Brake Upgrade

[greggearhead at adelphia.net (GREG DUNN)]

> > Upgraded brakes are indeed a good thing, however you can indeed go
> > overboard.  I have a friend with an A1 GTI and he put the Corrado brake
> > setup on his car.  Well, with his choice of brake pad (Ferrodo, don't
> > recall
> > which color) the brake pads would never heat up to operating temp, and
> > therefore the brakes sucked on that car.  This is all his experience, so
I
> > can't really comment directly...


>
> The original post estimated 20lbs = 1hp.  I was figuring about 10 extra
> pounds (maximum) for the brakes.
>
> Your friend's mistake was not in upgrading his brakes, it was in his
choice
> of pads.


THANK YOU.  I have had soo many people say that big brakes aren't
necessarily better because they rode in this car or that car that didn't
perform that well, etc.

I was lucky enough to have my car used for some brake vender selection.
Used internally vented, x-drilled, slotted, combos, etc, for rotors and
about 7 different brands/styles of pads.  I was astonished at the difference
in the brake system with a set of pads.  I have experienced 9.4" setups that
were better than 11" setups only because the 9.4" setup used pads that were
correct for the intended use.  Vice versa as well.  Dave's identifying the
pads as the culprit is correct.  I don't think I will own another A1/2 or B1
without at least 10.1" front brakes.

gd