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Upgrading the 2.5L Brakes

Lucidentropy

Lucidentropy

Ready to race!
I have plenty of places I could spend money on my car, but the one aspect of my car that's bugging me the most is the quality of the brakes. I've had a few close calls and the brakes have always felt kind of weak.

I'm thinking I'd be happy with just upgrading to the GTI brakes, but I'm unsure if I'll end up paying a bunch for a marginal difference.

If i was willing to budget $300 for brakes, including labor, do you guys have any better suggestions?
 
maxtdi

maxtdi

Go Kart Champion
GTI brakes are simply larger rotors and brackets. I doubt it'll be enough to justify "paying labor" for that. I would just get Golf R brakes or Porsche Boxter calipers/custom brackets.
 
SkullV

SkullV

Thunderbunny.....
Just get some better pads and fluid if you aren't going to be tracking it. If dust and sound are ok with you go with Hawk HP+ up front and HPS in the back. Otherwise HPS is a nice all around quiet/low dust set for the street.
 
Lucidentropy

Lucidentropy

Ready to race!
Yeah, not looking to track it - I just want better feel, a little grippier, and to feel like it'll grip harder under emergency braking conditions. I do canyon runs, and I can handle them heating up a bit, but reduction in that would be nice as well.

I looked at the golf R kits and im seeing them for like $2,500+ am I totally looking at the wrong thing? I must admit, I'm very unaware of the parts involved in brakes - I'm unsure which part I should be changing out to improve it and what parts don't change., also unsure what slotted rotors do for you etc.

Also I'm on 18" detroits - shouldn't matter much but I'm not sure if there's a condition where i'd need to worry about their clearance.
 
socal87

socal87

Drag Race Newbie
Upgrade your pads and maybe go with stickier tires...also, change your driving habits. Tailgating and excessive speeding don't help.
 
maxtdi

maxtdi

Go Kart Champion
lucidentropy said:
Yeah, not looking to track it - I just want better feel, a little grippier, and to feel like it'll grip harder under emergency braking conditions. I do canyon runs, and I can handle them heating up a bit, but reduction in that would be nice as well.

I looked at the golf R kits and im seeing them for like $2,500+ am I totally looking at the wrong thing? I must admit, I'm very unaware of the parts involved in brakes - I'm unsure which part I should be changing out to improve it and what parts don't change., also unsure what slotted rotors do for you etc.

Also I'm on 18" detroits - shouldn't matter much but I'm not sure if there's a condition where i'd need to worry about their clearance.
Click to expand...

I have no idea what you're looking at
http://www.ecstuning.com/Volkswagen-Golf_VI--2.5/Braking/Big_Brake_OEM/ES518092/
$1250. Keep the old brakes and then sell this very kit when you're selling your car and put the stockers back. Most cost effective way.
 
Lucidentropy

Lucidentropy

Ready to race!
Now that you mentioned it - I suddenly can't find the links I was looking at that had that super high prices heh.

Given the comments, it sounds like I can get some decent mileage out of just changing out the pads.

I've heard that ceramic is awesome if you hate brake dust and grip pretty well, this doesn't look too bad and certainly falls under the $300 mark :
http://www.ecstuning.com/Volkswagen-Golf_VI--2.5/Braking/Big_Brake_OEM/ES1848558/

Cross-drilled rotors seem like less bang for the buck and may be more than I really need.

Also, @socal87, I concede it's not totally unprecedented to assume that some of us drive more aggressively than we should, the real issue is living in Los Angeles. I've lived in LA for almost a year now, after living in San Diego for 7 years, it's a whole different world of driving up here. People running lights, driving on the sidewalk, crossing 4 lanes to do a uturn, and stopping in the middle of the road with no warning to take pictures lead to far more close calls.


Sidenote : Thanks a ton for the replies, appreciate you guys spending your time with such quick responses. This is the first car I've owned and can mod, so I've been slow to learn this stuff myself.
 
dragon69185

dragon69185

Go Kart Champion
As a couple people have said, cheapest and easiest thing to do to improve brake quality is change pads, flush and change brake fluid, stainless steel lines, and slotted (and if you want drilled) rotors.

I did two of the four things (got some slotted rotors from ECS and changed my brake fluid to Motul) and definitely feel a difference in traffic and hard braking like stop and go traffic down in Orlando during rush hour :yikes: Orlando traffic is ridiculous (you can be going normal around 65 mph, and then it all of a sudden comes to complete stop on I-4 and you have to hard brake because it is all of a sudden near the toll roads and down toward the attractions). Normal regular braking you really don't see much of a difference because you aren't putting that much pressure on the fluid and the rotors (unless Orlando traffic is your regular braking, haha).
 
M

MKV Aaron1

Ready to race!
dragon69185 said:
As a couple people have said, cheapest and easiest thing to do to improve brake quality is change pads, flush and change brake fluid, stainless steel lines, and slotted (and if you want drilled) rotors.
Click to expand...

You were off to a great start, then failed.

For $300, get SS lines, fluid and pads, and do it yourself. If you have a bit more, get the GTI front caliper carriers and rotors, and ss lines, fluid and pads.

Plain, OEM rotors are the way to go, decreasing the swept area on the rotor (drilled and/or slotted) is NOT what you want. They are only for looks.

I just put GTI rotors and oem gti pads on my wifes rabbit and it stops much better. I'll be doing oem fluid this weekend too, so it should firm up the pedal a bit. That is the biggest thing I noticed from my car to my wifes, pedal feel, much worse.
 
M

MKV Aaron1

Ready to race!
A set of GTI front brakes with HPS pads are more than any of you 2.5 guys short of the turbo guys will EVER need. They are pretty impressive for a stock package.
 
dragon69185

dragon69185

Go Kart Champion
MKV Aaron said:
A set of GTI front brakes with HPS pads are more than any of you 2.5 guys short of the turbo guys will EVER need. They are pretty impressive for a stock package.
Click to expand...

Yes, as long as you are not running stock steelies that is. Stock 15s on 2.5s don't clear the calipers, so minimum that you have to run is 16s. :thumbsup:
 
dragon69185

dragon69185

Go Kart Champion
MKV Aaron said:
You were off to a great start, then failed.

For $300, get SS lines, fluid and pads, and do it yourself. If you have a bit more, get the GTI front caliper carriers and rotors, and ss lines, fluid and pads.

Plain, OEM rotors are the way to go, decreasing the swept area on the rotor (drilled and/or slotted) is NOT what you want. They are only for looks.

I just put GTI rotors and oem gti pads on my wifes rabbit and it stops much better. I'll be doing oem fluid this weekend too, so it should firm up the pedal a bit. That is the biggest thing I noticed from my car to my wifes, pedal feel, much worse.
Click to expand...

Drilled are useless for street use, yes. Slotted are really there to help the brake dust rather than create a "cool air pocket" as they are on racing cars (and they do look nice up front :D ). Plus, the slotted were on sale for $50 a piece on ECS which is actually cheaper than the stock rotors, and I have been running on them for over 30k with no issues (with my stock rotors chilling if I ever need them again).
 
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