X308 XJR Brakes - Standard or Aftermarket?

[groomi]

My front discs and pads are nearing replacement so I'm looking at the options. Although the standard brakes work well enough, the specification is at least 10 years old and I knwo from experience that aftermarket discs and pads can be both cheaper and better on some cars.

So, has anyone fitted anything other than standard on an X308 XJR and if so, what did you go for and how did they fare?

In an ideal world I'd do the Brembo big brake upgrade, but these days the cost just doesn't make sense against the cars value.

[BigNige]

How about these?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/MINTEX-FRONT-BRAKE-DISCS-PAD...

Mountains of good feedback and I have a feeling that Mintex were the OE suppliers.

Edited by BigNige on Sunday 22 March 13:28

[G_T]

I'm by no means an expert but I personally wouldn't go down the "uprated discs and pads" route.

I've had "drilled discs" that cracked after a hard drive and I've heard masses of horror stories about the shoddy quality of "red/yellow" EBC performance pads.

It's not like it's some boggo spec Vauxhall OEM brake pads and discs. You're dealing with a car that had a fair amount of engineering behind it.

I would disagree with your statement about the standard brakes being good enough though! Under hard driving I've had many hairy moments. But perhaps it's just time I had a good look at the pads/discs (and maybe stopped trying to drive it like an Mx5!).

I would certainly agree that Brembo's are not an economically viable option on an older car though. It's about £270 for the discs alone isn't it? Ouch.

I really think the additional braking you'd get from non-oem is going to be minimal. The cost however won't be.

All the best.

[TEKNOPUG]

Like anything, it's a compromise: OEM will have to factor in peddle feel, noise, dust, lifespan etc - non-OE performance parts may sacrifice these in order to achieve greater performance efficiency. However, with brakes, you are only going to improve the braking with bigger discs and pads or, more importantly, larger multi-piston callipers. Merely changing the friction material will not improve the braking, it can however, reduce brake fade (by fitting a harder friction compound). Don't bother with non-OE discs, especially cross-drilled (they crack easily). However, pads by a reputable supplier (Mintex, Pagid etc) will greatly reduce brake fade, allowing you to brake harder for longer and more often. The trade off will be less efficiency at slow speeds (pads will take longer to warm up to operating temperatures) greater peddle travel (again at slow speeds) more brake dust and more noise when braking (break squeal).

Ideally, one would want to fit larger callipers and discs. The Brembo upgrade seems very expensive for what it is. I'm surprised that no one has investigated (or discovered and shared) whether callipers from another car (such as Porsche for example) can be made to fit in conjunction with an off the shelf disc. I suppose anything is possible if you have the money and or expertise to get custom brackets. For example; Audi S2's can be upgraded to Porsche 996/GT3/Boxster S mono-bloc callipers & 330mm discs from an Audi A8, using mounting brackets from a Seat Cupra. I guess though that there really isn't the demand for the X308 and that there are very few people experimenting with modding the cars and discovering what can be done.

No doubt that there is an off the shelf solution using parts from other models and a little know how, it just whether anyone has the time or inclination to look for one.

[groomi]

I fitted Mintex 1144 pads and standard dics to my old 205 and they were better all round for road and track use. I'd like to try something similar on the Jag but wondered if anybody else had any experiences before I start playing...

[Cecil]

I have the Brembo factory upgrade on my MY2001 XJR; the disks are around 700GBP per axel set, the pads about 200GBP. I have just had to get the front ones skimmed due to bad vibration, they were just less than a year old, I too am looking for alternatives, purely due to cost. They look great and stop well with no fade and little pedal travel but I feel they are more style over substance.

[TEKNOPUG]

£350 per disc!!! They are just lumps of iron at the end of the day, certianly nothing that warrants anywhere near that cost. £100 for a set of pads I could understand though.

[a8hex]

TEKNOPUG said:

£350 per disc!!! They are just lumps of iron at the end of the day, certianly nothing that warrants anywhere near that cost. £100 for a set of pads I could understand though.

At the end of the day, a car is just a couple of bits of bent metal and a dead cow to sit on, yet somehow they justify charging thousands for them.
There are plenty of brake discs that cost a lot more than £350 a throw. It all depends on just how precisely you want all the metallurgy controlled to get totally consistent friction while seeing how much heat you can dissipate.

