VW Racing Big Brake kit product review

[QD MBE]

I know it has been said that the caliper does not work very well in correct orientation (small pot lead).  Has anyone tested this? (apart from VWR)  Any test results/evidence?

[MAT ED30]

Will pop the wheel off tomorrow and see what way my pots are on the car

[DaveB@Vagbremtechnic]

The important thing here is to seperate objective and subjective opinions.

The pad wear is an issue but is it something directly related to soft pads on track cars with heavybraking thus easily solved?  Maybe rotating the calipers will solve it, idont kniw.  I've asked a few times on here

it should never have been reversed in the first place imvho, your four pot kit will be fine fast road, you need to make sure you're either getting it for free or extremely discounted

don't worry the VWR logos you can get in the UK

http://www.alibaba.com/products/Racing_caliper/--100006239.html

If they did not work they would not be on the race cars and the drivers would say get them off the cars they don't work surely   or don't the guys paying for the cars get a say in anything on the cars?

Matt, are you asking us or telling us..I thought you knew?

A full blown AP or Alcon kit is £1950-£2200, the drivers probably believed the hype, custom designed piston sizes etc  

They probably thought it'd be nice having kit 100% designed for our cars too and at a cheaper price....

I know exactly who was running what at what races, who had problems, who wouldn't stop and which drivers were positively reccomending DS2500 to other lets say more gullible drivers after having major problems with them typical pitlane shenanigans ...Not just VWR Matt but all the runners

The VWR DS2500 choice was farcical and an unmitigated disaster despite advice yet still they try to sell Steve P and Neil DS2500 to put into their track slags

The VWR Cup is NOT Le Man it's a Privateer Clubman outing don't expect it to be the cutting edge of Motorsport, that's not to take anything away from the combatants, but if I'm sat here a commercial pilot with a mondeo diesel outside thinking WHY did those cars try to get away with DS2500 around Snetterton, why didn't the drivers? Especially after the fourth set?

[QD MBE]

Mr B, did you get the PM's?

[MAT ED30]

Dave I don't know all I know is what I was told about the kit when it was being made from people like matt and caparo who must know brakes I would think as they do make em  if they are sh1t then I think you need to get hold of caparo and see what the crack is as you know more about brakes than anyone

[DaveB@Vagbremtechnic]

Just typed a long reply but my IPad just sh@t a hedgehog and lost it.

In summary Matt, we've met you're a nice chap and you helped me out but to throw your hands in the air and say "I don't know - ask Caparo" as soon as they start having problems just isn't good enough IMHO you've been banging the drum since day one and probably countless people have put £2k of their hard earned into these brakes on the back of this review.

We all need to be careful about product reviews, and what we endorse especially when stuffs given away.

These brakes were the best brakes ever on the way home from Milton Keynes, Caparo have no racing pedigree so it would be wrong to assume that these brakes would work well on track yet still they got a 100% review - care to explain?

I just want to bow out of this now and reiterate that these are NOT bad brakes, this is what you should expect performance wise from a £1100 brake kit, the fact that it's more than that to purchase means nothing.

As mike said if you want to play you need to pay, track brakes do not need to be as sophisticated as track brakes you need to drive to work on the following day.

There's a forum point of order here and a lesson to be learnt for everybody with cash in the pocket who reads reviews assuming they're truly independent

[RedRobin]

.
AP no longer supply DS2500's with their kits but supply their own, as I expect many folks here already know.

[vRSAlex]

.
AP no longer supply DS2500's with their kits but supply their own, as I expect many folks here already know.

Which is the same as the DS2500 compound IIRC?  They just come in an AP box with an AP logo on the back of the pads.

[RedRobin]

.
AP no longer supply DS2500's with their kits but supply their own, as I expect many folks here already know.

Which is the same as the DS2500 compound IIRC?  They just come in an AP box with an AP logo on the back of the pads.

....I don't think so. What evidence do have of that?

[MAT ED30]

Ok the  thing is Dave I still am happy with the kit on my car and have been for many many miles and I can only go off the brakes on my car and if people are having problems then it's up to the person to contact the company and discuss the problems and see what's going on and then once sorted let us all know what's happening.

[MAT ED30]

Oh and I never knew the price of the brakes when they were being made as I don't work for Vwr    oh and I don't tell people what to buy in life it's a choice they make themselves

[RedRobin]

oh and I don't tell people what to buy in life it's a choice they make themselves

....Exactly! All we can ever do when writing a review is share our individual opinions and experiences and it's always up to the reader to make their own decisions. 

[QD MBE]

oh and I don't tell people what to buy in life it's a choice they make themselves

....Exactly! All we can ever do when writing a review is share our individual opinions and experiences and it's always up to the reader to make their own decisions. 

Hence the welcome lack of sponsorship.  However RR - IMHO Sometimes your allegiance to VWR/Racing Line/Forge/AP/etc can seem overly vociferous.

[jhtrophy]

Just typed a long reply but my IPad just sh@t a hedgehog and lost it.

In summary Matt, we've met you're a nice chap and you helped me out but to throw your hands in the air and say "I don't know - ask Caparo" as soon as they start having problems just isn't good enough IMHO you've been banging the drum since day one and probably countless people have put £2k of their hard earned into these brakes on the back of this review.

We all need to be careful about product reviews, and what we endorse especially when stuffs given away.

These brakes were the best brakes ever on the way home from Milton Keynes, Caparo have no racing pedigree so it would be wrong to assume that these brakes would work well on track yet still they got a 100% review - care to explain?

I just want to bow out of this now and reiterate that these are NOT bad brakes, this is what you should expect performance wise from a £1100 brake kit, the fact that it's more than that to purchase means nothing.

As mike said if you want to play you need to pay, track brakes do not need to be as sophisticated as track brakes you need to drive to work on the following day.

There's a forum point of order here and a lesson to be learnt for everybody with cash in the pocket who reads reviews assuming they're truly independent

Countless people have bought the brakes you say and how many have had issues? As Matt has said his review is of his brakes! I think your out of order trying to blame a forum member for other peoples choice of brakes! I don't know who you are but seem to sell superior brakes and are jumping on this thread for what? Your own gain?

[RedRobin]

oh and I don't tell people what to buy in life it's a choice they make themselves

....Exactly! All we can ever do when writing a review is share our individual opinions and experiences and it's always up to the reader to make their own decisions. 

Hence the welcome lack of sponsorship.  However RR - IMHO Sometimes your allegiance to VWR/Racing Line/Forge/AP/etc can seem overly vociferous.

....You missed out a few on the list, Dave  - Milltek immediately comes to mind. Then there's JKM, the Mk5 GTI, a loooong list.

Not allegance but enthusiasm. Enthusiasm for some of their products based purely on my own personal experiences. You'll notice that I have no significant experience of VWR's Big Brake kit and so I have not posted anything about that product in this thread. Also, all we can ever do is present and share information which is to the best of our knowledge at the time.

I think you probably know me well enough personally by now to realise that I am by nature enthusiastic about things or people that I like. I'm also an optimist by nature. But it's not as if I am never critical of products or services. Anyway, as Mat says, folks can make up their own minds and it's not a problem if some of us don't always agree about various products and services.