REVIEW:
REDDOT RACING 6 Groove (Fast Road) discs with REDDOT Pads - FRONT

Well I'm glad to say that I like them so far...................
I've only fitted the front discs and pads at present, will fit the rears when I get the tool from Fiat.
As some of you will know i asked about bedding in and the norm is 100-200 miles, but for the Reddots i have found this was no where near enough.

I drive 80 miles per day on A and B roads to work, I found that the first 200 miles i had to be gentle with the brakes, they were fine at very low speed ie. you could feel them working but anything over 40mph and you had to start slowing down early to avoid having to brake hard and glaze the pads.

Between 200 - 500 miles they slowly got better and better each day, as every day passed they became more and more positive and i started to trust them.

At around 700-750 miles they now feel fully bedded in and work very well indeed. Braking from low and high speed is smooth with no drama. For example 100mph to 50 mph happened within seconds with no ill effect on handling or stability. This was obviously on a private track ;D

The only gripe i have is this......... and it may be me, so I'm interested in peoples view on this.
Prior to fitting the brakes i had my Stilo serviced and had the brake fluid changed so i know its nice and fresh although it is dot 4.
When town driving i've found the brakes don't feel as positive as i would like, now i'm putting this down to running cooler, as i have fitted the 6 groove discs rather than standard i guess they run cooler and when driving at low speed don't feel as sharp as at higher speeds.

What i'm basing this on is pedal feel, when town driving i seem to have to put more pressure on the brake pedal than i did with the old OE discs/pads.
Example: traffic slows ahead you start to rest your foot on the pedal which on the OE brakes you would start to feel the car slowing, with the reddots this doesn't happen and so you add abit more pressure which causies you pull up abit too much.
I think this may be lessened when i add the rear discs which are also 6 grooved. I'll update my review as and when.

Well the question you've all been waiting for.........do they squeel? well from my limited testing upto 850 miles i can say that yes they do squeel but only on the very first press of the brake pedal of the day and as it's been very wet recently I'm putting this down to the disc build up you get.
After this initial press they don't squeel at all hot or cold. The pads do not have a rubber backing.

So in conclusion i'm very impressed so far, i would think that as the miles increase they will get even better and with the addition of the matching rear discs and pads i hope they'll be better still.
I paid less for these than replacement OE discs & pads would have cost me even from shop4parts.co.uk so impressed by the cost too, bonus ;D

The only improvement i can think of would be the addition of stainless hoses and 5.1 dot fluid.

Please feel free to offer opinions/comments
Neil

A well presented report I'd say!

I definitely agree with the stainless hoses, I think that will help lots and a brake fluid upgrade to dot 5 will increase the boiling point of the fluid and therefore prevent brake fade as the fluid heats up!

Oh, and your patience during the 'bedding-in' stage has paid off!

cheers guys, something for the to do list then.

do you remember how much were the hoses phil? i thought they had to have them made for you