The problem with this sort of option is that when the car is new the owner wouldn't have thought anything of specify a couple of grand for getting better brakes, when the car was well north of 50K the brakes were a drop in the ocean.
When you buy a £50K car for £5K ten years down the line, you still have to remember it was a £50K car to start with, and the components used are likely to be commensurate with that.

[groomi]

a8hex said:

At the end of the day, a car is just a couple of bits of bent metal and a dead cow to sit on, yet somehow they justify charging thousands for them.

I think you're over-simplifying things a bit. For a start, there's the tree needed to mount the steering wheel on...

[TEKNOPUG]

a8hex said:

TEKNOPUG said:

£350 per disc!!! They are just lumps of iron at the end of the day, certianly nothing that warrants anywhere near that cost. £100 for a set of pads I could understand though.

At the end of the day, a car is just a couple of bits of bent metal and a dead cow to sit on, yet somehow they justify charging thousands for them.
There are plenty of brake discs that cost a lot more than £350 a throw. It all depends on just how precisely you want all the metallurgy controlled to get totally consistent friction while seeing how much heat you can dissipate.

The problem with this sort of option is that when the car is new the owner wouldn't have thought anything of specify a couple of grand for getting better brakes, when the car was well north of 50K the brakes were a drop in the ocean.
When you buy a £50K car for £5K ten years down the line, you still have to remember it was a £50K car to start with, and the components used are likely to be commensurate with that.

That's true enough. I still maintain though the £350 per a disc is excessive. I've had a look around Brembo's website during lunch and reckon that the dealers are adding a very big mark up to the parts.

[a8hex]

groomi said:

a8hex said:

At the end of the day, a car is just a couple of bits of bent metal and a dead cow to sit on, yet somehow they justify charging thousands for them.

I think you're over-simplifying things a bit. For a start, there's the tree needed to mount the steering wheel on...

Now, if only they'd introduce a rubber tree option for the timber work, they could cut the component count down further.

[NST]

having just gone though the brembo front discs and pads replacement on the jag, i am also looking at alternatives. i managed to get a really good deal though which included fitting at my local jag dealer. though the average price for front discs and pads was around £920-971. which imho is crazy. Jag have a huge markup on the discs and can only be sourced from jag.

my friend had to replace his fronts and rears on his 3200GT, again similar silly prices for brembo discs/pads, but ferrari and maserati OEM parts can go sourced cheaply from various places (eurospares). We don't seem to have that available to us.

NST

[Cecil]

Thanks NST, glad to hear I am not the only one that had to pay these prices, will post back if I find any alternatives

[Zippyworld]

Hi,

I upgraded my brake pads and discs all round on my 1998 XJR. i used EBC redstuff pads and grooved / drilled discs. What a huge and expensive mistake, they completely cooked themselves and not under extreme conditions, just occasional hard breaking on normal roads, lasted 800 miles if that, and they were treated well for the first five hundred.

I have now replaced with genuine Jaguar discs and pads at a cost of £475 plus some labour from an Independant. The line of thought was they are made for this car and do the job both from myself and the Main Dealer....

Independant dealers seem to swear by Mintex pads and discs.

Hope this helps

[groomi]

Thanks Zippyworld, that's interesting to know. Sounds like you're one fo the few to put themselves forward as guinea pigs!

I think I'll probably try Mintex pads on standard discs and see what happens.

[TEKNOPUG]

Zippyworld said:

Hi,

I upgraded my brake pads and discs all round on my 1998 XJR. i used EBC redstuff pads and grooved / drilled discs. What a huge and expensive mistake, they completely cooked themselves and not under extreme conditions, just occasional hard breaking on normal roads, lasted 800 miles if that, and they were treated well for the first five hundred.

I have now replaced with genuine Jaguar discs and pads at a cost of £475 plus some labour from an Independant. The line of thought was they are made for this car and do the job both from myself and the Main Dealer....

Independant dealers seem to swear by Mintex pads and discs.

Hope this helps

Never heard anything good about EBC, so this just further confirms my dislike of them. Can't go wrong with Mintex, Ferodo or Pagid IMHO. Obviously dust and noise will be greater with a more performance orientated pad.

[NST]

Cecil said:

Thanks NST, glad to hear I am not the only one that had to pay these prices, will post back if I find any alternatives

i've been browsing around and haven't found much, there are some pattern brembo discs available from the usual places but they aren't much cheaper. I see Racing Green in Ashvale have some upgraded brakes which include huge 12pot calipers! but i get the impression these might not be a cheap option..