172 Brake Ducts
RenaultSport Clio 172 and 182 Brake Discs, Lines and Pads
RenaultSport Clio 172 and 182 Brakes
This guide is intended to offer you the information that you will require to choose a braking package or disc & pad for your RenaultSport Clio 172 or 182 (it is also very relevant to anyone owning a hothatch or lightweight sports car) from the many different options in a language that everyone should understand without going into too much technical detail.
What is the most important part of going quickly? To be able to stop… every time, at the any point, lap in, lap out. Be this for a corner, a competitor or a catastrophe, you need to be able to rely on your brakes as they will save your life if you look after them.
What Life should I expect from components?
Standard Discs and pads – Between 500 and 30,000 miles dependent on usage & maintenance. On a road car you would expect to achieve 25,000 miles. The 500 miles example would be a car that is used only on the track.
Standard Calipers – Between 10,000 and 50,000 miles dependent on usage & maintenance as well as what pad you are using. On a road car you would expect to achieve 50,000 miles from new before changing the calipers.
Typically on a DS3000 or PF97 race pad you would expect to get one set of pads : three pairs of discs. However you might consider a more expensive pad such as the Pagid RS19-29 or RS4-2 due to its much longer life and over the duration of a trackday or race season you would find that the extra initial cost is multiplied several times over, in savings on replacement discs and pads. This is due to decreased wear as the ceramic compounds are much less abrasive on the disc whilst still offering incredible stopping performance.
A pad like the Ferodo DS2500 would normally last between 15,000 and 20,000 miles on the road – obviously the greater stopping power normally results in more wear. The Pagid compounds are not the exception to the rule, but demonstrate this clearly.
The information that you will wish to know to start with is about your standard OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) Components.
OEM Replacement items cost:
Front Discs: 7701207829 – £101.66
Rear Discs: 7701204901 – £189.53
Front Pads: 7701206379 – £45
Rear Pads: 7701207034 – £45
Renault OEM Front Discs 280mm/ OEM Front Pads and Standard Brake Hoses/Stainless Steel Brake Hoses.
What it will cope with: This package as standard is pushed to its limits with fast A&B road driving.
Improvements that can be made: Should you wish to retain the standard discs & pads then the most sensible upgrade that you can make is to change the standard brake hoses to Stainless steel brake lines. The lines offer a firmer pedal feel, and offer a more consistent feel through extended hard use. We would normally suggest that any fluid is replaced with DOT 5.1 fluid at this point.
Std Brake lines Vs Stainless Steel Brake Lines
Stainless Steel brake lines offer a firmer pedal feel, and offer a more consistent pedal feel through extended heavy use. We would normally suggest that any fluid is replaced with DOT 5.1 fluid at this point. They would prevent the pedal from falling – this is when under heavy use the pedal with go to the floor without offering any stopping resistance. Basically the last thing you want is brake fade – going into a corner or ready for a big stop and nothing happening – trust me its not pleasant.
YozzaSport offer both Goodrich brake hoses, and our own hoses made to the same standard. In terms of our advice, there are zinc plated brake lines, and full stainless brakelines. We only sell full stainless brakelines.
I use my car for fast road only
We would recommend that you utilise the following components:
Renault OEM Brake Pads
Renault OEM Front Discs
GreenStuff Brake Pads
Bendix Rear Pads
Brembo HC Front Discs
YozzaSport/Moquip Stainless Steel Braided Brake Lines
Goodrich Braided Brake Lines
Motorquip Dot 5.1 Brake Fluid
Why do we recommend the above products?
The Renault OEM braking package is designed to offer the standard car good stopping ability. It pulls up from 60mph quicker than a Porsche 911 from the equivalent year that it was launched The important failure point of the braking package is the brake lines – once changed, they will offer you effective braking in almost all road circumstances.
The GreenStuff pads offer a slight upgrade to the standard pads, the initial bite is slightly more aggressive, and they will sustain heavy braking in most road circumstances. Once on track or used in exceedingly heavy road applications, the GreenStuff pads are no longer robust enough to cope with the high temperatures associated with this type of braking.
Brembo HC Discs are marketed by Brembo as having a high carbon (hence HC) content over the OEM brake discs that they produce. The HC disc is considerably cheaper than the Renault OEM part and in our experience last just as well if not better, even with use in heavy track applications.
I use my car for fast road and some track use
We would recommend that you utilise the following components:
Renault OEM Front Discs
Ferodo DS2500 Brake Pads
Pagid Blue (RS4-2) Brake Pads
Brembo HC Front Discs
Brembo MAX Front Discs
YozzaSport/Moquip Stainless Steel Braided Brake Lines
Goodrich Braided Brake Lines
Motorquip Dot 5.1 Brake Fluid
Why do we recommend the above products?
