S80: Wheels/Brakes Disc and brakes

[nkclair]

Hi all, not sure if this has been posted before, i need front disc and brakes, which ones are recommend and or any good ones you guys have installed.
Volvo S80 2009 - 2.0D

Thank you.

[jodiexii]

I fitted Mtech drilled and grooved discs all round on last volvo. New one will be getting same when discs are worn

[kdst5]

I think a lot of people just stay with Volvo as they just don't cause a any problems. If you do a search on the forum you will see some people have had problems with non Volvo. That's not to say all non Volvo cause a problem.

[nkclair]

oh ok thank you, i'll search.
thank you

[Model flyer]

I fitted discs and pads from my local car factors . Sorry cant remember make now but did tell them I wanted decent parts . No problems with fit performance and after 12 months all still fine . Cost considerably less than volvo and didnt get black dirty wheels as quickly as original pads .

[Tatsfield]

That's interesting information, but actually knowing what parts you used would be of more help.

[Vol S80 Lux]

I fitted pagid pads on my s80. Very pleased with the price and the quality.

[green van man]

I have fitted mintex disks and pads to the front of the xc70. The disks were half the price of Volvo parts and the pads were mintex £45 Volvo, which on mine are Ate make were £85.

No problems so far but if I can find the correct Ate pads I shall change the pads as I have had problems with squealing on other vehicles fitted with mintex pads, brakes work fine but I hate the squeal.

Paul.

[Tatsfield]

I have come to Volvo ownership from 15 years running V6 Peugeot 406 Coupes which have 4 pot Brembo high performance front brakes and have the dreadful reputation of squealing outrageously. Such long term involvement with ear bleeding levels of squealing has taught 406 Coupe owners that there are a lot of causes for the onset of squealing. Ultimately we are sure that the problem is one of caliper harmonics but the initiating causes are varied. On the Volvo there are actually less problems, which is why nearly all Brembo equipped 406 Coupes squeal and few Volvos do, but one of the initiators is often mismatched pad/discs. The original pad/disc choice by the designers will match a pad hardness with the hardness of the metal from which the disc is made. The usual advice is to stick with OEM pads and discs which are matched. When you start to make changes the pad can be too hard or too soft for the disc. Generally it is the hard pads which raise disc wear and consequent vibration which transmits it to the rest of the brake assembly. If you are unlucky a harmonic is set up and the squeal occurs.

Pads sold with sporting pretensions, often intended for track use, are generally very hard to allow very high speed braking without fade caused by gassing from the pads as they wear. Such pads need to be matched with suitable track use discs. Track drivers don't worry about low speed brake squeal any way. They have far more important safety considerations appertaining to high speed braking. A lot of boy racers buy sporty pads without any thought as to how they will work and find that taking their racing machine to the supermarket results in squealing brakes. I'm not saying that Mintex pads are in this category but I do remember that they did tend to cause Brembo squealing and it is possible that they are just a little harder than the OEM units. The cast iron calipers on Volvos are unlikely to suffer from errant harmonics or the sort of corrosion problems that racing alloy Brembo calipers do and so the fit of the pad back plates is less likely to be out of tolerance but pad hardness and some degree of back plate size mismatch can initiate squealing and if it is encountered, the first port of call is pad replacement with OEM pads where the hardness and the back plate dimensions are compatible with the existing discs and calipers. No Volvo squealed as it rolled off the production line!

Sorry for the long thread but 15 years of ear drum puncturing squealing tends to damage the soul!

[green van man]

Back in the day when I ran imps with drum brakes all round the received wisdom for fast road use was vg95 lineings on the front and am4 on the back. Indeed this set up worked very well once hot but cold it could be a bum twitching experience.
On winter mornings I would start off and apply the handbrake in order to warm the rear lineings sufficiently to be able to stop at the tee junction 200 yds down the road, once past the following 3 downhill tee junctions it was good to go as use had put enough heat into the brakes for them to operate efficiently.
The standard lineings would cook and fade on the 1 in 5 hills we had around us hence the uprated materials.

Paul.