WHY SHOULD I CONSIDER FITTING BETTER BRAKES?

1) There are many reasons to fit uprated brakes, but the main two are speed and safety. If you want to drive fast, you need to think about more than just engine tuning. Brakes are just as crucial for point-to-point pace. Safety should also be at the forefront of your mind - after spending so much on your motor the last thing you want to do is write it off due to poor brakes.

2) Brakes work by turning the energy of forward motion into heat. The more heat your brakes can generate and cope with, the better their ability to perform at a high level.
Your increased point-to-point speed will come from the ability to brake harder and later, gaining a massive advantage over cars running standard discs and pads. On a real-world run, covering twisty A and B roads, the advantage of uprated brakes can be as great as having an additional 100bhp under your right foot.
Uprated brakes can also handle more heat than the standard set-up - just what you need if you enjoy hard and fast runs or have a boot full of heavy ICE. The ability to handle more heat means your brakes will last longer before the dreaded fade kicks in. Fade happens when the system is over-heated - once you breach the set-up`s temperature range the pad compound melts and glazes over. This loses a huge chunk of performance - right when you need all the performance you can get.
Discs can be drilled (for water and gas dispersion), grooved (for gas and waste pad material dispersion) and dimpled (to prevent pad lift due to gas build-up). Some of the most expensive discs combine all these attributes.
Pads use various friction-compounds - some have a higher abrasives content while others have extra lubricant.

3) Uprated brake designs and the materials used to make them vary.
All discs and pads will have a working temperature range. You need to ensure your combination offers maximum braking performance at the temperature your car generates when being driven hard.
A Pug 106 will not require brakes that offer maximum performance around the 1000 degree mark because it`s unlikely you will ever generate this amount of heat. Whereas a 500bhp Supra would melt a set of discs designed to work at their best around the 300-degree mark.
Ask your performance tuning specialist what discs and pads they think will ensure a good match with your driving style and car`s performance.

WHAT BRAKE SET-UP IS BEST FOR TOWN USE?

 1) On a car that spends most of its time rolling around in traffic you do not want a system which requires a high temperature to work effectively - as it is unlikely you will ever generate the required amount of heat to get them working properly.
A set of grooved discs will do the job nicely and will look great behind a set of open alloys.

2) On a town car your best option is to use a low temperature, highly abrasive pad, in conjunction with a grooved disc.
The highly abrasive pad will offer great stopping, even when cold. And the grooved disc will keep the pads` surface square and clear of any glaze build up.

3) Town Set-ups
Ask your performance tuner for a set of well matched low-temp pads and grooved discs.
The discs may well come with a nickel or zinc coating to prevent rust, but this can take up to four hundred miles to cut through. On a town car this could mean a good few weeks before the brakes perform at their best. To speed the process up, ask your dealer if the braking surface of the discs can be lightly buffed.

WHAT BRAKE SET-UP IS BEST FOR HIGH SPEED USE?   
   
1) On a car which spends most of its time cruising at high speed, you want a system which does not require a high temperature to start working, but one which will also handle the high temperatures experienced when braking from high speeds.
A set of drilled discs and medium temperature pads will work wonders.

2) On a motorway stormer a set of medium temperature pads will bite early and cope with quite a bit of heat generation - so even after a long period of little use they will still be effective and once hot, they should suffer little fade.
The drilled disc will keep the pads from lifting off the disc surface due to water splash or gas generation. They will also help the set-up cool quickly and reduce glaze build up.

3) Mild-road Set-ups
Ask your performance tuner for a set of well matched medium-temp pads and drilled discs.
Discs with a nickel or zinc coating will hold rust at bay, and as you do so many miles it won`t take too long for them to bed in.
 

Click on the right for the other parts on suspension and engine....