S3 Calipers - Straight swop or Adaptors needed? Advice please guys

[Ash B]

After a bit of advice if you dont mind guys. Sorry if its a stupid question but i just wanted to check.

Right my uncle gonna be fitting my S3 brakes this week, he wanted me to confirm if i need adaptors?
Or are the hubs the same and should be a straight swop? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
I'll post some pictures up of the calipers as they are now looking fresh and white
Thanks

 

[navnayyar]

Straight swap, even brake lines got onto standard setup

 

[N8]

Pics ash, pics

 

[devonmikeyboy]

Straight swap. White calipers will soon look dirty plus with heat white will turn to as cream colour.

 

[Ash B]

Straight swap, even brake lines got onto standard setup

Cheers mate appreciate the help.

Pics ash, pics

haha I'll get some for you tomorrow N8

Straight swap. White calipers will soon look dirty plus with heat white will turn to as cream colour.

Thanks for the help Mikey. I currently got white calipers at the moment. So hopefully the s3 brakes will hold up. If they do go a cream colour I'll just get them resprayed or change the colour

 

[N8]

Straight swap. White calipers will soon look dirty plus with heat white will turn to as cream colour.

You've got white then Mike?

 

[S3RYE]

Get pics up ash. IWhite calipers

 

[N8]

I White calipers

Heres Shaun's R8 kit like mine in white, and adams white set of R8s are on ebay right now @ £800...

 

[Khufu]

Do the R8 brakes need 19" wheels or can you get away with 18"?

 

[Ash B]

Get pics up ash. IWhite calipers

I will tomorrow
I agree White calipers There was some RS4 brakes on eBay a while back were beautiful

 

[jungleman]

Heres Shaun's R8 kit like mine in white, and adams white set of R8s are on ebay right now @ £800...

PORN!!!!
oh i want that! i need a job to feed my addiction to making changes to my car!!

 

[N8]

Do the R8 brakes need 19" wheels or can you get away with 18"?

Front or rear? I've got 18"s on mine right now..

 

[Ash B]

Heres Shaun's R8 kit like mine in white, and adams white set of R8s are on ebay right now @ £800...

They are beautiful! Nate you still able to get R8 brakes?
Not a bad price for them either.

 

[N8]

I think he's sold them now, no theres not more sets around now, can still get kits made up though..

 

[Khufu]

It was front R8 calipers & discs I was thinking of. Are the adaptors dear/easy to get?

 

[N8]

I'll find out, I'm sure they will clear 18"s yeh

 

[heeman10]

Everyone told me S3 brakes would bolt straight up too. The front discs wouldn't fit inside the calipers on my front hubs, so I didn't even bother trying the rears. Very annoying indeed. Is it just Quattro A3s they will swap onto? This was about two months back probably, I try not to think about it, makes me emotional!

 

[klik]

Hi N8,
About the R8 rear set. Are the discs stock? Is that a straight fit on S3 front under 18" wheels?
thnx
aki

 

[Khufu]

The R8 rears come in two pairs, pair for braking & pair for the handbrake.

If you scroll down this site you will see (pics are huge LOL)

Google Image Result for http://stadium.weblogsinc.com/autoblog/hirezpics/W8_cutaway_large04.JPG

 

[N8]

Hi N8,
About the R8 rear set. Are the discs stock? Is that a straight fit on S3 front under 18" wheels?
thnx
aki

Hi Aki,

I've got 350mm Merc discs on mine, but wouldn't mind changing them for some 2 piece AP discs. I'm not sure if you can use S3 discs, but the 5 kits Dave Brown made they were on these 350mm discs or 360mm.

The R8 rears come in two pairs, pair for braking & pair for the handbrake

But you don't need the handbrake to go on the front of our cars do we ewan Did you buy them R8 front calipers then?

 

[Khufu]

Ah, gotcha. I thought it was on the rear they were for. Not sure about brakes yet N8, hopefully find out soon.

 

[N8]

Keep me updated lad.

 

[PH1L]

I'll find out, I'm sure they will clear 18"s yeh

ttrs fronts fit just (requiring a 10mm spacer)

 

[N8]

Just depends on the wheels also yeh..

 

[klik]

N8,

Thnx for your reply.
What I wanted to say was if the R8 rear discs are a straight fit.
Although I wouldn't mind fitting the AP discs.
Will they fit the OEM RS4 style 18's?

thnx
aki

 

[PH1L]

Just depends on the wheels also yeh..

true but i thought we were talking oem s3's here

 

[N8]

What I wanted to say was if the R8 rear discs are a straight fit

I'm really not sure

 

[Ash B]

Everyone told me S3 brakes would bolt straight up too. The front discs wouldn't fit inside the calipers on my front hubs, so I didn't even bother trying the rears. Very annoying indeed. Is it just Quattro A3s they will swap onto? This was about two months back probably, I try not to think about it, makes me emotional!

Yeah i can remember you saying you were having problems. Well my car only FWD so i sold the rear ones anyway. Any one else able to confirm the front brakes will fit my FWD A3? Or maybe answer why Heeman was having trouble with his? I can see its still a touchy subject mate lol Dont let it get you lol

 

[Dean's A3]

After a bit of advice if you dont mind guys. Sorry if its a stupid question but i just wanted to check.

