Alfa SPider Brakes Query

[Melv]

My wife's new Alfa Spider has just come back from £1500 of warranty work (it's done 1700miles.......)

Everything sorted, except she complained that the brakes are not upto her previous Spider. Garage says they are OK!!

If anything, her old car was OVER servoed!! Just a thought -could 1000 miles of running-in in stop start traffic with no heavy applications have glazed them?

I took it out last night and stamped on them a few times to trip the ABS, got them really hot, seemed to improve slightly, but she says same this morning.

Any suggestions? And selling the car is not an option......yet!!

Rgds
Mel
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[pdV6]

TS or V6?

If she's just pootling around town (top down ) then the pads have probably not bedded in properly.

"Overservoed" isn't a comment that one usually hears in relation to Spider or GTV brakes - perhaps her old one had an aftermarket system and the new one is standard and just feels different. IME GTV/Spider brakes work pretty well, but don't initially inspire confidence when coming from a typical over-servoed setup e.g. Peugot or VAG cars...

[Melv]

Tks for your feedback.

Car is JTS. AFAIK, previous one was standard.

She hasn't had top down yet (I have!!) as she only bought it November.

Mel

[pdV6]

Melv said:

Car is JTS.

No experience of the JTS Spider. Maybe they've changed the system from the TS?

[pdV6]

Actually, just had a look on FIAT ePER and the discs & callipers are listed as being the same parts for the TS and JTS.

{edited to add:} However, checking further reveals that the rest of the system (hydraulics, ABS etc) has been changed from the TS, so maybe it just feels different.


>> Edited by pdV6 on Tuesday 8th February 11:15

[richb]

Certainly both my wife and I found the brake feel different between her Phase II 2.0 Twin Spark and the Phase II 3.0 V6, with the V6 requiring noticeably more effort to achieve the same retardation. I assume your wife's car is a Phase III, so does the JTS have the same discs and calipers as the 3.0 V6 these days i.e. the red 4 x pots with the Alfa logo? If so then it sounds like her experience is the same as ours. For what it’s worth I'm considering getting braided hoses fitted at the next service to try to sharpen up the pedal feel a little. Rich...

p.s. I posted a similar question on the Alfa GTV6 forum a few months ago here 3.0 Brake Feel?

>> Edited by richb on Tuesday 8th February 11:22

[wombat rick]

Four pot calipers can sometimes feel more spongey.
More fluid and more movement involved I suppose.

[pdV6]

wombat rick said:

Four pot calipers can sometimes feel more spongey. More fluid and more movement involved I suppose.

ePER lists the discs and callipers as identical on TS / JTS. The hydraulics etc are different, though.

[wombat rick]

pdV6 said:

ePER lists the discs and callipers as identical on TS / JTS. The hydraulics etc are different, though.

It won't be the calipers then.

[Alfa Mad]

The brand of brake pads can also make a significatnt difference. That said, I think that you used the dealer and would have had OEM pads fitted.
IMHO, branded pads are often better than the OEM stuff.

[richb]

wombat rick said:

pdV6 said: ePER lists the discs and callipers as identical on TS / JTS. The hydraulics etc are different, though. It won't be the calipers then.

It could be if his wife's previous 2.0 TS was a Phase II model with sliding claipers and the Phase III TS/JTS/V6 all use the 4 x pot calipers Rich...

[pdV6]

richb said:

wombat rick said: pdV6 said: ePER lists the discs and callipers as identical on TS / JTS. The hydraulics etc are different, though. It won't be the calipers then. It could be if his wife's previous 2.0 TS was a Phase II model with sliding claipers and the Phase III TS/JTS/V6 all use the 4 x pot calipers Rich...

ePER lists the TS & JTS as the same parts and makes no differentiation between Phase 2 and Phase 3 TS models. 3.0V6/3.2V6 is a different part.

[pdV6]

Actually, ignore what I just said - I was reading ePER slightly incorrectly. It looks like they changed the standard pads from Phase2 to Phase3 TS (the latter are shared with the JTS) but kept the Phase2 callipers. Could explain the different feel.

[Melv]

Thanx for all the feedback.

Having had a chance to do a few miles myself, I find the brakes generally good when stamped on when hot, with more feel than the previous cars over-servoed system, but poor when cold or just used 'lightly'.

So, in essence, can't really fault them!!

Rgds
Mel