S16 Brakes (266mm) Worth The Upgrade?

[james306 0]

I have the S16 brakes on my 306 which i'm about to break for parts and wondering if it's worth putting them on the 205. I have had a bit of a search on here and there seems to be mixed views on them.

 

What do people who have/had the 266mm setup on the 205 think of it? Is the effect on the pedal/travel ok?

[welshpug 1,645]

work fine, pads and discs are cheap for them, no noticeable difference to pedal travel as they arent that much bigger pistons (54 to 48mm IIRC)

[james306 0]

I gather the improvement in stopping power is worthwile too?

[swordfish210 20]

I have 266mm on mine and i thnk they're great, loads of stopping power. I used a 22.2mm M/C from a 405 when i fitted mine and the pedal travel is excellent.

[james306 0]

I can always steal the master cylinder from the pug, should make for perfect pedal travel if the current m/c isn't right.

[Henry Yorke 269 3 Cars]

I have 266mm ones from a 307 on mine and they are fine. My previous ones seemed to fade on track, but that was without uprated pads

[BusEngineer 7]

Ive fitted them to mine, not driven it yet though still on axle stands!!

 

Id like to know what master cylinder is recomended as i have the standard 1.6 one fitted at the moment and a 406 24ish mm one in stock. Should i change to the 406 one or go for something in between the two? All advice gratefully received

[Henry Yorke 269 3 Cars]

I run a standard master cylinder on mine and it feels fine. I think 24mm will be way too big. IIRC 22 was the preferred one for 283mm discs, bot the biggest S16 one as you lock up too easy and lose the progressive nature

[BusEngineer 7]

Thanks for the advice

 

Time to put my 406 one up for sale methinks

[james306 0]

Cheers for the advice, will be putting the 266's on next week and see if the standard m/c is all good but I suspect from your comments it will be fine

[de Noir 0]

I'm running 266mm ATE Powerdiscs and ATE pads, with 23.8mm mbc from P-406.

Great stopping power, short pedal travel, hard pedal feel. Track proven. Very satisfied.

Edited November 6, 2010 by de Noir

[pug_ham 243 3 Cars]

I ran with these brakes for a while (ATE Powerdiscs & Mintex 1144 pads) on a standard m/c, the calipers still had a 48mm piston so pedal travel was unchanged & tbh I was never that impressed with them.

 

I've since swapped back to standard size Ate powerdiscs with Tarox pads which I find to be far superior.

 

Graham.

[Baz 421]

^Seconded, i wouldn't bother.

[GLPoomobile 958]

Hmmmmm

 

I fitted 266mm 306 brakes on mine with ATE Powerslot discs and normal pads (from Halfords, possibly a basic Ferodo pad). Never been impressed with them. It had 1.6 calipers with Black Diamond discs with Mintex 1144 pads before that, and they were sooooooo much better. I did think it was a bit unfair to compare given the cheap pads I'm using, and had been thinking of putting some decent pads in, but maybe I won't bother now on the basis of what Graham said above. Might just "downgrade" to a standard set up with good pads, as I'm not entirely happy with the calipers anyway, plus it's extra unsprung weight.

[Anthony 1,002]

I fitted 266mm 306 brakes on mine with ATE Powerslot discs and normal pads (from Halfords, possibly a basic Ferodo pad).

If they were Halfords own-brand pads, then frankly they're utterly horrific and it would be very unfair of you to judge the performance of the brake setup whilst running those. A 205 I bought a couple of years back had a nearly new pair of those pads fitted, and they were so bad I'd consider them dangerous - no cold bite, little stopping power, and faded after about three presses of the pedal - as soon as I got home I removed them and threw them in the bin.

 

If they were the Ferodo Premier pads that Halfords stock, then they're fine and more than good enough for the road, although they lack the sharp, reassuring bite that 1144's tend to have.

[GLPoomobile 958]

Yeah, I agree the comparisson is not fair. I just can't remember if they were the Ferodo premiers or not. I suspect not, as I seem to recall that I specifically wanted them but had trouble getting them in any Halfords at the time. If I was totally happy with the set up bar the obvious short comings of s*it pads, then I probably would stick with it and put some decent pads in, but I've never been totally happy with mine. But to be fair again, I have other 'issues' such as a longer travel caused by (IMO) the servo pushrod needing adjustment (I changed the MC at the same time), and a slight brake imbalance. So my experience of them isn't really fair when compared to a perfect working set up with good pads.

[Tom Fenton 1,536]

Another person who fitted them and thought they were poor.

[welshpug 1,645]

weird, not an issue as standard equipment on my heavier ZX, maybe I'm not as hard on brakes as many seem to be on here

[allye 530 3 Cars]

If they were Halfords own-brand pads, then frankly they're utterly horrific

 

I can imagine, I have no experience of Halfrauds stuff, and would never, ever buy their stuff!

 

My mate once bought Hlafrauds oils and I laughed at him and was very ashamed.

[de Noir 0]

I ran with these brakes for a while (ATE Powerdiscs & Mintex 1144 pads) on a standard m/c, the calipers still had a 48mm piston so pedal travel was unchanged & tbh I was never that impressed with them.

 

I've since swapped back to standard size Ate powerdiscs with Tarox pads which I find to be far superior.

 

Graham.

 

 

 

G, you must be referring on something else, as S16 brakes pistons are size 54mm:

 

 

 

ATE pads I run are leftovers from my ex 306S16, which type are they - I do not remember any more as they must have been in my stash for at least 5-6 years. Brake oil is ATE 4.1 so I guess we can agree this being a very basic and sober 266mm road setup.

 

I'm not saying that this is the best setup ever, just that suits the car and my driving habits.

On the other hand, I've never ever been hard at brakes.

 

Haven't had opportunity yet to try different pads, but sure will try other stuff as soon as I fix my engine and wear those pads I got..

[GLPoomobile 958]

maybe I'm not as hard on brakes as many seem to be on here

 

Since you are the economy King, I suspect that to be true

[welshpug 1,645]

I just don't slow down for corners

[pug_ham 243 3 Cars]

weird, not an issue as standard equipment on my heavier ZX, maybe I'm not as hard on brakes as many seem to be on here

Bigger servo (& mc? ) means maybe you don't hit them as hard for the same reaction.

 

I wouldn't say I'm hard on brakes but I do like to brake late & with the 266mm set up on my car, it locked a rear wheel much more frequently.

 

G, you must be referring on something else, as S16 brakes pistons are size 54mm:

 

I bought them as from a 306 S16 iirc but wasn't that botherd by the piston size because it didn't mess with pedal travel due to size differences.

 

The main effect of these bigger discs (imo) is the extra leverage they give allowing shorter stopping distances & faster retardation.

 

I'm not saying they weren't an improvement just they didn't feel any better than the standard size brakes I swapped from & worse than the set up I have now.

 

Graham.

[welshpug 1,645]

indeed my zx does have a larger M/C, much larger infact at 23.8mm, so a shorter pedal and less pressure exerted on the pads for a given force on the pedal.

 

the 306 S16 used a 22.2mm m/c but the same calipers all round (54mm piston front, 32mm rear)

[Anthony 1,002]

I wouldn't say I'm hard on brakes but I do like to brake late & with the 266mm set up on my car, it locked a rear wheel much more frequently.

Locking up the rear wheels is a sure sign to me that the front brakes weren't working properly if everything was fine using standard 1.9 stuff.