I keep reading about brakes but I just need to know a couple of things if anyone can advise?

I've got a 1.8T Elegance which will soon have 17" wheels and vRS 312mm brakes at front. Do I need to upgrade the rear brakes to the 286mm discs from the standard 255mm ( I think that's what the standard rears are?) and if I do, will I need new calipers or will my existing ones work.

Many thanks to those who can help

No idea, except that the ABS will sort out any potential brake imbalance for you.

No idea, except that the ABS will sort out any potential brake imbalance for you.

Cheers mate. It seems to be a general consensus that rear brakes don't do much so upgrading is pure cosmetic. I'll keep a look out for further info

That's the way I usually reckon it too. The dynamic weight distribution of an FWD car heads towards something like 90% front under heavy braking, so the rears don't even get to do much. As I say, ABS (or a rear line limiter which is fitted as standard without ABS), will sort out any imbalance issues after that.

The rear brakes can be upgraded and depending on the driving you do, you may see a benefit. For the majority of road driving though, I doubt you'd notice a difference and imho it's not worth the added expense as the braking effort is heavily biased towards the front as standard.

Chris

I've upgraded the front to 312mm on my elegance but left the back as standard, I've not had any problems.

I've upgraded the front to 312mm on my elegance but left the back as standard, I've not had any problems.

That's the answer I was looking for. Thanks la.

Just 312s on the front it is then – but maybe new standard discs and pads at back for the shiny, 'just-out-of-the-box' factor

I have upgraded the fronts to 312mm on my 4x4 elegance.The brakes as standard i thought were very poor and seemed to lack power, after i fitted audi S3 front brakes which are 312mm , these are much better and seem to stop you very quickly.The only thing is the abs works a bit harder in the wet with standard 205 tyres.Rears are standard 4x4 brakes.As most of the braking is done by the front i dont think the rears will make any difference.