how much better are 283s than standard dt brakes?

[philpemberton94]

As title says, I've had 283s on my dt now as a replacement for the standard ones for about 4 month's, the discs and pads were used when i bought them and still have plenty of meat left on them, but i have never really thought they were that good, i also changed the master cylinder for a gti one, would it be worth chnaging the discs and pads to see a difference?

[powerandtorque]

It'll probably be a friction issue providing that the calipers are in good order, more than likely nasty cheap pattern pads.

Standard DT 247mm brakes are a bit underwhelming whereas GTi-6 should stop well enough for a road car.

[philpemberton94]

Don't get me wrong they stop ok, but compared to the 288s on my dads mk4 golf (which nearly make your eyes pop out your skull) they're just nowhere near

[powerandtorque]

Mk4 Golf brakes are massively over-servo'd so they tend to feel powerful because you need less pedal effort for a given braking force, but it doesn't mean that the brakes themselves are actually any better - if that makes sense?

I hate Mk4 Golf (and indeed many modern cars) brakes for the horribly over-servo'dness and lack of feel they give. First thing I end up doing when driving one is promptly faceplant the windscreen when applying what would be mild braking force in a 205/306...

Again, poor (or glazed) pads will often give poor initial bite and make the comparative lack of servo assistance much more pronounced and meaning you need to give the pedal a good prod to get any decent stopping effort and not giving much confidence.

[welshpug]

I've always found the 247's sufficient tbh, and 283's more than adequate.

My sisters C5 runs 288 and that weighs a few hundred Kg more, by eck is that well servoed thing is it has quite a lot of mechanical grip in the chassis and very good EBD so it stops extremely well.

[powerandtorque]

C5's are positively normal compared to Citroen's of old with the high pressure LHM brakes and pedal controlled valve. The pedal was pretty much an on/off switch in those until you got used to it (did work well once you did mind)

I'm sure you can imagine the results when I first got a Xantia after driving around in a servo-less Mk1 Fiesta for 6 months...

[philpemberton94]

Yeah i understand what you mean, I've nearly hit my head on the wheel in golfs because they that sharp compared to the 306! I think I'll probably change the discs and pads soon, can't hurt to do so

Cheers!

[Toms306]

Mk4 Golf brakes are the best I've had tbh, I haven't had a better set since, Focus/Vectra/GTi6 nowhere near them tbh.

[Piggy]

golf/vw brakes are, as said, mega servo'd.

Feels amazing, is not nessersarily better.

Replace brake fluid and wack some Bosch brake pads in.

[Ruan]

Cannot STAND VW brakes!

Designed precisely to make people think "omg these are amazing", but when it actually comes down to it, are shit! They do everything in the first 5mm of pedal travel, then when you press past that, there's not much more! I think it's what makes VW/Audi cocks drive 4mm from the bootlid of another car "my brakes are amazing so I can drive closer" bullshit.

Best brakes I've ever used in terms of confidence inspiring are the ones on my old GTI6, decent OEM Bosch pads, good discs along with the fact it had the late p3 ABS/EBD system. Weren't ridiculously sharp, but when you got into them they had some real nice feel.

[welshpug]

I think my old BMW come close to the C5 in actual stopping, as the chassis has so much mechanical grip, rolling on 235/255 wide tyres with decent sidewalls its got a fair amount more contact patch than a pug

Pedal feel a lot more progressive, nice big pistons and a chunky 305x26mm disc, no ebd, but has ABS that doesnt come in much.