288mm (Elegance spec) upgraded to 312mm (vRS spec) - stealth upgrade

I know this has been done before but I thought I'd post mine up for the benefit of those that float into a forum & don't look back through past posts.

Here's a copy paste of what I wrote on my "home forum".

I didn't really need to do the upgrade (I still have 8mm of pads left after 130,000km) and I wanted to keep it as a stealth mod.  I paid $40 for everything plus my time.  For reference, down here $40 is like a carton of beer or a couple of decent meals at the local fancy pub or ~1/3 the price of a decent set of front brake pads.

 

I had no intention of doing this as my stock brakes were perfectly adequate except for excessive dust & some pad knock-back due to excessive lipping on the rotors but...

A guy was clearing out his garage & had GTI calipers, carriers, pads, rotors & braided lines that he wanted to get rid of & I offered him the equivalent of a case of bear for them & he said yep. It was a no brainer when the pick-up was 5 minutes from work.

There isn't a lot of visual difference between the shopping trolley brakes of the Elegance/Ambiente & the GTI/vRS/Jetta 147 version except the disc rotor diameter is increased from 288mm to 312mm. Both are 25mm thick.
Caliper dimensions & functionality are identical but the caliper carrier has slightly longer legs on the GTI to accomodate the bigger rotor.
Brake pad profile is identical & I assume the material is the same as they both dust up like mofos & wear the disc away at the same rate.

Surprisingly, even at 312mm most OEM 16" rims will fit over the calipers.

The rotors were badly lipped & not worth sending to the machinist. I attacked them with the angle grinder. They look like crap now but will probably work - at least until the pads wear away. No photos - too embarrassing.

The calipers & carriers were disgustingly filthy. I don't intend to use the calipers as I couldn't be arsed having to break into the hydraulics & bleed the system afterwards so I'll stick with my stock calipers until the next brake flush is due & then probably just fit the braided lines.

The carriers were also disgusting & I want to keep this car OEM looking. Staying with red was out of the question so a spray job was needed.

As purchased - filthy.


Clean up in degreaser & detergent & stiff bristle brush.


Painted carriers drying in the sun


I haven't fitted them yet as I want to change out the rubber bushes that the caliper slide pins sit in. These have a habit of going hard (or soft) after a few years & causing uneven pad wear, poor brake response, etc. You can buy new rubber bushes for about $30 but I was thinking about getting a TyrolSport Brake Caliper Stiffening Kit
[ATTACH=CONFIG]4312[/ATTACH]
But they are USD95 plus postage which seems a bit OTT for what it is. I've started looking into what is available in stock sintered bronze bushes locally or OS. I think I'll be able to achieve a similar outcome without need for machining for a lot less money.

I'll update as things develop...

 

Fitted it all up today.
Don't ask how long it took because I started at 9.30 & finished at 13.00 but that included stopping to chat to a few neighbours, cleaning everything I didn't like the look of, wire brushing rust off the hubs & treating them with fish oil, etc, etc.

It was all pretty straight forward & the info is available in any brake pad / disc rotor DIY on most of the forums.
I kept my original calipers so I didn't have to open the hydraulics & bleed the brakes.
Kept the current pads as they still have 8mm on them after 130,000km.  As you can see, I don't use my brakes much so this upgrade is probably pretty useless for me.  I often do the 45km commute to work & maybe use the brakes 20 times & usually just a dab.


Started with this:
288mm brakes RHS


Finished with this:
312mm brakes LHS


Here you can see the difference in rotor diameter & the bigger gap between the hub & the wear surface.  ie: the pads & clamping area are the same on both setups. Note ghetto removal of rotor lip :emo_baghead:


Here you can see the difference in the arm length of the caliper carriers


Finished product all fitted up ready to go


You can actually run 16"rims (possibly even 15") with the 312mm brakes.  Test fitted a 16" rim I had.


Took it for a drive.  Yes, it feels like brakes that stop the car.