Hi guys,

I believe the brakes on my fiesta are coming to the end of its lifespan...it makes a click noise sometimes however a few garages have told me its OK ... rather not take the risk.

I thought...if i'm going to change them, might as well add on some nice performance brake pads and discs! 

This may be a silly question...however are there any disadvantages of performance brakes? Like do i need to achieve a certain speed for them to work efficiently. 

Aside from that, I've seen these that I thought may work well? Just wanted to find out on your recommendations?

 

https://www.dcperformance.co.uk/cheap/656762/ford/black-diamond-front-brake-pads/pp773.html

https://www.dcperformance.co.uk/cheap/689335/ford/black-diamond-front-combi-brake-discs/kbd1506c.html

Fast road pads:
Advantages - reduced brake fade, improved braking
Disadvantages - may need to get up to temp to be at there best, more likely to squeal (unless ceramic), more brake dust or reduction in disc life

Drilled discs:
Advantages - reduced brake fade
Disadvantages - more likely to crack

Grooved discs:
Advantages - reduced brake fade, improved braking performance from pads
Disadvantages - noisy, generate more brake dust

I would recommend getting just drilled discs and not bothering with the grooves. I have a mate with black diamond discs and pads and they have been spot on for him.

Be careful with performance pads, it's not speed you need but temperature.  One of my mates crashed as his pads had cooled while cruising at 70 on the motorway.  

Pretty much else has been covered above but the other disadvantage of grooved discs is that they wear out pads really quickly as they're 'shaving' the friction material every time you brake.

 

I think Ford will have looked at this quite carefully and gone for the best all round combination of pads and discs.

Ford will have gone with the manufacturer that gave them the best deal on a large quantity of pads...not necessarily the best performing pads.

 

For road / light track use, I would recommend:

1. Fluid changes at regular intervals.

2. Standard discs.

3. Mildly updated pads, but need to be able to stop from cold.

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13 hours ago, dfriel2 said:

For road / light track use, I would recommend:

1. Fluid changes at regular intervals.

2. Standard discs.

3. Mildly updated pads, but need to be able to stop from cold.

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^^^^ this is spot on, plus simply bleeding the system can make a world of difference, I would just go with stock vented discs, mildly uprated pads and maybe braided lines.

1 hour ago, m1tch said:

^^^^ this is spot on, plus simply bleeding the system can make a world of difference, I would just go with stock vented discs, mildly uprated pads and maybe braided lines.

 

15 hours ago, dfriel2 said:

For road / light track use, I would recommend:

1. Fluid changes at regular intervals.

2. Standard discs.

3. Mildly updated pads, but need to be able to stop from cold.

Sent from my iPhone using Ford OC

What pads would you recommend?

I'm going to install braided lines, Dot 5.1 fluid and better pads soon, as well as upgrading tyres. Living in a constantly hot climate I'm also looking at adding some brake air ducts. Velossatech Design have Fiesta ducts coming soon (similar to their Focus ST ducts) or maybe the Boomba Racing ones. 

9 hours ago, ThaiFiesta said:

 

What pads would you recommend?

I'm going to install braided lines, Dot 5.1 fluid and better pads soon, as well as upgrading tyres. Living in a constantly hot climate I'm also looking at adding some brake air ducts. Velossatech Design have Fiesta ducts coming soon (similar to their Focus ST ducts) or maybe the Boomba Racing ones. 

I got a very good deal on EBC Greenstuff, so have just fitted these. Some people have issues with Greenstuff, but I think the current version is absolutely fine. If I didn't get a hefty discount, I would have probably gone for these:

http://www.pumaspeed.co.uk/product-Mintex-1144-Fast-RoadTrack-Pads-Fiesta-Mk7_443.jsp

On 24/10/2016 at 7:19 PM, TomsFocus said:

Be careful with performance pads, it's not speed you need but temperature.

Bang on! I upgraded my discs & pads on my MKII RS2000 many years ago was by christ they was crap when cold, not good at all nearly rear ended a few cars in the two days I had them fitted. yes I used to really give my Escort some stick but was utterly useless in a morning, so whipped them all off and put the standard discs & pads back on, my life was much easier after that! God knows why I wanted them on! Oh I do.... they looked mint