Getting the best out of standard brakes?

[GTI.Dav]

Thinking about putting the standard Edition30 brakes back on for a while. They are pretty poor from what I remember.

What do people recommend to get the best out of them?

Thanks

[r5gtt]

A decent set of pads 

[rich83]

Braided hoses.
Fresh fluid.
Project mu brake pads

[Rayhoop]

On my standard ED30 I'm running oem spec fluid (changed in March 2015) with standard discs and Mintex m1144 pads.

These have been fine when hammering them on the road and at two track days, Bedford Autodrome and Brands Hatch.  I did some long sessions with hard braking, and they performed quite well to be honest.  Not race car brakes but plenty of feel and progressive.

It probably helped that I had my brakes cleaned up and reassembled/sliders greased etc before each track day. 

[Paradox1]

On my standard ED30 I'm running oem spec fluid (changed in March 2015) with standard discs and Mintex m1144 pads.

These have been fine when hammering them on the road and at two track days, Bedford Autodrome and Brands Hatch.  I did some long sessions with hard braking, and they performed quite well to be honest.  Not race car brakes but plenty of feel and progressive.

It probably helped that I had my brakes cleaned up and reassembled/sliders greased etc before each track day.

Im surprised you didnt get fade on OEM fluid if driving hard on a trackday. saying that thought, boiling the fluid isnt fun at all

[Rayhoop]

I used ATE SL.6 fluid, which is a low viscosity fluid as specified by VW.
SL.6 has a boiling point of 265(dry)/175(wet)
In contrast, the highly regarded Type200 (aka Super Blue) has boiling points of 280(dry)/198(wet), but type200 is thicker/not VW spec on viscosity.

There is not much difference in the dry boiling points - so assuming you dont let your brake fluid get too old, the performance is not far off from super blue/type2000.

However, I have no idea on how well the two fluids dissipate/conduct the heat... which will ultimately effect how much of a hammering they can take before the fluid closest to the pads/discs boils.

Also depends how you brake - if you draw out your braking effort over a large distance, your pads are in contact with the disc for longer, hence picking up more heat (and fluid getting hotter). If you brake short and sharp, your pads only picks up so much heat so your fluid stays cooler (for the same braking effort).

I can say I gave the brakes a serious hammering (short sharp) at Bedford when the fluid was fresh in March, and the brakes were fine.  At Brands (last week) I was going a touch easier (braking a bit softer/longer) due to it being slightly greasy, but I still put in some long sessions and stood on the brakes hard on the entry to Paddock hill and Druids.  Again, the brakes worked and didnt get too long (they got a touch soft, but nothing of concern).

Saying that - my car is standard, so may not be hitting the same speeds as other tuned cars.