Tell me about 312mm brake upgrade...

[Mr K]

I need to sort new discs and pads all round, so this is a prime opportunity to upgrade. The 312mm setup seems popular, but does that extra inch make all the difference?

Is it a worthwhile upgrade? Also, what pads are people using?

 

[desertstorm]

I upgraded 288 to 312 on my B5.5 Passat and it was a worthwhile upgrade. As for pads I used to use EBC Yellow stuff, bit dusty but they worked very well. Red stuff is not as dusty.

 

[Oranoco]

I did this a couple of years ago now. It's only a small size change but so worth it. I was allready using Brembo brakes from nextdaybrakes and they were ok. I used a set of carriers from a B6 A4 iirc and set of Brembo discs from a 3.0 B6 A4 iirc and then teh pads with a set of B5 A4 Brembo pads, the improvement was really worth having. With Bardahl synthetic brake fluid my brakes are pretty good now and stand up quite well to track abuse.

 

[Mr K]

Cool.

I do hill climbing and sprinting (not in the A4! that was acutally bought as a daily / tow car), and most people use green stuff, or mintex 1144 (which are about twice the price). Greenstuff changed there make up which saw a lot of people migrate to yellow stuff to get the same results. Green stuff now alegedly back to how it used to be. People dont tend to go any more extreme than this, because you start to loose the cold bite which is vital in a sport where your launching into the first bend on relatively cold tyres and brakes, and only have a min or two to make it count.

wheres cheapest to get the carriers? seen places selling them new for £140 new. Used seem quite sparce. Didnt realise B6 A4 carriers would work too, might be eaiser to find.

 

[Oranoco]

To be honest I am gobsmacked anybody uses Greenstuff as they're utter toilet. Had countless issues on road cars, thought of competion use with them frankly scares me.

I know I paid £15 for my carriers, it was either a B6 A4 or an A6 they came off.

 

[Bradderz_1988]

B6 A4 has the larger carrier spacing, you need TT/S3 carriers and B6 3.0 quattro discs, then just use existing calipers and standard A4 pads !!

 

[griswold]

Had my A4 for years before going 312mm setup should have done it before feels so much better.
The wife's A6 c5 has 312mm brakes so i'm sure the carriers from that will work too as they are the same pads and I already had a spare set of discs.
So might be worth checking a A6 c5 v6 breaking
So I think any vag 312mm discs will do not just B6 3.0 discs

 

[aragorn]

Be aware that C5's after 2001 use the bigger spacing, same as the B6, so are no use unless you use the later uprights too.

TT and S3 are the easiest sources of the B5 fitment ones, but a lot of breakers will only want to sell you the whole caliper, and they know that they're the ultimate bolt on upgrade for A3 and Golf folks, so they can hold a premium.

You need to retain the B5 caliper, as the pistons bigger than the TT/S3 ones. Use B6 3.0 disks, and standard B5 pads.

Forget the EBC crap, if you want road use pads just fit a set of Ferodo Premiers.

 

[Mr K]

The EBC pads we are using are about 8yr old atleast, I have heard that they arnt what they used to be.

Will track down some quality road pads.

The carriers are taking a bit of finding to get them for a sensible price.

 

[Bradderz_1988]

AUDI A6 AVANT/QUATRO FRONT BRAKE CALIPERS 1997-2005 | eBay

 

[griswold]

Just to be clear, I used the 312mm discs from the A6 c5 not the carriers