R36 Brakes

[Passat R36]

Yeah, I see what you mean, they're probably be the same pad, part numbers get changed, superseded and updated all the time (to keep us on our toes!), have a look where it says Trade numbers: LD2887, and the '23914' appears on your listing and mine as well. Maybe I need to update my TECDOC software too ! I got mine supplied as LD2880 and went straight in. Who knows ? I can check with my supplier.

Thanks.

I heard Hawks pads are noisier, is that true? Also why the sensor deletion.

[eurobahn5]

Not sure about noise, maybe so but heard they perform well as far as stopping power and temperature control. Hawk have a couple of different compounds available for a given model, such as the R36. The HPS series look good for me (bit of track) but they don't have the wear sensor prep...so mobs such as ECS tuning.com have a solution, you can buy the sensor delete, which is just a plug or something but stops the warning light coming up, can 't remember how much but it's only cheap. Just means you have to keep an eye on your pad wear the old fashioned way !

[brad]

Just means you have to keep an eye on your pad wear the old fashioned way !

Which you should do anyway as the sensor is only on 1 pad.

[snerlo]

My turn for new rotors and pads front and rear. Car has 75k on the clock. I must say, that is pretty piss poor for an oem product. Quite disappointed that the rotors can't even be machined. In this day and age, nothing is made to last anymore is it. Hopefully aftermarket items last a bit longer. Has anyone used DBA rotors that weren't the flashy T3's? I just want something that looks OEM!!

[kamold]

That's pretty normal from what I understand of most Euros.
My front rotors were replaced by previous owner at 60k.

Rotors are pretty soft and don't last 150k.
Everything is a trade off between performance and longevity - same with tyres.

I've got ATE OEM style rotors and ATE ceramic pads. No dust!

[snerlo]

Please share with me where you purchased from mate and how much? I don't mind if it is via PM either. I need to get this sorted pretty urgently as the left rear pad was pretty much grinding over the last two weeks.

[kamold]

Jump back a few pages.
I think Eurobahn are in Brissy...actually no, he's in Gosford. But can ship to you.

http://www.vwwatercooled.com/forums/f27/r36-brakes-105832-post1132237.html#post1132237

[snerlo]

ok, thanks mate. Yeah, ive tried phoning but there is no answer at the moment so hopefully he can help me out. Thanks for the heads up.

[brad]

Go to brakes direct in BNE. Get plain face T3s & A1RM pads.

75k is pretty good. A lot of people only get 40k. It depends on the driver & where you drive. I'm at 160k and still on original pads / rotors but I did grind the lip off the rotors last year as it was causing pad knock-back & a longer pedal. I mainly drive up/down the motorway and rarely use my brakes.

[snerlo]

Thanks Brad. I gave them a call and they were quoting remsa pads with feemax rotors. Not sure on these so if anyone has any experience it would be appreciated. He was saying that the freemaxs are between the DBA plain street rotors and the T2 slotted's in terms of performance. I really only need them to perform as per what they have been doing for the last 75k as the car doesn't get raced.
I also was talking to a guy from race brakes in Sydney and we were talking just the plain DBA street series rotors with hawk ceramic pads all round. I have no experience with the hawk pads so again, if anyone has any experience with this combo, please speak up.
Thanks guys.

[Umai Naa!!]

The discs are a.consumable. They're meant to be replaced at the same time as the pads. Its not a design flaw, its just a completely different mentality to how the Europeans go about achieving a good brakes package.

ATE and the DBA/Remsa combo are like chalk and cheese.

I've fitted the ATE ceramics to a few cars now. Feedback has been very positive. No more noise, no more dust, and much better pad bite.

[kamold]

I'm definitely going ate rotors plus ate ceramic on the RS when it's due. The fronts on the R36 now get less dirty than the rears (oem pads there still).

Trust Umai he knows what he's talking about!

Sent from my HTC One M8 using Tapatalk

[prn31]

This is an interesting thread. As a "newbie" to the world of modern performance European vehicles (1970s Alfa Romeos don't count!) I'm still getting my head around their disc rotor throwaway concept.

Like Snerlo I've come from a big Fairmont V8 (with Tickford brakes) and a Honda Integra type R where the enthusiast option for brakes is fitting high quality DBA T2 or T3 rotors and high performance brake pads like Bendix, Ferodo, EBC et al. You would get good performance and when it came to a pad change you would get the discs machined and throw on another set of performance pads. Indeed my wife's Mazda3 SP23 went 90K before needing a pad change and the discs machined.

As Umai Nai!! has said the Europeans today have a different philosophy. Soft materials for better performance and replacing rotors and pads at the same time. My front pads and rotors were replaced as part of deal when I bought my car (with 79K) from the dealer. As this was part of the inspection process I didn't have any input with the replacements parts, but from inspecting the brakes it looks like I have the OEM rotors and pads. I'm getting brake dust from the fronts but no noise. On the whole they seem to be good but I did have a minor fright this morning pulling the car up in traffic...

[brad]

Thanks Brad. I gave them a call and they were quoting remsa pads with feemax rotors. Not sure on these so if anyone has any experience it would be appreciated. He was saying that the freemaxs are between the DBA plain street rotors and the T2 slotted's in terms of performance. I really only need them to perform as per what they have been doing for the last 75k as the car doesn't get raced.
I also was talking to a guy from race brakes in Sydney and we were talking just the plain DBA street series rotors with hawk ceramic pads all round. I have no experience with the hawk pads so again, if anyone has any experience with this combo, please speak up.
Thanks guys.

I haven't used Freemax (but i'd be willing to try them if the price was right) and I wouldn't get Remsa because some say they are dust free & others say the dust like crazy.

I'd either get the ATE ceramic pad & rotor combo or QFM pads / DBA plain face rotors - which rotors depends on your walle. The T3 plain face are reasonable value for what they are.

re: rotors as consumables - the Germans have been doing that for a long time. I remember in the early '80s my customers would spew about having to replace rotors on every pad change on their Passats. They weren't cheap to buy & there was a mind set that because it was a VW, it was supposed to be cheap to run. LOL

[snerlo]

Thanks Brad. I also was talking to Eurobahn this morning too and I am just trying to work out how to get the pads and rotors delivered from him in Gosford as he said Aus post won't help due to the weight of the rotors. Trying to find a courier company that can help me out with delivery on the ATE rotors and ATE pad combo. He said that they would work well together. Will keep you guys informed on how I go with getting them but that is my preference at the moment assuming couriers come to my rescue.