Changing Front Brake Pads

[Bluey9N]

Gents,

The little orange light on my dash tells me my brake pads needs replacing. Cool feature!

Ive done this before on several other cars but none as new as my Polo. Are there any weird things to be aware of or odd tips from anyone who has done it? Just spent ~$2k on tyres, rego and major service so DIY is pretty much the go for cost reasons.

I had a look in the stickied thread and could only find stuff for actual pad brands
1. EBC
2. Ferodo

Can anyone recomend anything else or are these the best to go with? Any other tips/help welcome

Thanks.

[noone]

Have a look at your pads to see that they are worn a fair way down. The indicator sensor is on the front left side only.

Have a look to see if your rotors are worn, if you need both rotors and pads I'd be thinking about a conversion to 312mm for better brakes and more accessible pads and rotors in the future.

There is a set for sale on the classifieds section, probably get the kit for a similar price to a new set of front pads, could use the old pads and rotors for a while before needing to replace.

[Bluey9N]

Lease car so no modification for me (until lease is up) but I like that idea

Theres a definite lip on the rotors as for pads it had its 45k service a week ago and there wasnt any comments about low pads... Ill inspect them tonight.

[Blitzen]

Mine is a lease car too, but all the mods I have done can be swapped back to stock in a few hours, and all of my mods are on the insurance, so they said they didn'y mind...

No nasty things in regards to changing pads on the GTI compared to any other car.
I did the rotors at the same time, and besides the rotors being a bit sticky on the hub (some WD40, a hammer, and block of wood fixed this), I had no dramas doing it inside an hour and a half for both sides.

Stock brakes...


Caliper off... You can clearly see the lip on the rotor...


Rotor off...You can see the block of wood and WD40 used to persuade the rotor off...


New rotor on...


Caliper on and new pads in...

[Servo]

Very nice, is the standard brake 280 or 288?

[h100vw]

288mm mate.

Gavin

[gslrallysport]

I had a look in the stickied thread and could only find stuff for actual pad brands
1. EBC
2. Ferodo

Can anyone recomend anything else or are these the best to go with?

TRW Remsa pads will definitely be the best bang for your buck. Good for 650 degrees (or similar to TRW Lucas or EBC Green) whilst being made by same manufacturer that makes the majority of the OEM braking components, so you know it'll fit...

Remsa's to suit N9 Polo GTi are $99 for the front, and $89 for the rear.

Regards,
Greg

[hummel]

I need to get mine done this week as the warning light has come up as well.

I've been quoted around $330 for EBC geenstuff supplied and fitted for the front. Is this a reasonable price? More than I was hoping for!

[noone]

If you don't have a problem with the stock setup, just get stock pads if you can source them at a reasonable price.

[Bluey9N]

Quoted $340 for a pad replacement and disk machine at a VW specialist in Canberra. Lennock VW quoted $266 to replace pads but said I have vented disks which cant be machined? Do replacement disks and pads would be ~$650.

Polos dont have vented disks from factory do they? They look standard to me.

[break]

Polo's don't have vented disks from the factory.

Furthermore, you can machine vented disks, but the machining must be done slower and more carefully than normal. As a result, it usually costs more to machine.

[gslrallysport]

The fronts are definitely vented, but solid rears. For new rotors all round, and Remsa pads we could do them for $458 delivered. Just front pads and rotors would be $254 delivered.

I don't understand what they mean by "vented disks which cant be machined" though???

[noone]

Yep, vented fronts.
I had them machined, but I'd save your money for some better ones.

I keep hearing the euro pads and rotors stock on non performance cars are soft.

What brand of rotors are included in that GSL?

[Blitzen]

Polo's don't have vented disks from the factory.

Furthermore, you can machine vented disks, but the machining must be done slower and more carefully than normal. As a result, it usually costs more to machine.

Sorry mate, I don't know where you got this info from, but on both counts you are wrong.

The front rotors are definatly vented, and the machining process (if you choose to go that way), is really no different to to solid rotors...You just set the machine up, and it goes about its process the same way.

[Catfish]

I think there's a confusion in terminology here. Most cars sold in Australia have had internally vented front discs for about forty years.

What some people may be thinking of are cross-drilled or grooved discs, which Polos don't have as standard. These may or may not be able to be machined depending on type.