Was looking at something just like EBC redstuff or something, just for sort of fast road driving. Ideally low dust. Asking about the EBC because i've not heard anything about them in a while and heard the quality of them was not always the best. Coming away from the backing plate etc. That was 3/4 years ago looking back at old threads or so though and things move on a lot obv. Not planning on track days just find the standard pads quite frankly scary sometimes from cold etc. Been a few poop my pants moments i've had to slam the brakes on and they,ve been shocking. They're not old either, and neither are the discs... Seem really poor for a hot hatch. Put it this way I had a shot of my gf's wee brothers r32 and the brakes feel amazing compared to mine, so much more initial bite..
Most people will tell you to stay away from EBC stuff, although I had red stuff on my old Clio, and found them ok tbh, cold bite was worse than standard though. If you are set on EBC I'd say try the yellow stuff meant to be better cold bite. From memory the police (May only have been certain areas) used to use yellow stuff on there cars so can't be too bad
The brakes are definitely the weak point on the Megane. Strange really as the Clio was always praised for the quality of the brakes.
I'm not really set on EBC pads, just heard a few good things of them but understand different pads work better with different cars etc. As said its not for track its just to give them a bit more bite as they feel poor just now, don't need like an aggressive out and out track pad. Something just a bit better than standard that feels good for the road thats all. Suggestions would be appreciated as I dont know haha. Ideally something that doesn't cover everything in dust:rolleyes:
DS2500's would probably offer what you want tbh, I don't rate them at all but my use and your use is completely different, Im sure they will be more than upto the job for road use though.
But the Megane brakes are virtually the same as the Clio 197/200, there's just a bit more weight in the Megane. The standard brake set up over the years has been one of the cars strengths compared to the competition.
I beg to differ. This is why the Trophy R is slower than the newest Civic on track - check the video reviews. It's precisely the reason you allude to above; the brakes are the same but the car weighs more and accelerates quicker - it should have better brakes rather than the same.
fit these and guarantee you won't be back on here again complain about naff factory fit pads which are huge let down for anything other than shopping trip: Ferodo FCP1334W (DS1.11) NEXT.....
How big is the master cylinder in the meg compared to the clio? I always felt like the clio you got more braking with less pedal... but that might just be me. Ran DS2500 on my Clio and can't say I'd ever buy them again, they didn't work cold, fouled the discs when hot and just didn't bite hard. Been running RC5 on the Meg for over a year now and they work all the time, bite hard and bite harder as they warm up and with extended braking, feel like anything better would have to be very aggressive on the discs. Or as above, the DS1.11 are probably a similar thing to the RC5/RC6 pads if you want Ferodo.
Are you serious? Firstly the Trophy R isn't always the slowest on track and the only time the Trophy R brakes were an issue was when the pads were past there best. Second, track times for the Civic, that has only been out a few months, is more about power, chassis and handling. It doesn't do well just because of brakes. The Megane has had class leading 4 pot Brembos from 2004 when the competition was on weak single pot fronts. Compare what the rivals were doing with brakes when the Megane was hitting the streets.
Very serious, yes. Had a R26 with brand new OEM disc and pads, brakes were very poor. Got a brand new 275 Trophy and the brakes are very poor. Had a Clio 172 and the brakes were twice as good as either Megane, seriously half the stopping distance. Check the reviews on the Cupra 280 brakes....
Just as a ref. the temp paint on my factory disc's often indicates 580 deg C and the temp sticker on the Brembo callipers themselves reads 240 deg C. To the extent the calliper original bright red paint colour is now a burnt dark cherry red the outer seals are cremated and turn to dust when touched, yet they still keep working just fine. It's the factory pads that are massive let down once a reputable aftermarket is installed the brake system is superb
Oh yes I'm sure you're right. It's not a big nor expensive job to improve the brakes no end. I've just always wondered why Renault don't fit a more aggressive pad OEM. It's the actual braking power and the fade that I find to be a problem. The initial bite and the modulation is good, but even on the road it very easy to get the brakes to fade badly, and from cold they don't slow the car very quickly at all. Considering all the Megane's other strengths, they seem to have let the car down with sub-standard brakes IMHO.
MY view: the DS2500 offer more bite and are fine for the road. DS1.11 are very very good but are expensive (front pads are £220) and can suffer from brake squeal which, in daily use, can soon get tiring. I run DS2500 daily and swap for DS1.11 for hoons/track days.
Of course if you really understand brakes and pads you will realise most of the options for an upgraded pad (race or fast/road track) suggested here are not approved for road use under ECE 90 approval and cannot be fitted as standard by manufacturers to road cars. Standard road pads have to meet a wide range of criteria. Its easy to winge without knowledge.
Thanks for the input, been a few people now have mentioned the DS2500 for road use, think I'll be going for them. Where is the best place to get them? Seen them at about 180 for the fronts and around 100 for the back. Sound about right? Just a quick google..
Can't believe people don't think the Megane brakes are good... are you sure you don't need new disks or something? There absolutely fantastic for road use, even around brands hatch indy track I was impressed and keeping up with more exotic machinery. When I replaced the rears I just bought the standard OEM brembo... brembo are good brakes and are fitted as standard to a lot of performance cars...£40.. thank you very much
I wouldn't say they are crap but compared to other car's I've driven they seem like they suck more than they should. Yeah they are brembo's but people keep telling me to change to some decent fluid and better pads and that's how the brakes should feel standard... Found some DS2500's fronts for £134. Seems a lot cheaper than most sites though. But has the right part code of FCP1334H as I'm lead to believe. From a site called jdl-brakes. Always dubious when things seem too good to be true haha..
Have you tried uprated pads though? I can tell you DS1.11 are amazing, I can take huge amounts out of the braking distances with those. On hoons the confidence it gave me was amazing too, you can brake so much later and deeper into the corners. Normal pads are good, just nowhere near as good as some pads.
I find the oem brake pads fade quite easily when pushed hard. I'm running Carbotech XP8 on front and DS2500 on rear of my 340bhp R26. The XP8's have loads of bite and I've had no issues with noise or bite from cold. When it was running 270bhp I had DS2500 all round and found them more than sufficient on road and track.
When I changed my fronts there was quite a lot of build up of dust etc in the grooves where the pads should move freely. When I cleaned this out and put a spot of slip in there, the bake 'bite' increased dramatically. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
