T5 Brakes

[noiseboy]

Its definately a fade issue.

The standard brakes - particularly if you are unlucky enough to have 280mm not 302mm dics are very easy to cook when doing track days or driving through romford town centre on a friday night....

The larger kits from the like of AP are just less prone to fade because of the bigger surface area and better cooling.

If you drive your T5R on normal roads in a normal way you'll probably never have a problem. If you want to do something more interesting with it (and isnt that why we bought T5Rs in the first place boys and girls??) you should make it stop quicker - particularly before modding it to go quicker, after all what goes quicker must stop quicker!

Phil :)

Yeah, my T5-R is also a manual and as ive said before I have no problems with the standard brakes even slowing down from lofty speeds!!
maybe it is a problem on the autos????

[Philip Fisher]

Just to add my two penneth....

I have a ex-police T5 manual with 302mm front disks. I have used all genuine brake parts. In road use, the brakes are fine. Sometimes a bit slow to respond when they are cold or haven't been used for a while, but generally fine.

When I took it to a track (Elvington) for a day in 30C heat, they faded pretty quickly (when I came back to the pits, the pedal went to the floor and nothing happened). The friction material seemed to burn off quite alarmingly as well. I have never experienced anything like this in even very spirited road driving.

But hey, they aren't designed for the track are they? (oh, and it did 9mpg on the track day!)

[IC]

Philip, "horses for courses" comes to mind - the brakes have obviously been designed for "normal" road use - to respond in an appropriate manner in an emergency (it would be interesting to see police reports on the performance of the 302 discs in extreme chase scenarios). Phil and yourself have made a point in a previous response that the OEM discs are not up for the job of very fast driving and STOPPING - it makes sense to update the stopping power of a car if you increase the performance. This issue is one of common sense - it all depends on what is required of the car. I certainly believe that the T5 has excellent potential for upgrading. The T5Rs and Rs have resources that the majority will never ever exploit - for those that do exploit these 155 mph plus cars to the limit it certainly would be prudent to implement a belt and braces policy to stopping!!

Iain C

Thanks guy for your responses on this obviously widely debated subject.

Both my cars are Auto. Do we think it is due to the lack of engine braking normally associated with a manual gearbox.

I use my Autobox like a manual for downshifting, to slow down as I fear the speed at what the scenery is approaching sometimes.

In sport mode, the box won't drop down to 1st until 10 mph, in normal mode it changes down too quickly at 25mph. The box doesn't protest though and I've been doing that for 40K miles in my S70.

[Simon J]

The issue with autos, according to my local dealer, is that the auto gearbox has additional vacuum connections which the manual box doesn't have, and it is these vacuum connections that result in the soft pedal and apparent poor brakes. I say 'apparent' because presumably at the end of the day they will work OK and perhaps it's just that they don't inspire any confidence with their lack of initial bite. Certainly I still find that the pedal is still very soft even with my Volvo big brakes but the stopping power is awesome nonetheless.


As for fade, that's a different issue and I would imagine that the smaller discs could be very prone to fade and quite unsuited to a track day if using standard pads.

I have an S70 T5 auto and Ive found that the brakes are up to the job (me thinks I have the smaller discs fitted. its a 97 R) and Ive done my fair share of spirited driving in it. the only thing Ive found is that the ABS cuts in to early taking some of the precise braking control away. I also own an S40 1.8 XS and the brakes on it are proberbly the best i've ever used. They stop you DEAD!!! there and then, Plastered over the dash and windscreen.

[Simon J]

My 97 T5 had the 302 discs as standard so I suspect your R would have them also. Mind you, I've never actually got to the point where the ABS cuts in.........}(

>My 97 T5 had the 302 discs as standard so I suspect your R
>would have them also. Mind you, I've never actually got to the
>point where the ABS cuts in.........}(

Sorry I should have said 97 R reg. Its a standard T5 which is why I think it has the smaller discs.

[Simon J]

My V70 T5 was September 97 and it had 302s but I've never been able to find out on what basis the 302s were fitted as opposed to the 280s. Strangely enough, current C70 T5s come with 280s (despite what it says in the catalogue!)