Brakes (Upgrade ) - Seat Leon Cupra 290 2019
- Thread starter Kooper
- Start date
340mm standard Cupra caliper for full cast iron disc (same as Golf R brake)
370mm performance pack caliper and composite disc (alloy bell pinned to iron rotor)
370mm performance pack caliper and composite disc (alloy bell pinned to iron rotor)
what are the current brakes? original or aftermarket? what brand? If you have some cheap aftermarket pads - then fitting a decent set of pads will be beneficial.
What are you expecting to 'upgrade' in regards to your braking performance?
Deceleration/wear/fade resistance/noise/dust etc..
If you are looking at reduce your stopping distance (increasing your decel) - The standard (correctly functioning) brakes will be able activate your ABS so you should first fit decent tyres as the brakes aren't the limiting factor.
The main reason to fit bigger brakes (like the 370mm performance pack Brembo's) would be for improved fade resistance - for repeated high & speed heavy braking, like on track. They would also give you a better/firmer pedal feel.
I would be honest with your usage vs the cost of any change.
What are you expecting to 'upgrade' in regards to your braking performance?
Deceleration/wear/fade resistance/noise/dust etc..
If you are looking at reduce your stopping distance (increasing your decel) - The standard (correctly functioning) brakes will be able activate your ABS so you should first fit decent tyres as the brakes aren't the limiting factor.
The main reason to fit bigger brakes (like the 370mm performance pack Brembo's) would be for improved fade resistance - for repeated high & speed heavy braking, like on track. They would also give you a better/firmer pedal feel.
I would be honest with your usage vs the cost of any change.
[mention]SuperV8 [/mention] I’ve got the current brakes, I’m not sure on the pads I brought the car second hand from a dealer.
I noticed a slight squeak when I brake, so thought I would look at upgrading my setup at the main time.
Looking for good fade resistance and also better stopping capability.
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I replaced the original brakes with Zimmermann drilled discs with Zimmermann pads, works well. You can even buy 340mm "2 piece" discs which are 1 kg lighter than the 1 piece discs. I'm very happy with this combo!
I usually buy Brembo Xtraline drilled discs, but wanted to try another well known brand this time.
More info in my RR: https://www.seatcupra.net/forums/threads/nd-photo-nl-s-seat-leon-st-cupra-280.477591/post-5081351
I usually buy Brembo Xtraline drilled discs, but wanted to try another well known brand this time.
More info in my RR: https://www.seatcupra.net/forums/threads/nd-photo-nl-s-seat-leon-st-cupra-280.477591/post-5081351
Cheapest will be just fit new pads and discs - selecting decent pads with good high temp performance. Avoid pads made by brake system manufactures - look for pads made my friction manufactures.
Middle option would be 340mm composite disc from the Golf GTI PP - though this is similar price to the 370 Leon PP disc! Some have also fitted Macan caliper.
Ultimate brake upgrade would be the Leon/TT RS 370mm.
As I said - standard Cupra brakes should easily be able to activate ABS - if yours can't I would suggest something is wrong.
Yes and no.
Talking generally here - The genuine stock brakes are sufficient upto a point, but the legal type approval requirement for braking is really quite easy to pass with a max speed of 160km/h - so the 'law' is a very low bar.
AMS and Vmax brake testing is much more demanding on the braking system, which most OEM's also perform - not due to legal requirement - but due to pressure from road testing magazines.
Looking at discs as heat sink's is really only applicable for multiple stops - for one off 'emergency' stop its all about your pad friction material maintaining a certain friction coefficient. From a high speed stop you can easily get scenarios where the friction coefficient drops enough due to heat where it doesn't have enough brake torque to enable ABS modulation. A bigger disc will absolutely help in this scenario as the larger radius provides the same brake torque (and deceleration) for less clamping force which results in less chance the pad friction coefficient drops below the ABS threshold point.
I have conducted brake testing and some of the brands of aftermarket pads we were testing failed to be able to activate ABS as the friction coefficient drops so much in stop due to the heat - the feeling as a driver is really unnerving. This was high speed and GVW so quite severe testing but still..
As I mentioned though, the OP should be honest with their expected usage as on a road car you likely won't see enough speed/repeated braking to cause a problem which needs fixing. Any track use then all bets are off.
Interesting comments.
Now I use the car on the track more than on the road so my requirements are all about being able to carry on working on the track after multiple high speed braking, and Revo sold the kit with the DS2500 Pads. Now these pads are ok but do not last very long so I have replaced these with race orientated pads and they work much better, still working out if they last longer.
But I checked the Revo big brake kit web site and they still advertise that they do stop quicker.
Now I did not buy them for this reason more about stopping brake fade and performance whilst on the track (which I am very happy with)
Now I use the car on the track more than on the road so my requirements are all about being able to carry on working on the track after multiple high speed braking, and Revo sold the kit with the DS2500 Pads. Now these pads are ok but do not last very long so I have replaced these with race orientated pads and they work much better, still working out if they last longer.
But I checked the Revo big brake kit web site and they still advertise that they do stop quicker.
Now I did not buy them for this reason more about stopping brake fade and performance whilst on the track (which I am very happy with)
They also stop the car quicker due to being lighter.
With BBK you get reduced unsprung weight that in many cases can be as little as half of that of stock brakes. In my case (Racingline 6 pots with 380 discs) we’re looking at 7.4kg reduction for the set, which is mind boggling considering the caliper and disc size and when we talk about unsprung weight, we need to keep in mind that its effects can be around the equivalent of 6.5 times the weight of sprung weight.
With BBK you get reduced unsprung weight that in many cases can be as little as half of that of stock brakes. In my case (Racingline 6 pots with 380 discs) we’re looking at 7.4kg reduction for the set, which is mind boggling considering the caliper and disc size and when we talk about unsprung weight, we need to keep in mind that its effects can be around the equivalent of 6.5 times the weight of sprung weight.
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Just to add to the above comment check out https://www.tyrereviews.com/Tyre-Tests/2025-Auto-Bild-Summer-Performance-Tyre-Test.htm which was listed on another thread on here, Pictures should explain about tyres ability to stop you
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