3.0 v6 brakes

[dazgtv]

can anyone who owns a v6 gtv tell me how they feel about the performance of their brakes


I know its a heavy car as such however when i bought it the brakes felt a bit crap for the speed the car does. On investigating it had crap old pads and discs that were worn out, so i replaced the discs with shiny new ones and coupled with some EBC redstuff pads (which I have used before and rated well), replaced the brake fluid and bled the brakes. The back brakes are all standard but look relatively new and in decent condition.

After running in for a load of miles i tested the brakes and although the redstuff pads stop them from fading and the car does stop well if you press the pedal really hard, I still feel like they should feel a lot sharper. When i did a brake upgrade on my old CRX they new brakes were astounding and nearly put you through the window. To say these are supposed to be brembo brakes on a fairly large disc they do give the feeling that they are made of wood and not doing a lot until you really give them some hard press.

Is it just me or do everyones brakes feel this way?

[symon]

The Brakes on my Coupe (which are basically the same) felt how you describe and they were fitted with OMP Pads.

My GTV brakes feel a lot sharper and bite with less of a press on the pedal, although I am not sure what pads are fitted. I need to check.

Some Performance Friction, Pagid, or Ferodo DS2500 should improve matters.

I do not rate EBC pads personally.

[cossa]

I had some braided brake hoses fitted to mine and the pedal travel is much less than it was with the standard rubber ones. Pads and discs will improve the brake fade under heavy braking but to improve the sharpness I'd suggest braided hoses.

[Markos]

GTVs do need a heftier push on the pedal for stopping at high speeds than other cars I've driven. Braided hoses, new fluid and good pads should improve things, but they still won't feel like other cars' brakes. They do work well, you just have to get used to stamping on them hard when you really want to stop quickly.

[tannedstamina]

Mine seem to feel fine. I've only had a few times when I've had to brake hardish and seemed to stop easy enough without the ABS kicking in. Might need to find a wet road and try to get it working!

Shows how much I get to drive it.. :-(

[enigma103]

My brakes are also not feeling strong enough. Had the disks changed 3 months ago, not much improvement.

[dazgtv]

seems to be a common thing at least which has eased my mind that everyone elses brembos arent ripping their faces off and mine arent doing anything lol.

As i said they do work if you really stomp them but not as sharp as other cars, must be combinations of the momentum from the power and the weight

[dazgtv]

cossa what did it cost for your braided hoses out of interest

cheers

[Templar461]

be careful with braided hoses, they can cause problems. If you change the fluid, uprate the discs and pads then they will be fine. As it stands I think the GTV V6 brakes are pretty good. I have a couple of near misses, from other people pulling out etc, they were great. Believe me when you need them they will be there for you!!

[DRGTV]

My brakes are frankly the worst I have ever experienced in a modern car (allowing for weight and performance). I have had a number of heart in mouth moments hauling the car down from decent speeds since I got it. My plan is to upgrade the pads (to DS2500's) and switch to braided lines with higher spec fluid. My disks seem fine at the moment so that's one less cost hopefully.

I have yet to be impressed by the Brembo calipers and am really hoping my changes make a noticable difference as it's difficult to have confidence with the current set-up.

[turbonutters]

The brakes on the 3.0 GTV is brilliant but you have to step on it.
I do not think it is accidental The Original GTV6 fitted with Brembo’s in the 80’s also needed a lot more force but they always stopped properly if you had good pads fitted.
The only pads that really work is Frodo’s the rest can not take the heat.
EBD is supposed to be a lot better than what it was but personally I will not put it on one of my cars.
Even on the track I never ha a problem with my brakes apart from a bit of a judder they always behave perfectly.
Step on the brakes if you want to stop, the harder brakes make it a lot easier to modulate and stop fast without engaging the ABS.

[Aisha]

Originally Posted by DRGTV

My brakes are frankly the worst I have ever experienced in a modern car (allowing for weight and performance). I have had a number of heart in mouth moments hauling the car down from decent speeds since I got it. My plan is to upgrade the pads (to DS2500's) and switch to braided lines with higher spec fluid. My disks seem fine at the moment so that's one less cost hopefully.

I have yet to be impressed by the Brembo calipers and am really hoping my changes make a noticable difference as it's difficult to have confidence with the current set-up.

Spot on! I've had two gtv v6's and the brakes were terrible. Yes they are Brembo but that doesn't mean they are good. I changed pads, discs and upgraded to braided hoses. The braking was better but because the gtv suspension is flawed, the better braking means the car dives forward even more severely on hard braking. Discs are nothing more than cosmetic on a gtv so dont waste your money. Pads will help and the braided hoses were noticably better, removing the spongy feeling but they only serve to highlight the other deficiencies.

[Pascs]

The Brembos should be very good but they need good pads. I use DS2500's on my 156 with Brembo calipers and they have good bite, no fade and even after some very hot track days the brakes are great with no fade.

IMO its the pads that make all the difference - not all pads are created equal

[benje]

The best upgrade I ever made to my Fiat Coupe (Which are essentially the same brakes) were some Tarox grilled / grooved discs and some Tarox pads also. I can't tell which pads they were or which variants of pads, but they certainly improved things no end. Not cheap though (I got them secondhand) I think the discs alone are about £220, and they all squeeled like a pig, but like I said a definite improvment over what was on there before.

EDIT: looks like the pads are about £130 as well so not cheap at all

[fantom alfa]

The big issue with the GTV brakes is that you need to press hard to get large retardation of speed. No bad thing really, as they are good and progressive, rather than the modern trend of instant and grabby.
The big question is can you lock them and get the ABS to kick in at 60+mph in the dry? If not they are inadequate, but if you can without extreme pressure then they are well up to the job.
My brakes will slow me down rapidly from 90+mph without excessive pedal pressure. They don't put you through the window as the heavy car will mean the tyres will slip first.
My setup has red.dot drilled and grooved discs all round, braided hoses, red.dot pads at the rear and ferrodo ds2500 pads at the front.

[cossa]

I got the braided hoses from Alfaholics, plus I changed the brake fluid and put on Ferrodo pads and Red Dot Racing cross-drilled and groved discs. They're a lot better than they where, they don't fade and the spongy pedal feel has gone but you still need to put some weight on the pedal. I agree that it's better to have progressivness over the on/off feel of some modern brakes that are over assisted.

[Der Teufel]

Originally Posted by turbonutters

The brakes on the 3.0 GTV is brilliant but you have to step on it.
I do not think it is accidental The Original GTV6 fitted with Brembo’s in the 80’s also needed a lot more force but they always stopped properly if you had good pads fitted.
The only pads that really work is Frodo’s the rest can not take the heat.
EBD is supposed to be a lot better than what it was but personally I will not put it on one of my cars.
Even on the track I never ha a problem with my brakes apart from a bit of a judder they always behave perfectly.
Step on the brakes if you want to stop, the harder brakes make it a lot easier to modulate and stop fast without engaging the ABS.

What he said. Ive just fitted some drilled and grooved 305mm discks with the above pads front and rear from EB Spares and they are smooth and responsive although if I were to take it to the track I'd want to swap the 305s for 330s.

Have a look at these Brakes

If you really want to improve braking performance beyond new discs etc. fit a lighter wheel.