Brake Upgrades?

[Osh Kosh]

Hi All,

Which manufacturers do people use to upgrade their OEM pads and discs on their Golf?

I've been looking at the Brembo, VWR, Wilwood and AP Racing full kits, however a friend suggested before I take such an extreme and expensive leap to 4/6 pot systems, I should look into performance pads and discs.

I'm interested in what others have and recommend for their rides?

I'm looking for my GTI.

[minke]

Hi All,

Which manufacturers do people use to upgrade their OEM pads and discs on their Golf?

I've been looking at the Brembo, VWR, Wilwood and AP Racing full kits, however a friend suggested before I take such an extreme and expensive leap to 4/6 pot systems, I should look into performance pads and discs.

I'm interested in what others have and recommend for their rides?

I'm looking for my GTI.

My previous experience in circuit and rallying is as follows.

Padig Blues give excellent initial bite and an extremely high temp range. Great feel too which might help the Mk6 GTi's over servoed braking system (not tested yet on GTi - but lots on STi and Evo rally cars which had no booster due to antilag) Get 2 1/2 rallies out of a set. The 1/2 pads I used to give away to service crew who had road STi's etc and they all loved them (maybe because they were free?)

Else Frodo DS2500 is another option. DS3000 are supplied default by Prodrive on all customer ordered Grp N specced cars. No experience on the DS3000 - but my one time use of DS2500 on a curcuit day where the ambient temp was over 35 most of the day, rotor temps post cool down laps were 500c and at no time did I feel the pedal go off. Never checked the thermal paint on the rotors to see what we did get to (wasn't my car)

Both pads create huge dust deposits on rims, and destroy rotors.

In saying all that I had a test GTi for 24 hours prior to my decision to purchase and I did do some silly things in my 1000km test loop. I did not find the brakes wanting too much, but am likely to install Pagid blue when needed.

[nat225]

4/6 pods BBK, great for repetitive hard braking use, but costs more and requires engineering certificate / mod plate to stay legal for insurance / roadworthy purposes.

better pads and fluid, should be sufficient for street use at legal speed limits.

i use stoptech street performance pads, cheap as nuts but rated 1300 degrees F. some say it is comparable to ds2500 that costs 3 times more.

[richmurphy]

i use stoptech street performance pads, cheap as nuts but rated 1300 degrees F. some say it is comparable to ds2500 that costs 3 times more.

Heard great things about Stoptech. Where'd you get them and how much?

[Martin]

Pagid are certainly awesome - but I've not been able to get them in a Golf/GTI fitting

I'm currently using the Ferodo 2500 - they are also awesome
They are throwing above average levels of dust but less than my previous street/ceramic pads

The Ferodo 3000 may not be a good choice for your daily drive,
they are a full race pad and aren't all that effective when cold
they are likely to tear into your rotors

The stoptech work just fine - but make no mistake, you get what you're paying for
(there is no point comparing the price of street pads to semi metalic street & track pads)

[minke]

barrie Smith motorsport - He imports Pagid Blue and cuts them down to the shape of your requirement. has been doing this for 10+ years. You'll be able to get them for a Golf easily.

[Martin]

barrie Smith motorsport - He imports Pagid Blue and cuts them down to the shape of your requirement. has been doing this for 10+ years. You'll be able to get them for a Golf easily.

Thanks heaps!

[DOM02R]

Sorry for resurrecting an old thread, but I thought that might be frowned upon less than creating a new thread for the same questions?

I have a 2010 MY11 Golf GTI. I'm currently planning ahead, and after my Stage 1 & CAI, the next mod I'm considering to perform is the brakes to compensate for the additional power. As a newbie to the mod scene, what do you recommend from both a performance and price point of view?

I've had a few people say to me Brembo, but I think it's just because they're a well known brand and not from any actual first-hand experience. From what I can see, they seem very expensive too, and possibly overkill for daily street driving (not track). If they're the best, then I don't mind paying for it but I don't want to throw money into something I won't use to its full capacity, if you know what I mean.

Appreciate everyone's thoughts and opinions.

