well to keep this post up to date I searched a lot about brake weight and those are my discoveries :
S3 345 brakes : calipers : 8,5kg discs : 12 total 20,5
A3 312 : calipers : 6kg discs : 8,6kg total 14,6
TTRS : total 17Kg
S3 340 : total : 20
VW racing 352*32 : 12
A3 312 + Boxter calipers : calipers : 3,6kg discs : 8,6 total : 12,2
At first I was interested by S3 345 brakes because of the OEM look, but they are way too heavy and I'm not sure it represents a huge improvement.
Then TTRS brakes because they are cheap to buy but it seems they are a pain in the a*s to fit: need spacer, won't fit every 18" rims etc and parts are hugely expensive !! (500£ for 2 discs and 300£ for pads)
Now I am looking at the porsche boxter (non S) front calipers conversion.
Good things are :
- WEIGHT !! calipers are 2,4kg lighter than the A3 calipers and 5Kg ligher than S3 calipers PER SIDE !!
- COST : boxter calipers are really cheap, I found 2 with pads (used) for around 300£ with shipping.
- COST again : no need to change the discs, they are just plug and play. and therefore, discs will still be cheap when you need to change them !
All you need is :
boxter non-S FRONT calipers (parts : 986.351.421, 986.351.422)
Brackets to fit the calipers
hoses with the correct end for porsche calipers
then you have this :
picture taken here :
porsche calipers - VW GTI Forum / VW Rabbit Forum / VW R32 Forum / VW Golf Forum - Golfmkv.com