Once the Clio 172 /182 is taken on track you start to experience different braking problems, these can be simply; brake fade, massively increased wear, a
nd inconsistent brake performance amongst other braking component failures.
Quite simply we would recommend the Ferodo DS2500 brake package (includes Brembo HC discs, brake lines and Ferodo DS2500 pads) for a road / occasional track package. The Ferodo pad is designed to be a race pad, and we would always remind customers that it is a sold as such – a race pad. If you research on the Internet clubs and forums you will find many people using these as a fast road pad, despite it being designed as a race pad. You use this pad entirely at your own risk on the road.
I use my car mainly for track use
We would recommend that you utilise the following components:
YozzaSport Brake Ducts
Renault OEM Front Discs
Ferodo DS2500 Brake Pads
Ferodo DS3000 Brake Pads (See Reference 2)
Pagid Blue (RS4-2) Brake Pads (See Reference 1)
Pagid Yellow (RS19-29) Brake Pads (See Reference 1)
Performance Friction 97 Brake Pads (See Reference 2)
Brembo HC Front Discs (See Reference 1&2)
Brembo MAX Front Discs (See Reference 1&2)
YozzaSport/Moquip Stainless Steel Braided Brake Lines
Goodrich Braided Brake Lines
Motorquip Dot 5.1 Brake Fluid
(Reference 1) – We would recommend that these pads are used with Brembo Max Discs
(Reference 2) – We would recommend that these pads are only used with Brembo HC discs rather than the Brembo Max discs.
Why do we recommend the above products?
The components that we have recommended above are intended for Track use, and are more suited to race / track use than road use. If you choose to use these pads on the road (In particular the Performance Friction 97 (PF’97) and Ferodo DS3000) you may find that you experience squeaking, dust, and the possibility of the brakes not reaching operating temperatures when using them in heavy traffic or on cold mornings. On our own track/race cars we run either the PF’97 or the RS4-2 with either Plain or grooved Brembo discs. We would also recommend that you use the Ferodo DS2500 or the Pagid Blue pad on the rear to maximise the braking effect that the rear has – without adjustable bias the rear brakes are not used heavily, but this gives you the opportunity to maximise the effect that they do have.
I race my car
YozzaSport Brake Ducts
Renault OEM Front Discs
Ferodo DS2500 Brake Pads
Ferodo DS3000 Brake Pads (See Reference 2)
Pagid Blue (RS4-2) Brake Pads (See Reference 1)
Pagid Yellow (RS19-29) Brake Pads (See Reference 1)
Performance Friction 97 Brake Pads (See Reference 2)
Brembo HC Front Discs (See Reference 1&2)
Brembo MAX Front Discs (See Reference 1&2)
YozzaSport/Moquip Stainless Steel Braided Brake Lines
Goodrich Braided Brake Lines
Motorquip Dot 5.1 Brake Fluid
AP Racing 4-pot package
(Reference 1) – We would recommend that these pads are used with Brembo Max Discs
(Reference 2) – We would recommend that these pads are only used with Brembo HC discs rather than the Brembo Max discs.
For Sprinting/Hill Climb
DS2500
We would also recommend that you use the Ferodo DS2500 or the Pagid Blue pad on the rear to maximise the braking effect that the rear has – without adjustable bias the rear brakes are not used heavily, but this gives you the opportunity to maximise the effect that they do have.
For Circuit Racing
We would also recommend that you use the Ferodo DS2500 or the Pagid Blue pad on the rear to maximise the braking effect that the rear has – without adjustable bias the rear brakes are not used heavily, but this gives you the opportunity to maximise the effect that they do have.
For Endurance Racing
We would also recommend that you use the Ferodo DS2500 or the Pagid Blue pad on the rear to maximise the braking effect that the rear has – without adjustable bias the rear brakes are not used heavily, but this gives you the opportunity to maximise the effect that they do have.
Other Pads and Thoughts.
There are a lot of other pads out there from a variety of different manufacturers – Carbon Lorraine, Mintex, Red Stuff, Yellow Stuff… I have tried most of them and to be honest – the ones I have included in this guide will be either better value, or better performing over the course of a season. I take into account a lot of this without mentioning it and well, I have used, fitted, sold and then advised a lot of people. The feedback that I get is normally that I was right – occasionally I get someone who says that Ferodo DS2500′s squeal… its normally because they were fitted badly or that the person using them hasn’t bedded them in properly.
Always A Hooligan,
/y0z