[nat225]

Sorry for resurrecting an old thread, but I thought that might be frowned upon less than creating a new thread for the same questions?

I have a 2010 MY11 Golf GTI. I'm currently planning ahead, and after my Stage 1 & CAI, the next mod I'm considering to perform is the brakes to compensate for the additional power. As a newbie to the mod scene, what do you recommend from both a performance and price point of view?

I've had a few people say to me Brembo, but I think it's just because they're a well known brand and not from any actual first-hand experience. From what I can see, they seem very expensive too, and possibly overkill for daily street driving (not track). If they're the best, then I don't mind paying for it but I don't want to throw money into something I won't use to its full capacity, if you know what I mean.

Appreciate everyone's thoughts and opinions.

i don't see why you would need uprated braked with the additional power for daily use, unless you intend to brake later before each traffic lights set or repeatedly more frequent than ever before the additional power, or with the additional power you intend to explore its abilities above the speed limits repeatedly with eyes wide open looking out for the law enforcers hiding behind trees and hence needing stronger brakes for just in case

BUT, have a look at brakesdirect.com.au and choose their remsa or forza fp3 pads, plus dba t3 discs, and fresh brake fluid super dot 4 at minimum. this combo works pretty well

[DOM02R]

i don't see why you would need uprated braked with the additional power for daily use, unless you intend to brake later before each traffic lights set or repeatedly more frequent than ever before the additional power, or with the additional power you intend to explore its abilities above the speed limits repeatedly with eyes wide open looking out for the law enforcers hiding behind trees and hence needing stronger brakes for just in case

BUT, have a look at brakesdirect.com.au and choose their remsa or forza fp3 pads, plus dba t3 discs, and fresh brake fluid super dot 4 at minimum. this combo works pretty well

That's probably more the case haha. Although, if it's not necessary to upgrade the brakes at all, I will stick with stock and put the money into something else

Thanks for the reply.

[Lucas_R]

No need to upgrade the brakes IMO. My GTI is stage 2 street driven and never have i had an issue with the brakes - even when being a bit silly. On a street driven car its simply not needed unless you simply want the "look" of big brakes. Personally there's nothing more ridiculous than seeing a car with $5-8k worth of upgraded brakes sitting in traffic next to you when you know that car never goes anywhere near a track.

[XFJET]

rems are crap

stock brakes on the GTI are not bad, did quite a few Mnt Nebo runs and by the bottom of it they start to fade quite bad but on the street they never fade if you really want better then get the DS's but don't waste money if you don't track it

[brad]

I've had a few people say to me Brembo, but I think it's just because they're a well known brand and not from any actual first-hand experience. From what I can see, they seem very expensive too, and possibly overkill for daily street driving (not track). If they're the best, then I don't mind paying for it but I don't want to throw money into something I won't use to its full capacity, if you know what I mean.

There's a few options depending how complicated you wish to get.

Simplest will be a pad, rotor, guide & fluid change with maybe a set of braided lines if that floats your boat.

Brake Fluid: Unless you know for certain it's been changed properly in the last 2 years I'd start here. VWs are supposed to use a low viscosity fluid (VW spec 501.14) such as VW OEM brake fluid, ATE SL6, LiquiMoly SL6, Pentosin Dot 4 LV, Textar DOT 4 PRO or Land Rover RRS D3. I think it's a Super Dot 4 fluid with a lower cold viscosity.
Make sure the ABS pump is cycled before bleeding (can use VCDS for this).

Rotors: DBA 4000 series. Plain face for a stealth look or get the slotted. There are other equally good choices. Get hatted rotors if you want to save some weight.

Pads: ATE ceramic (use the matching ATE rotors and you get a great warranty). Ferodo DS2500, Forza or QFM A1RM.

Guides: The rubber guides for the caliper sliders go oval after a few years. OEM rubber guides & pins are cheap (~$30) on eBay or fit a Tyrolsport caliper stiffener kit.

Braided lines: Your choice - Goodridge or HEL?

If you want to go multi-piston you can go with a kit (ask Martin what he's got) or fit a NSBBK (not so big brake kit) using Porsche rear brake calipers on custom mounts.