Brake pads/Fluid????

[flowerpowerdave]

After 30k miles, it,s time to change the brake fluid to Dot 5 fully synthetic, but not sure how much i need to buy? is a litre enough? Also any opinions on Yellowstuff pads?

 

[oscar]

i uploaded the auto data for the twingo gt here, check the last post dave. don't put dot 5 into your car, it'll be dot 5.1, do not mix dot 4 with dot 5.1, bleed the entire system of dot 4 first!

last post
renault-twingo/twingo-maintenace-t917.html

 

[singlespeed]

Whats wrong with some fresh DOT4 fluid?

5.1 still absorbs water, just the same as 4. With fresh pads to insulate the piston(and therefore the brake fluid) from the heat generated at the pad/disc face, I'm guessing your unlikely to boil fresh DOT4 fluid, which should be able to take 230'C


If your going to let your pads go down to the backing plates and the fluid is old and saturated then 5.1 will have a higher boiling point. Otherwise, its probably a waste. My A3 had a fairly healthy motor and big disc conversion with Porsche calipers and Pagid RS14 pads with DOT4 fluid...The discs were super hot a few times but the fluid didnt boil.

 

[oscar]

as neil said, very difficult to boil brake fluid even on the most spirited of drives. dot 3 / 4 / 5.1 are poly glycol based which makes them hygroscopic (absorbs water) wheras dot 5 is silicone based and has hydrophobic (is that the one?) which makes it oily like chip fat and repels water. dot 5 you'll expect to find in top end performance cars. you'd need to remove your abs modulator and entire abs system before upgrading to dot 5, really not worth it when dot 5.1 is hygroscopic equivellant to dot 5. not really going to loose braking performance by upgrading to dot 5.1 but you're not going to get the best use out of it

 

[flowerpowerdave]

Cheers fella's, really usefull info, anything on Yellowstuff pads?

 

[oscar]

yeah man they're good, however some folk hate them some folk love them. i've got them on my gt now, they bite really hard and braking has improved drastically on the oem discs. will be upgrading the discs and calipers soon, possible nosey into wether or not the clio 182's caliper carrier is the same as the twingo's in terms of bolt spacing onto the hub. if it turns out to be a standard bolt spacing across the range then clio 1*2 brake set up should be an easy changeover

 

[singlespeed]

Im sure the GT has the same caliper piston size as the Clio 1*2 so the calipers wouldnt give you issues wilt longer/shorter pedal travel if they physically fit