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The Car Thread


MadManMike

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Toby, 20mm hubcentric spacers are about £50. By the time you've got 2 lots of spigot rings, you're probably looking at £20. Its not worth pissing about with safety for that.

Ah ok, everything seems to be overly expensive for my car, they cost 130+ new for one set on mine and not alot kicking around 2nd hand

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What Paul and Liam said!

The Carbone Lorraines are also poo from cold but at least they allow you to press on while on track (and are about the same price).

From my limited experience, Mintex Racing pads are by far the best. You end up killing 3 discs before the pads get worn however they do not need any heating up and they don't fade even when temps get pretty high (rims too hot to touch and ABS sensors fail kind of temps). Plus on my car which has standard brakes, ABS kicks in even at 120mph so these pads allow to use the full braking potential of the car. Standard pads don't offer such performance.

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That looks awesome mike, love the pepper pots!

Cheers Tom!

I've had mixed review across the net so far, ranging from "WTF AUDI WHEELS" to "Never seen a Leon with wheels like that, it really works!". As with anything it's personal preference really and I reckon the pots look nice :)

Shame they don't do 16 or 17 inch pots actually, that would look nuts!

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From my limited experience, Mintex Racing pads are by far the best. You end up killing 3 discs before the pads get worn however they do not need any heating up and they don't fade even when temps get pretty high (rims too hot to touch and ABS sensors fail kind of temps). Plus on my car which has standard brakes, ABS kicks in even at 120mph so these pads allow to use the full braking potential of the car. Standard pads don't offer such performance.

Which ones exactly do you use Alex? They sound like just what I'm looking for...

I've had 1144s in the past and they were poo.

Currently using some Hawk pads which stand the heat well but I can't identify them (no markings on the backings) and the pedal feel is horrible.

Cheers!

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Which ones exactly do you use Alex? They sound like just what I'm looking for...

I've had 1144s in the past and they were poo.

Currently using some Hawk pads which stand the heat well but I can't identify them (no markings on the backings) and the pedal feel is horrible.

Cheers!

To be honest I don't remember and can't check at the moment but 1166 rings a bell. Just checked and there is an 1166 pad, could be that.

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Careful driving is not the way to bed pads like that in.

20-30 hard as possible stops from 100, then a gentle drive for as long as you can without braking then allow them to fully cool before driving again.

*Just to clarify I don't mean 20-30 actual stops, I mean slowing down to that sort of speed.

You should be looking to repeat that process until the pads stink and are smoking. Which on road pads is usually 4/5 cycles and on race pads more like 10/15 cycles.

If you were able to view the discs during this process you would see pad material transfer to the discs and the color change from bright silver with a criss cross pattern from machining to a light grey surface with concentric scoring rings on the discs.

The aim of "bedding in" brakes is to transfer a layer of adherent pad material to the discs which allows them to perform at their best in an even and controlled way.

If you just gently touch the brakes and take it easy the pads will remain in an abrasive state and will just score the discs, resulting in a shit brake for the life of the discs and pads.

This explains it better -

http://www.essexparts.com/learning-center/cat/brake-rotors/post/Bed-in

Edited by Pashley26
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I managed to worpe my mintex discs after about 100 miles, 60 to 80 of them was really careful driving to ped in the new pads and discs.

That's a pad bedding issue - discs don't warp nowadays, they just pickup pad deposits unevenly when you don't bed them in hard enough, which feels like warped discs. For once, Jardo is right about something :P

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Best discs for higher performance cars will always be original ones. I once tried ATE and they were shot after 2 comps, now only get them from the BMW dealer and they last a hell of a lot longer. I'm sure you can get better discs like AP Racing for instance but that's in a completely different league to shoddy replacements, even from companies like Brembo or Zimmermann.

By the way, not sure if I posted this in here, video from a fantastic practice session on a military airfield. I love that car so much, it's the happiest thing on 4 wheels. To think you can have so much fun in a 350 quid car with a tiny engine which that day averaged 10mpg :P Starts at around 0:40, also really proud of the sharp right after 5:15, took me ages to get that part right.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVVD-0F_0_c

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Mid life crisis time...
I don't want to 'limit' myself to Leon's and have been thinking about getting an estate. This summer I plan to be travelling around with my bikes LOADS so the larger boot space of an estate is appealing.
I'm not sure I will be doing high enough mileage to warrant a diesel but still want to get 35mpg on a long run. I also still want something with respectable acceleration that is comfortable to drive. I like the look of A4's and Passat's. With a £4000ish maximum budget what models should I be looking at?
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