Rear brake upgrade

[rgvlee]

My rears are up for replacement soon so before I go off ordering rotors and pads let talk rear brake upgrades.
I was surprised to hear how little it cost to go bigger on the fronts. Are the rears the same?

I've done a quick search and found some talk of 256mm setups off of a couple of cars, S3, TT etc

Anyone done it?
Specifically what to look for? Model, year etc

[hardy_bm]

I am in exactly this boat. Keen to follow. Maybe combine shipping.

[Stuwey]

256mm upgrade is easy enough. It all bolts on, you'll just have to cut down the backing/dust shields.

Just beware that you'll need 2wd parts - the carrier offset is different from the Bora 4Motion gear.

[h100vw]

256mm upgrade is easy enough. It all bolts on, you'll just have to cut down the backing/dust shields.

Just beware that you'll need 2wd parts - the carrier offset is different from the Bora 4Motion gear.

I used Bora V5 parts on mine IIRC, with discs off my S3.

Tin snips to fix the dust shield and save some major unbolting things.

Gavin

[rgvlee]

So I just need the carriers and larger rotors?

What model bora?

[rgvlee]

actually screw it while I am shopping, if the above is the case what should I pillage for front carriers to fit 312s?
I'll see if I can just find a local wreck and go a bit silly.

[seangti]

Bora V5 and early/original TT I think are the main donor cars. They suit a 256mm vented rotor. I had to replace my calipers 12months back and got them off a Bora V5 in Sydney. Found it searching on google, had to get creative on the search to identify a wrecker. I think they were $70 each from recollection.

If you can source the front 312mm calipers that'd be the win. I drove my red car when Anthony owned it and had done just the rear upgrade and standard fronts, it felt very good, better than my stock braked car ever has, not sure why so much better but it was. I've also driven Gavin's car on the track with the 312mm brakes, you aren't left wanting for more brakes, though for most street applications is probably overkill against a good pad on the stock stuff. The bigger fronts really come into their own at track pace and worth every cent.

[kaanage]

Do the bigger brakes greatlyt reduce the chances of fading? That's the only advantage I can see in going beyond the stock brakes (well maybe also lower unsprung weight if you go to a $$$ alloy caliper and rotor hat setup)

[h100vw]

actually screw it while I am shopping, if the above is the case what should I pillage for front carriers to fit 312s?
I'll see if I can just find a local wreck and go a bit silly.

You need to get everything, calipers, brackets front and back. TT, S3 or Bora 4 mo/V5 needs to be the 125kw one
.

[seangti]

Do the bigger brakes greatlyt reduce the chances of fading? That's the only advantage I can see in going beyond the stock brakes (well maybe also lower unsprung weight if you go to a $$$ alloy caliper and rotor hat setup)

To my reckoning, there are multiple factors at play. When it comes to fade, the larger rotor provides for greater area for heat absorption and dissipation, therefore peak rotor temps are will be lower for equal braking to a smaller rotor.

Clamping pressure and brake feel at high speed is also much better. So a more consistent pedal and retardation whether you're jumping on the brakes at 180kph or 80kph. I've got the hard data littered through my thread for comparison between my cars, just can't recall the figures off the top of my head. The red car with 312mm and brembo 4 pots, with 256mm vented rears certainly pulls more g's under brakes, when both running the same tyres and both on Remsa pads all round. Now with the A1RM's on the red car, I wouldn't say it brakes any harder in comparison to the Remsa pads, but brake feel and heat tolerance is much better.

I'm pretty certain the brembo's on mine weigh less than the standard calipers too. This was all done by Anthony, I'm just getting the fruits of the labour.

Edit: some data in my thread for comparison - http://www.vwwatercooled.com/forums/...-97132-22.html. pages 22 and 23.

[kaanage]

The red car with 312mm and brembo 4 pots, with 256mm vented rears certainly pulls more g's under brakes, when both running the same tyres and both on Remsa pads all round.

Odd. I could brake hard enough to get the ABS pulsing with the stock 256mm rotor setup on my car while driving with well and truly warmed up semi-slicks. Granted, I had to push the brake pedal fairly hard but there's no way the car was going to be able to pull more braking g's with stronger brakes. I updated to the 288mm GTi setup for the better heat absorption/dissipation reasons you stated since the stock setup would have the pedal going soft at certain tracks.

The only reason I can think of why your red car pulls more g's under brakes is that it is noticeably lighter than the silver one (I'm discounting the aerodynamic differences).

[seangti]

I compare the difference with mountain biking experience. I have two bikes, one with mechanical (cable) disk brakes, they other with hydraulic disc brakes, the bike with the hydraulic brake is less prone to lock, easier to modulate on the limit of braking to the bike with mechanical brakes. They'll both lock the wheels, but the control and modulation on that threshold is much greater, therefore allowing you to utilize the fractions of the grip available.

[kaanage]

Yes but that doesn't mean to larger (or hydraulic) brake setup is providing more final braking power due to traction limits being less than the brake themselves
It may be more controllable but then rotors and pads have a large influence on that as well.

[Blue9N3]

Bigger brakes are usually to reduce fade, to brake more consistently , not necessarily brake harder (although larger brakes would probably allow you to stop quicker from a very high speed, say 200++?)

More than likely, stock or larger brakes would stop in the same distance on the first stop from 100kph, but by the 10th stop, I know which one id want


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[louis19]

Bigger brakes are usually to reduce fade, to brake more consistently , not necessarily brake harder (although larger brakes would probably allow you to stop quicker from a very high speed, say 200++?)

More than likely, stock or larger brakes would stop in the same distance on the first stop from 100kph, but by the 10th stop, I know which one id want


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I can assure you my stock sized brakes don't compare to Gav or Seans bigger brake setups. I find the Remsa and DBA T2 rotor combo a good upgrade over the stock rotors and pads, but they simply can't stop the car anywhere near as quick as Gav or Seans regardless of if its the 1st or 10th time.

Also after driving Seans red devil on the weekend, there's a very clear difference in the amount of pressure needed to achieve the same braking power on our cars, even very evident driving around the block a couple times.