Gti Edition 30 - standard brakes - track day
Discussion
I have had an edition 30 Gti as my every day run around for the past year. It's a cracking bit of kit and I'm definitely a fan. However I've never felt that the brakes were anything more than adequate for road use. I've also had a lotus exige for the best part of the last 4 years and done plenty of trackdays in that and in previous hot hatches too. However the exige had now been sold and Lotus have not yet got round to finishing my new one!
In the meantime I'm fancying a trackday and contemplating Bedford next Monday. My question is, how do the standard pads and discs take repeated heavy stops from 100 mph plus which is what you get on the GT circuit? The golf is undoubtedly a big heavy thing compared to what I normally track and, as I say, this is not my regular track day car. I don't want to upgrade the brakes for a one off, but if people are going to tell me that I will inevitably over heat them, and crash and die, I might well think again!
Cheers!
In the meantime I'm fancying a trackday and contemplating Bedford next Monday. My question is, how do the standard pads and discs take repeated heavy stops from 100 mph plus which is what you get on the GT circuit? The golf is undoubtedly a big heavy thing compared to what I normally track and, as I say, this is not my regular track day car. I don't want to upgrade the brakes for a one off, but if people are going to tell me that I will inevitably over heat them, and crash and die, I might well think again!
Cheers!
Edited by gashead1105 on Tuesday 7th April 19:01
They'll take a fair amount of battering, but it depends how you drive
If you go out and do 8-10 laps and a good cool down, then they'll be fine (assuming they're not on the edge of being gone already), but if you go out and do 50laps every session and hammer the brakes as hard as you can for late braking at every corner, then you'll kill off the pads in no time
The trick with any sporty style car, as you'll undoubtedly already know, is go by feel, and if the brakes start getting long in the pedal, back off and sit a session out until they cool off
I did a few track days in my Mk5 GTI a few years back, and the brakes were just fine as long as I managed them during the day
Hope this helps ?
If you go out and do 8-10 laps and a good cool down, then they'll be fine (assuming they're not on the edge of being gone already), but if you go out and do 50laps every session and hammer the brakes as hard as you can for late braking at every corner, then you'll kill off the pads in no time
The trick with any sporty style car, as you'll undoubtedly already know, is go by feel, and if the brakes start getting long in the pedal, back off and sit a session out until they cool off
I did a few track days in my Mk5 GTI a few years back, and the brakes were just fine as long as I managed them during the day
Hope this helps ?
graeme4130 said:
They'll take a fair amount of battering, but it depends how you drive
If you go out and do 8-10 laps and a good cool down, then they'll be fine (assuming they're not on the edge of being gone already), but if you go out and do 50laps every session and hammer the brakes as hard as you can for late braking at every corner, then you'll kill off the pads in no time
The trick with any sporty style car, as you'll undoubtedly already know, is go by feel, and if the brakes start getting long in the pedal, back off and sit a session out until they cool off
I did a few track days in my Mk5 GTI a few years back, and the brakes were just fine as long as I managed them during the day
Hope this helps ?
Ideal, many thanks Graeme. That's exactly what I wanted to know. Should be fine in that case, I think there's a reasonable amount of meat left on them and Ive always done short runs and full cooling down laps, but I've also always either upgraded the brakes beyond the OE or, in the case of the Exige, had 4pot APs and pagid ceramic pads as standard. It's certainly the heaviest car I've ever contemplated tracking though, but I'm hoping it should be fun once the ESP is turned off!If you go out and do 8-10 laps and a good cool down, then they'll be fine (assuming they're not on the edge of being gone already), but if you go out and do 50laps every session and hammer the brakes as hard as you can for late braking at every corner, then you'll kill off the pads in no time
The trick with any sporty style car, as you'll undoubtedly already know, is go by feel, and if the brakes start getting long in the pedal, back off and sit a session out until they cool off
I did a few track days in my Mk5 GTI a few years back, and the brakes were just fine as long as I managed them during the day
Hope this helps ?
I'll largely echo the above but I'd still be tempted to get new fluid in there and a set of hotter pads.
Pagid DS2500 or similar will be well suited and not silly expensive. It's amazing how much meat you can wear of a set of standard stoppers in a day once they start getting hot.
We've a little track car here that uses (basically) a Leon Cupra R front setup which are 4 pot Brembos with a 330 (I think) disc. One day at Castle Combe had the standard VAG pads looking somewhat crumbly. EBC reds in there now which happily soak up all day punishment.
Pagid DS2500 or similar will be well suited and not silly expensive. It's amazing how much meat you can wear of a set of standard stoppers in a day once they start getting hot.
We've a little track car here that uses (basically) a Leon Cupra R front setup which are 4 pot Brembos with a 330 (I think) disc. One day at Castle Combe had the standard VAG pads looking somewhat crumbly. EBC reds in there now which happily soak up all day punishment.
Dr G said:
I'll largely echo the above but I'd still be tempted to get new fluid in there and a set of hotter pads.
Pagid DS2500 or similar will be well suited and not silly expensive. It's amazing how much meat you can wear of a set of standard stoppers in a day once they start getting hot.
We've a little track car here that uses (basically) a Leon Cupra R front setup which are 4 pot Brembos with a 330 (I think) disc. One day at Castle Combe had the standard VAG pads looking somewhat crumbly. EBC reds in there now which happily soak up all day punishment.
Thanks. It's actually having a fluid change today. I've had DS2500s before on a Clio 182, but truthfully I just can't be bothered with the hassle of changing the pads over this weekend.Pagid DS2500 or similar will be well suited and not silly expensive. It's amazing how much meat you can wear of a set of standard stoppers in a day once they start getting hot.
We've a little track car here that uses (basically) a Leon Cupra R front setup which are 4 pot Brembos with a 330 (I think) disc. One day at Castle Combe had the standard VAG pads looking somewhat crumbly. EBC reds in there now which happily soak up all day punishment.
Dr G said:
I'll largely echo the above but I'd still be tempted to get new fluid in there and a set of hotter pads.
Pagid DS2500 or similar will be well suited and not silly expensive. It's amazing how much meat you can wear of a set of standard stoppers in a day once they start getting hot.
We've a little track car here that uses (basically) a Leon Cupra R front setup which are 4 pot Brembos with a 330 (I think) disc. One day at Castle Combe had the standard VAG pads looking somewhat crumbly. EBC reds in there now which happily soak up all day punishment.
One follow up question Alex - what are you running on the rears? I've ordered some EBC yellows for the front and they should arrive tomorrow, but I was hoping to leave the rears as OE. The sales guy of course tried to get me to order the rears as well, but based on my previous experience in clios and a 250 megane the OE rear pads should be ok. Any views?Pagid DS2500 or similar will be well suited and not silly expensive. It's amazing how much meat you can wear of a set of standard stoppers in a day once they start getting hot.
We've a little track car here that uses (basically) a Leon Cupra R front setup which are 4 pot Brembos with a 330 (I think) disc. One day at Castle Combe had the standard VAG pads looking somewhat crumbly. EBC reds in there now which happily soak up all day punishment.
Cheers Will
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