1.8td Front Brake Upgrade Options

[Guest slindborg]

Right a) im new be nice

 

ive got a scummy nick 205 TD commuter wagon on 1.6 gti alloys. The front brakes are appauling when requesting any keen braking from them.

 

What options do i have to improve this? eg GTi calipers and discs etc blah blah. want to do it cheap but also properly as possible. Ill probably go for Ferodo Ds2500 pads what ever the outcome since im trying mintex 1155 pads on my nova track car.

 

 

cheers

 

Stuart

[Anthony 1,000]

It should already be running GTi brakes - 1.6 calipers, 1.9 vented disks, and base model hubs. In working order, this setup should be more than suffient for stopping a TD (or anyother road going 205)

 

Worth checking this is what you've got, and not the standard non-turbo diesel setup with unvented disks which is scary in my experience.

 

Usual culprit on diesels is the vacuum pump not working properly which results in underservo'd brakes which are very underwhelming. 1.6 calipers can wear their sliders badly which results in the caliper twisting and not applying the pads squarely to the disk.

 

1.9 Girling calipers will fit straight on and, providing the sliders are OK, typically work much better and don't suffer half of the problems that the 1.6 Bendix calipers do.

[Guest slindborg]

last time i was under it, it had solid discs :s

the vac asistance seems to be "fine" as the pedal isnt hard to press etc ( i know what a dead servo is like), just simply that id dosent do much braking for the entire pedal travel.... its almost like having std GM brakes on it lol

Edited April 16, 2006 by slindborg

[Anthony 1,000]

Sounds like you've got the base model brakes then, in which case, best bet is to stick some 1.9 disks and either 1.6 or (preferably) 1.9 calipers which should help alot.

[Guest slindborg]

so basically the 1.9 front brake setup.. cool. The calipers will definately fit ? no random hub changes mid production run etc?

[Anthony 1,000]

so basically the 1.9 front brake setup.. cool. The calipers will definately fit ? no random hub changes mid production run etc?

1.9 brakes will bolt straight upto base model hubs. It's only 1.6 GTi hubs that have a funny offset.

[Guest slindborg]

game on. cheers

[ak 205 0]

will the 1.9 brakes fit under the 14 inch wheels then as i thought that was why they had 15's

[pug_ham 241 3 Cars]

will the 1.9 brakes fit under the 14 inch wheels then as i thought that was why they had 15's

The discs are the same size on all 205's so they will fit but I think some people have had clearance issues with the 1.9 Girling calipers & 14" 1.6 GTi alloys depending on if they are Speedlines or not.

 

Bendix ones clear fine though, they are fitted originally to the STDT.

 

If you fit 1.9 GTi calipers you will also need the bolts that mount the carriers to the hub as they are different to the 1.6 caliper mounting bolts.

 

Graham.

[brian j 31]

The discs are the same size on all 205's so they will fit but I think some people have had clearance issues with the 1.9 Girling calipers & 14" 1.6 GTi alloys depending on if they are Speedlines or not.

 

Bendix ones clear fine though, they are fitted originally to the STDT.

 

If you fit 1.9 GTi calipers you will also need the bolts that mount the carriers to the hub as they are different to the 1.6 caliper mounting bolts.

 

Graham.

 

As another option, my STDT ran a complete standard 206 gti (NOT the 180) disk, caliper and pad setup for a couple of years and it just fitted under the 14" alloys on that, so I would expect it to fit under the 1.6 alloys too. Disks are bigger than the 205 GTI items, and the pads are bigger too. However the pistons are bigger so the pedal travel is noticably longer unless you change the master cylinder.

 

Brian.

[Anthony 1,000]

That'll be the 266mm setup, similar to the 306 XSi/S16/HDi

[DaveW 6]

just to add only the stdt had vented discs, the normal td's/dturbos had solid discs even the 309 td's have solid :s

[Guest BrainFluid]

When you say vented disks on the stdt, where would those vents be? Do you mean grooves on the outside face of the disks as my stdt disks are smooth on that face.

 

But they do have like, holes running along the entire rim (like where a coin has cuts along the circle side of it, but deep.

 

Nate.

[jonah 1]

Nate, yours are vented discs.

 

Just to add to this thread, upgrading from solid to vented discs will only make a difference when the brakes are hot enough to start fading. If the brakes are poor right from cold, then you have a different problem and fitting the GTI vented stuff won't help (unless by chance the fault is in one of the parts that you replace).

[Guest BrainFluid]

Excellent. Thanks Jonah