Brake Disc & Pad upgrade

[Rob G]

Has anyone upgraded their brakes when replacing discs and pads? I’ll need to replace all four corners in 4-6 weeks and have been looking at the options available to me. 
Has anyone replaced the fronts with drilled and or grooved discs over the standard ventilated types. 
As I cover a lot of miles each week I’m primarily concerned with getting a similar lifespan from the replacements (circa 55k miles) but I’m wondering if there’s a trade off between having more powerful braking (I’m assuming I’ll get that from drilled / grooved discs) over a shorter lifespan. 
The initial VAT inc quote I had was £1350 fitted for all four corners with OE spec. 
 

[JMKC82]

Hi Rob,

We'll always ask why you want to upgrade to drilled and slots.  Depends on your driving style and car, etc.

So i have a Q5 PHEV and with the batteries it is a heavy car.  So i decided to go for Brembo drilled and slots as i like a better braking performance.  But i will tell you I eat through brake pads quickly, i've been told it is because of the slots 'cutting' or 'slicing' through the brake pad.

If i could turn back time and definitely 100% next time, i'd probably go for drilled only with the same brand pads, or standard discs with EBC pads.

I've used EBC pads on my previous golf, A3, and my last A4, and they were awesome on their own - RED or YELLOW stuff!

Drilled and slots discs do look good though 😄

Thanks, Joe

[Stevey Y]

13 hours ago, Rob G said:

Has anyone upgraded their brakes when replacing discs and pads? I’ll need to replace all four corners in 4-6 weeks and have been looking at the options available to me. 
Has anyone replaced the fronts with drilled and or grooved discs over the standard ventilated types. 
As I cover a lot of miles each week I’m primarily concerned with getting a similar lifespan from the replacements (circa 55k miles) but I’m wondering if there’s a trade off between having more powerful braking (I’m assuming I’ll get that from drilled / grooved discs) over a shorter lifespan. 
The initial VAT inc quote I had was £1350 fitted for all four corners with OE spec. 
 

Hi finest upgrade is high carbon discs that are drilled on the front and just plain high carbon discs on the rear pad wise either Brembo or ATE, the biggest bonus will be achieved by changing the brake fluid using Comma dot 4 ESP, I used drilled ATE front and plain ATE discs on the rear of my cab the fronts now need changing but they have done 70k, grooved discs just eat pads and get bits of crud stuck in the grooves which wear the discs at an accelerated rate with no real benefit in braking performance, on the other hand drilled discs cool quicker as well as dissipating water on the discs during wet weather twice as quickly.

Steve.

[Rob G]

On 9/22/2023 at 9:03 AM, JMKC82 said:

Hi Rob,

We'll always ask why you want to upgrade to drilled and slots.  Depends on your driving style and car, etc.

So i have a Q5 PHEV and with the batteries it is a heavy car.  So i decided to go for Brembo drilled and slots as i like a better braking performance.  But i will tell you I eat through brake pads quickly, i've been told it is because of the slots 'cutting' or 'slicing' through the brake pad.

If i could turn back time and definitely 100% next time, i'd probably go for drilled only with the same brand pads, or standard discs with EBC pads.

I've used EBC pads on my previous golf, A3, and my last A4, and they were awesome on their own - RED or YELLOW stuff!

Drilled and slots discs do look good though 😄

Thanks, Joe

Thanks Joe,

I’ll look into those pads and appreciate that feedback about the grooved discs. 👍

[Rob G]

18 hours ago, Stevey Y said:

Hi finest upgrade is high carbon discs that are drilled on the front and just plain high carbon discs on the rear pad wise either Brembo or ATE, the biggest bonus will be achieved by changing the brake fluid using Comma dot 4 ESP, I used drilled ATE front and plain ATE discs on the rear of my cab the fronts now need changing but they have done 70k, grooved discs just eat pads and get bits of crud stuck in the grooves which wear the discs at an accelerated rate with no real benefit in braking performance, on the other hand drilled discs cool quicker as well as dissipating water on the discs during wet weather twice as quickly.

Steve.

Thanks Steve,

Looks like another downvote for grooved discs! 

[Rob G]

Bit of an update. The local (Bosch) service garage I used for a recent warranty repair recommended VBT discs Link and I’ll be using OE (Pagid) pads to start with as Brembo X for my callipers are like hens teeth at the moment. 
They had a good look around for different options but the choices are a bit limited as my front rotors are 314mm. 
The works being done in three weeks so I’ll post up some photos when the works done. 
All four discs need replacing so they will be drilled (NOT grooved per everyone’s feedback) all round. 

[Stevey Y]

21 hours ago, Rob G said:

Bit of an update. The local (Bosch) service garage I used for a recent warranty repair recommended VBT discs Link and I’ll be using OE (Pagid) pads to start with as Brembo X for my callipers are like hens teeth at the moment. 
They had a good look around for different options but the choices are a bit limited as my front rotors are 314mm. 
The works being done in three weeks so I’ll post up some photos when the works done. 
All four discs need replacing so they will be drilled (NOT grooved per everyone’s feedback) all round. 

Hi as far as I was aware Pagid have never been O.E. as they have never had an E11-E9 rating unless they have suddenly acquired a E rating we went through this before on here and JDragon produced a flyer from Eurocarparts of every pad they sell and only Pagid/Eicher did not have an E rating as they are both own brands, worth checking as I have used their own brands before, yes they stop but oh boy do they wear quickly, worth doing the research on line about E11-E9 ratings its most illuminating.

Steve.

[Rob G]

On 10/3/2023 at 8:11 PM, Stevey Y said:

Hi as far as I was aware Pagid have never been O.E. as they have never had an E11-E9 rating unless they have suddenly acquired a E rating we went through this before on here and JDragon produced a flyer from Eurocarparts of every pad they sell and only Pagid/Eicher did not have an E rating as they are both own brands, worth checking as I have used their own brands before, yes they stop but oh boy do they wear quickly, worth doing the research on line about E11-E9 ratings its most illuminating.

Steve.

🤔 I'll speak to the garage but they're the second garage locally (unconnected to one another) who have told me Pagid was OE. May just be OE spec I suppose? 

[Magnet]

Could be well short of the mark Rob, but both garages may use ECP as their supplying motorfactors - ? 
Kind regards,

Gareth.