your input. Time for a progress report.

The brakes were fitted a little while ago. Verdict? Absolutely magnificant!

The car had braided hoses on already. The brake fluid was changed along with the fitment of the ali-belled discs and Pagid RS42 pads.

There is only the tiniest amount of pedal travel now before the brakes bite and the pedal feels beautifully firm. The braking performance is stunning - so much so that it is not at all difficult to lock the wheels in the dry. Remarkable braking power for an un-servoed setup.

And finally, a big thumbs up to Sinclaires. Very polite, patient and highly professional. I cannot recommend them enough.

Next project? Suspension!


cheers


Justin

[TIPPER]

piooly said:

TIPPER said:

See where you're coming from Saied.
Deffo get the car on track - very addictive.
Regarding the Nitrons: great idea, especially if you intend tracking the car and although a bit more expensive than the standard set-up (£1500 vs £1250) the 'Randy' set-up is supposed to offer a worthwhile improvement over the already excellent standard Nitron offering.

whats the Randy set-up???

Sorry Oly, only just seen this.
The 'Randy' Nitrons are different from the standard offering and were developed by Chris Randall (randy on seloc) of Hoffman and Mountfort. The 'randy' dampers are longer than the standard Nitrons for the Elise and are paired with much stiffer springs than normal but with a softer helper helper spring. The valving is also different from the standard spec. Plenty of posts and piccies (they look amazing) on seloc and if I were fitting new dampers I'd go for them over the standard Nitrons (I got my Nitrons s/h from someone upgrading to Randy's).
BTW the standard Nitrons are superb but randy has taken them a step further and if you were fitting the randy jobbies its probably worth letting him work his magic on the geo etc. His outfit is based in Henley.