Poor braking

Only done 3400 miles in my S including 1 track day in the pissing rain but my brakes seem to have become really poor. first thing in the morning they are really really poor but even once they have warmed up they are not great. certainly not as strong as I feel they were and should be. Did 18000 miles in my previous S2 before needing new pads.
Any suggestions or is it new pads? Can’t be bothered taking it over to the dealer in Edinburgh if its not required but got another track day soon and would like my brakes to be in good form.
If required to you think the local performace tyre and brake company could be trusted rather than the dealer. Thinking of taking it to Drivers in Glasgow

All my servicing for my exige s and repairs are done at Lorimer & Findlay Performance Cars in Whiteinch, Peter Lorimer serviced all my Fathers Esprits for years.Peter Lorimer really knows his stuff and I cannot recommend them enough.My Drive by wire throttle failed, 3 times I had in at Murray motors couldn’t find the fault !!!. One day with Peter Lorimer and it was replaced superb service from these boys. Phone number below (hope I am allowed to do this) please note this is’nt as fancy as the Lotus garage but do not be put off i have seen �100,000 + cars in there so don’t be put off. Hope this helps.
Tel 0141-950-6688

I will maybe pay him a visit. A recommendation is far better than just taking it to the dealer. always have the opinion that the dealer service department have little interest in the cars or the customers

Also bear in mind Ali the ex Murrays Lotus guy has set up on his own and knows the cars back to front. I wouldnt take it to drivers. If anything, best to find another owner locally and compare (as on scottish elises).

I am local if you want a comparison to mine, although I am using Pagid RS4-2 pads and Mutts Nuts ali belled discs.

I doubt you will have worn out the pads considering the girly effort of getting 18k out of the previous car pads Mine went very spongy after boiling the fluid on track, how did they cope on the track?

that 18k included 3 track days at Knockhill, I think they were pretty buggered by then but I was nursing the last shreds of the brakes and tires to avoid having to replace before selling. Didn’t really get to try the S brakes out much at Knockhill last time as was very very wet. Hoping it will be dry this time. It just feels like it takes a long time to slow even at slow speed. Will give it a bit longer and see how they feel. Wife thinks they are fine but she drives a 4x4 so anything stops quicker than that.
How often would you reckon the brake pads need changed. Maybe I will just need to upgrade.

I was disappointed with the feel of my brakes from day 1. The spongey feel wasn’t helped by two trackdays after which they felt noticeably worse. Changed the fluid to dot 5 (IIRC) and changed the pads to Pagids 42s. Significantly better now but still not as good as my previous car so guess it’ll be the front discs to go next.

so guess it’ll be the front discs to go next.

Unless you’ve already got them, braided hoses should be next upgrade before discs.

so guess it’ll be the front discs to go next.

Unless you’ve already got them, braided hoses should be next upgrade before discs.

The only hassle being it’s a clam off job so makes what would otherwise be a cheap mod a fairly pricey one

so guess it’ll be the front discs to go next.

Unless you’ve already got them, braided hoses should be next upgrade before discs.

Would not necessarily agree with you on that one - on an S1 it makes a lot of sense to upgrade as you are rewarded with a better pedal feel - on the Yota cars it makes little difference - servo.

You can get away with decent pads, discs and fluid

so guess it’ll be the front discs to go next.

Unless you’ve already got them, braided hoses should be next upgrade before discs.

Would not necessarily agree with you on that one - on an S1 it makes a lot of sense to upgrade as you are rewarded with a better pedal feel - on the Yota cars it makes little difference - servo.

You can get away with decent pads, discs and fluid

Sorry, Jamie, don’t agree

Normal hoses will expand with track use, & increase pedal travel/sponginess.(And yep, I’ve driven S2s on track, with both standard & braided hoses).

Personally, if I had an S2, I’d only change the discs when they’re knackered, & put the money saved into getting braided hoses

I am unsure about this also.

On my S2 Elise Rover braided ones felt great.

But on my Exige because of the servo assist you cannot tell if you have braided hoses or not pedel feel wise.

Waverunner reckons his pedal is spongey - see above

mmmmm

He does not say what his 1st car was

the brakes do feel differant with a servo.

I dont have a problem and have AP disks, new fluid and RS42’s

I do have a set of hoses for my car in a bag on the coffee table but looking how bad it is to fit them and me not having any problems thats where they stayed.

Previous car was a VXR 220 with AP discs on the front, uprated fluid (can’t remember what Plans used), Pagid RS14s and standard non-braided hoses.

Just did my first dry trackday on Monday since changing the fluid and pads (previous two were both wet so discount them) and brakes felt much better with good feel and firmness and no noticeable deterioration throughout the day. They still feel better now.

I can only assume that because I drive like a complete woose on the road the brakes didn’t get a chance to bed in properly. Will definitely put AP discs on the front when the standard ones need changing but not sure I need to bother with the braided hoses unless I need the clam off to do something else.

I m getting the AP big brake and braided hoses upgrade done this week, which is overkill I suspect but I ve gone through 2 sets of stanadard discs already. Can’t wait to test the difference.

Adrian