9-3 front brake upgrade 314mm v 308mm v 286mm

[Ibsaab333]

Hi,
As the title says I need front brake discs and pads for my Saab, it's a 9-3 convertible on a 09 plate.


Option 1, 286mm
Fit standard 286 mm disc's and pads easy.

Option 2 308mm
If I'm correct I'll need disc's and caliper carriers for this option as the calipers and pads are the same as I all ready have. Obviously I'll buy new pads as well. If this is doable on a 9-3.

Option 3, 314mm
With this one I'll need disc's, pads, calipers and carriers I see neo brothers do this kit for above £350.

My main question is has anyone else done this before and is it worth the extra money to go from standard to either 308mm or 314mm.

I'm not planning on doing the rear brakes they'll say as they are,but I will be changing the brake fluid.

Thanks.

[beardydave]

Pretty sure the 308mm upgrade is just for the OG 9-3, and it does use different pads to the 286mm brakes, as there is more disc width between the hub and the outer. If so, it won't fit yours.

You've also forgotten the 345mm brake kit from the Turbo-X, which is also available as a Hirsch kit. That does need the correct wheels though, only some of the 17in ones will fit.

I wouldn't bother going for bigger brakes unless you are planning on going on a track day. If you want more stopping power, stick with standard discs and get uprated pads such as EBC Yellowstuff, or Ferrodo DS2500, or there's a Mintex compound which I'm using on my Turbo-X, but i've forgotten what it's called.

[sgould]

The Mintex ones I use on the 345mm brakes are M1144 for the material and size MDB2749

[nemesismoo]

314mm upgrade is great improvement, even over the aero 302mm ones as the calliper and pad area is greater.

Add higher spec pads at same time for even more improvement.

[not 6 wheeler guy]

There is also the Astra VXR disc at 321mm and there's a Corsa disc at 330mm.
Or if you wanted to go nuts there's a 14 inch kit intended for the american vehicle that shares the same GM2900 platform (I forget what it's called).

[Ibsaab333]

Thanks for responding.
I'm not looking to track the car or even drive it like I stole it, it only does about 1500miles a year I just want it to stop better I feel that the brakes are not up to stopping all that weight approx 1700kgs I think.

Wasn't aware the aero models had 302mm disc's I guess all that's different to mine being a vector are the caliper carriers and the disc's if that's the case might try and get a pair of carriers and go down that route with some ebc pads wether that be green red or yellowstuff one's.

I only have 17" wheels so the 345mm brakes off the turbo-x won't fit nor will the 321 Astra vxr or Corsa 330mm I guess the Corsa one's you refer to are the brembo one's also off a vxr.

Thanks.

[sgould]

Some Saab 17 inch wheels will fit over the 345mm brakes. Saab actually call those brakes "17 inch". The factory spare on the Carlsson is a 17 inch alloy wheel with a 225/45 17 W94 XL tyre. But not all 17 inch wheels fit. Some are a very close fit.

The ALU45 9-3 Vector wheels will fit over 345mm brakes, but the callipers are this close to the stuck-on wheel balance weights.

DSC00261.JPG.jpg

[not 6 wheeler guy]

Yes, it's Corsa E VXR, and OPC Nurburgring edition.


There might be some designs of 17" rims that might struggle to fit with 330mm, but I'm not sure. 321mm should fit fine (might even fit inside some designs of 16" rims), it's callipers that may be the sticking point. Of course you could probably find a local engineer to make up some brackets to move your existing callipers out, to go over the bigger discs.

[sgould]

Some of the bigger callipers foul the wheel on face, and spacers are needed. Almost certain if you try to fit 49mm offset wheels from a 9-5 or OG9-3.

[Ibsaab333]

Wasn't aware that the 17" Saab wheels were so accommodating.

Thanks for the information and replys I would like to go big on the brakes but the budget just isn't there so it looks like it might be standard with red stuff pads.

[eucalyptus9000]

I put the 314mm on my 9-5.

I was repeatedly told that my 17's would not fit over them so I got a set of 9-3 rims that have the larger 41mm offset.

It transpired that my 7.5ins wide Turbo Edition (5 spoke fan with crease up the centre) wheels DID clear the 314s even with the lesser 9-5 offset. Its the 7.0 wide rims that seem to be the problem.

I would not want to put 345mm under the 17's as the clearance is SO tiny.

The feel of 314 over stock 308 is huge - the caliper is massive and the piston and pad is the same size as the 345 (although both different units).

The only real downside of the 314mm is that if you then want to put performance pads in you are limited to EBC Yellowstuff.

[McVities]

I went with the 345mm setup for my 9-5 as initially I got some of the parts required for a good price..... and the range of aftermarket pads was much broader than for the 314mm.
I also bought some 16mm hubcentric spacers as I wished to continue running the 17" hammerheads.
Clearance is close, but not awful. There's about 8mm between caliper body and inner rim and about 10mm between the caliper and spokes.

I currently have standard Brembo pads fitted with some aftermarket grooved/dimpled disc plus braided lines.
Braking effort is massive, and more importantly very repeatable from significant speeds. I have been unable to make them fade in any way. They are so much better than the 308mm setup that was here before.
As per Bill, I found the braided lines made a big and positive improvement. Now its move the brake pedal till feel resistance, then extra pressure rather than movement produces increased braking. They are wonderfully easy to modulate.

[Toomanytoys]

Bit late the game on this...
but the smaller brakes work pretty well, certainly on a hard stop they are adequate when in fine fettle.. it’s only when seriously pushing on and repeated hard stops do they fall over and fade out..
Mine had been noobed so was quite a lot quicker than stock and I did drive it “spiritedly”
The trip to the Nurburgring did highlight how carp the stock brakes are as did the roundabout Grand Prix in Milton Keynes. Repeated Vigorous stopping every few hundred meters from “70” would have them fall over.
I found the Pagid pads and discs to be more than adequate for general use.. but they can’t cope with a bit of abuse.
Oh and I drove 43k miles in that car in 18months...
The car is likely to come back to me shortly and so I shall be swapping out the stock brakes for the ones off an Aero I have as that certainly does stop very well..

One thing I have observed over the years, most people don’t really use there brakes that much. And they do need a really hard stop or 2 to clean the pads and discs every month or 2 or they get a glazing/contamination that needs to be “burnt” off.

[Nicolas]

Fitted the 314mm kit as a replacement to the 302mm kit on my SS.
I used the brembos that were coming with the used kit, and i find them poor. I am pretty sure that fitting another brake pad will make the 314mm kit shine. What are you using? Seen ATE and Ferodos around, anyone tried them? Any other thought of course is welcome.

[sgould]

I'm not sure if they do a pad for the 314mm, but I've been using Mintex M1144 material on my 9-5 with 345mm brakes and I like them. I have Brembo on the same size brakes on the 9-3 V6 and the mintex are much better from cold. We don't do too much fast road stuff now, but they are both fine when we do.


[edit]

Mintex do an MDB2764 pad for the 314mm brakes. Known by Saab as "16" plus". Not sure if that pad is available in M1144.

[Nicolas]

Used the mintex on my previous saab (9-5) and i agree they were good. I combined them with tarox discs but the combination was noisy. Performance wise very good though.

Will have a look at their page, thanks.

[Nicolas]

Used the mintex on my previous saab (9-5) and i agree they were good. I combined them with tarox discs but the combination was noisy. Performance wise very good though.

Will have a look at their page, thanks.

Fitted ferodos today and despite the fact that i am not pushing them in the first kms, the difference is noticable. Cann't wait to have them a bit pushed. Thanks for the info anyway.