Right my uncle gonna be fitting my S3 brakes this week, he wanted me to confirm if i need adaptors?
Or are the hubs the same and should be a straight swop? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
I'll post some pictures up of the calipers as they are now looking fresh and white
Thanks

So just to check I've got this right, are you fitting both S3 front disks and calipers?

 

[Ash B]

So just to check I've got this right, are you fitting both S3 front disks and calipers?

Hi Dean

Yeah thats correct S3 calipers and discs.

Cheers

 

[Dean's A3]

You will DEFFO need new S3 brake hoses. If you want to do it properly you will need S3 hub carriers too. If not, you cannot fit S3 splash shields which will properly protect your set up. I needed new caliper bolts too..

 

[Dean's A3]

And YES, they will fit FWD A3.. But few changes have to be made.

 

[Ash B]

You will DEFFO need new S3 brake hoses. If you want to do it properly you will need S3 hub carriers too. If not, you cannot fit S3 splash shields which will properly protect your set up. I needed new caliper bolts too..

Hi Dean

Thanks for the help. So by the few changes you mean the above?
I got S3 brake hoses & pads ready bought new ones. So now all i need is the S3 hub carriers?
And they will fit.

Cheers

 

[Dean's A3]

The few changes I meant was fitting the S3 hub carriers. Once this is done it makes it a lot easier to fit. Bear in mind there are different circumferences in the shocks, but mine fitted ok by trial, though ETKA was contradicting this. You will then need the S3 splash shields, then mount the disks and calipers onto it. You also need S3 bolts for the calipers. That's about it really, job done! Oh, take some brake fluid with you for when you bleed the system and you will need the tracking doing afterwards..

 

[heeman10]

I bought brand new S3 hoses and splash guards, ready for the swap. Upon removing my brakes I found that the splash guards wouldn't fit my hub carriers. Also, my hub carriers hold the caliper too close to the centre of the hub, meaning that once the disc is in place, the caliper doesn't actually fit over it. Very annoying! I'm not doing too well with this forum, marching on to do things I'm told can be done in a certain way, only to find they can't!

 

[Dean's A3]

I bought brand new S3 hoses and splash guards, ready for the swap. Upon removing my brakes I found that the splash guards wouldn't fit my hub carriers. Also, my hub carriers hold the caliper too close to the centre of the hub, meaning that once the disc is in place, the caliper doesn't actually fit over it. Very annoying! I'm not doing too well with this forum, marching on to do things I'm told can be done in a certain way, only to find they can't!

Lol, been there done that, fitting mine was third time lucky, my first go was like you above, second time I had everything but caliper bolts. S3 shields will NOT go on standard hubs. You are right though, some advice given needs to be taken with a pinch of salt, or tailor it to your situation. Follow advice as above (with aforementioned salt of course) and you should be fine! :thumbsup:

 

[PH1L]

there are so many little differences that its hard to get everything 100% right all the time ie there being 2 types of hub on the s3 etc etc, cant argue with the advice given though

 

[heeman10]

cant argue with the advice given though

When I asked if S3 brakes would bolt straight onto my car, with S3 hoses and splash guards, and I was told yes...which isn't true...I think I'm in the perfect place to argue with the advice, more's the pity! I'm not saying anyone said anything with malicious intent to make sure I wasted an afternoon and a bunch of money. It is just a smidge annoying though!

Dean's A3 - Yeah thanks for that, at least I know for sure now that the hub carriers DO need replacing, cheers :icon_thumright: Since my A3 is my daily driver, and I no longer have a second car, I'm never too keen to do anything that could potentially mean I'm carless for a day or two. I no longer have my own premises that are suitable for carrying out this sort of work, so have to drive to suitable workshops to get mucky, which means I can't easily leave the car at the end of the day if I need to. I'm looking forward to having my own workshop and another car or two!!

 

[Ash B]

The few changes I meant was fitting the S3 hub carriers. Once this is done it makes it a lot easier to fit. Bear in mind there are different circumferences in the shocks, but mine fitted ok by trial, though ETKA was contradicting this. You will then need the S3 splash shields, then mount the disks and calipers onto it. You also need S3 bolts for the calipers. That's about it really, job done! Oh, take some brake fluid with you for when you bleed the system and you will need the tracking doing afterwards..

This is gonna sound really stupid so sorry. But i spoke to a local-ish salvage yard and they got an 2008 S3 there well whats left of it.
I asked if they had the hub carriers and their reply was "if you mean the front hubs yes" so i've bought them and going to collecting them next week?
Have i now bought the wrong thing lol?

I bought brand new S3 hoses and splash guards, ready for the swap. Upon removing my brakes I found that the splash guards wouldn't fit my hub carriers. Also, my hub carriers hold the caliper too close to the centre of the hub, meaning that once the disc is in place, the caliper doesn't actually fit over it. Very annoying! I'm not doing too well with this forum, marching on to do things I'm told can be done in a certain way, only to find they can't!

Lol mate you need a good hug you do! Did you sell your brakes after?

 

[Dean's A3]

This is gonna sound really stupid so sorry. But i spoke to a local-ish salvage yard and they got an 2008 S3 there well whats left of it.
I asked if they had the hub carriers and their reply was "if you mean the front hubs yes" so i've bought them and going to collecting them next week?
Have i now bought the wrong thing lol?

If they are aluminium they should be fine, depending on where you are, they can have different names. Make sure they have brake hose attachment and bearings and a part at the bottom covered in rubber with three bolts attached. (Dunno what this part is called!)

Anyway, let us know how you get on!