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Grand Am APR cars have Passat OE Aluminum Upright?

carsfeverguy

Go Kart Champion
Just browsing the site, credit to A_Bowers for the pic, something caught my eye. I remember that almost 2 years ago Arin from APR had mentioned that our cars were great to enjoy at the track, except for one crucial component in the suspension. As far as I remember, the part was not specified...

Are the OEM Passat Aluminium Upright the secret component?

I track the car so seems important to me.



From the APR website

VWR provides strong and lightweight aluminum caliper carriers, with Racingline script, to properly mount the brake calipers. Standard mounting hardware is included and longer hardware is available for those with uprated factory aluminum uprights.



Also, can these be run with Porsche NSBBK??? as it seems that the vwr caliper bracket is different for the people running the aluminium upright.

Also, is upright the same as spindles???
 

A_Bowers

Moderator
Hmmmm interesting. This would have been cool to ask the guys yesterday. The only difference I can tell from the beginning is the steering arm pickup is a tad lower. And there is a bunch more mass to the entire unit.

Looking to hear more about this.
 

TXBDan

Go Kart Champion
From what i've gathered the geometry is the same. It just an unsprung mass reduction mod.
 

Modshack1

Go Kart Champion
Aluminum vs iron. Yeah. I can see that for sure.


You can use the Passat Lower aluminum control arms too. They save a bunch of weight over the Mark 5 arms (cast iron) not so much over the Mark 6 arms (stamped steel)
 

A_Bowers

Moderator
You can use the Passat Lower aluminum control arms too. They save a bunch of weight over the Mark 5 arms (cast iron) not so much over the Mark 6 arms (stamped steel)



Those would look soo sexy. My dad's Bimmer had aluminum LCA's and they just looked gorgeous. That car handled like a dream.

Hands down one of the best handling cars I have ever driven.

328i (3.0 liter I-6) with a 6spd and sport package. OMG wonderful
 

carsfeverguy

Go Kart Champion
The factory uprights are simply not up to the task of racing. We have permission from Grand-Am to run an upgraded part shown on the right:


Will this work with Apikol brackets for Porsche boxier calipers???
 

carsfeverguy

Go Kart Champion
Also, why are the stock ones not for racing???? Weight difference?? Risk of braeaking?
The steel one looks smaller, but steel is strong.
 

Type_RS_59

Ready to race!
I know the World Challenge Touring Car Jettas are using the Passat uprights as well.
 

Talguy

Go Kart Champion
Where did you even find information on the VWR APR Aluminum uprights on the APR site?
 

Modshack1

Go Kart Champion
Where did you even find information on the VWR APR Aluminum uprights on the APR site?

That info is all over the place from guys serious about MK6 suspension upgrades.. Check Vortex.
 

carsfeverguy

Go Kart Champion
Iron uprights being qualified as weak... Does it mean that they have had failures???
Also, what about the calipers fitting??? I have the Porsche setup... Will that bolt on???
 

carsfeverguy

Go Kart Champion
Well, with research I may have answered my own dilemma


From my research, the spindles should work as well, although I have seen mention of the caliper carrier mounting points being thicker which supposedly causes fitment with various brake upgrades.

This didn't make sense to me because most caliper carriers mount on the outside edge of the spindle, and the added thickness of the aluminum spindles is on the inside edge, with the outside still being in the same position relative to every other fixed point, so the only conceivable difference to brake fitment will simply be longer bolts to accomodate the added material thickness. Unless for some odd reason, any given brake kit mounts to the inside edge of the spindle, but I see no reason for this.

Edit: This photo shows what I am refering to. The outside edge of the caliper carrier mounting points (closest to the floor) are the same between the iron and aluminum spindles, but you can clearly see that the back side of the carrier mounting points is thicker on the aluminum version, so the fitment of the caliper carriers will be the same, you may just need slightly longer bolts to mount them.

 
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