MY65 brake upgrade from 312mm

[dophp]

Hi All,

 

let me start off with the mandatory 'I've, looked thought the forum and found loads of info but not what I specifically want'  statement.

 

As the title suggests I was unfortunate enough to end up with the 312mm front discs instead of the 340mm that were being phased out. What I want to know is if I got 340mm discs would I just need to get bigger calliper carriers and then its game on? I've also read about 370mm Discs from the TTRS's? presuming this will be a less simple upgrade.

 

I am under the impression my rear discs are 272mm solid discs (they are solid I've checked that much) is there a worthwhile yet relatively easy/cheap upgrade for these?

 

All info is much appreciated.

 

For those interested I took my 2.0 TDI 4x4 VRS around the Nurburgring and the only complaints I had was lack of top end grunt (which a upcoming remap will sort) and the brakes could have been a bit more when in 'race' mode. I did the 288mm to 312mm mod on my A3 Quattro a few years ago and all I required was the bigger calliper carriers as the callipers are the same and along with some decent discs and pads it made such a difference.

[ChoonDoode]

I feel your pain as my MY16 VRS tdi has 312mm fronts. I do think they're OK, but I'd prefer a bit more grunt.

 

When I've got a bit of money, I'm going to be upgrading to 340mm 4 pots Racingline Performance Monoblock Brake Kit.  I've seen these in action on a GTI and they've got a bit of bite.

 

The only thing I was thinking of doing to the rear brakes on mine, would be just to change the discs and brakes. More than like a set of EBC BSD discs (which are the black discs) and a set of either greenstuff or yellowstuff pads. 

 

From what I understand, you may need to upgrade the master cylinder if you start going big brake combinations. The GTI has 340mm front and 310mm rear, but the GTD has the same as our car; 312mm front and 272mm rear. Potentially different master cylinders.

[flybynite]

It is something I have said before but you have to work out specifically what you don't like about your brakes. Bite? Feel? Fade? etc etc.

 

Keeping the setup you have, but replacing the caliper with a brembo 4-pot from a Porsche Boxster is a good upgrade. It is tried and tested and is lighter than standard. You will need spacers or change wheels as they are wide and don't often fit std Skoda wheels. (google NQSBBK)

 

The 340 front 310 rear will bolt on and work fine, they are different calipers, look the same but bigger. It is an improvement but not night and day. They are mighty heavy and the weight does affect the suspension, it becomes more 'crashy'.  

 

You can get brackets that fit many exotic calipers to the MQB. Those that are worthwhile are done by Vagbremtechnic. Dave Brown has been doing this a while now and knows what works. Lots of specialists use his gear.

 

Again it depends on what you think is wrong, how much it bothers you and how deep your pockets are. Anything above the 340/310 setup is likely to need the 25.4 master cyl upgrade too.

[ChoonDoode]

4 hours ago, flybynite said:

Again it depends on what you think is wrong, how much it bothers you and how deep your pockets are. Anything above the 340/310 setup is likely to need the 25.4 master cyl upgrade too.

 

Just thinking out loud here, but would you gain any advantage in fitting a bigger master cylinder anyway? For example if you just fitted the 340mm 4 pots and left the rears standard.

[dophp]

I was bored yesterday and had a spare hour so went down to my local Skoda and they've just emailed me back.

 

To go from the 312mm to the 340mm setup you need (all prices including VAT):

 

2 x new calipers £162.70 each

2 x new caliper carriers £118.26 each

2 x cover plates £15.94 each

 

So looking at £593.80, then obviously the bigger discs and pads which are £336.56 from EBC, so total cost would be £930.36.

 

£930 minus £283 (Cost for same but 312mm size discs and pads) means I need £647 so upgrade to the 340mm's

 

I could recoup some fo the costs be selling 312mm callipers but I wouldn't imagine they sell for much.

 

My friend has a 2009 Leon with the 345mm setup and he's upgrading those so thinking I might buy them off him and see how I go about getting those to fit?

[flybynite]

10 minutes ago, tunedude said:

 

Just thinking out loud here, but would you gain any advantage in fitting a bigger master cylinder anyway? For example if you just fitted the 340mm 4 pots and left the rears standard.

 

All quite subjective really. Depends on what 4-pots you are using on the 340mm disks, there are a couple that have been made to fit. 

 

All the bigger mc will give you is less pedal travel for a given braking, In reality I don't think you would notice the difference. Any mechanical advantage change is lost in the massive amount of servo boosting the brakes get.

 

I would not put the bigger mc on the 340mm single-pot brakes (especially the later TRWs) as it will make the grabby nature of the single-pot brakes even worse.

 

If you have a big set of 4-pots on the 340s that are very progressive then the larger mc may be useful especially if you find the pedal travel has increased. I would be surprised if you had noticed at all, but you may have.