The moderately informational brake thread....

Thanks Jojo.

Back of the envelope number scrawling suggests that upgrading the fronts to the LCR brembos is an 86% increase in breaking effectiveness and changing the rears to the fronts is in fact a 146% increase in breaking effectiveness, and thats ignoring any change in pad area (because i dont know them). Does that sound about right?

A little overkill! Not a great idea then

EDIT:

Right, so leaving the rears as standard would seem more sensible. Considering a standard front to rear brake bias of 60/40 upgrading the front barking effectiveness by 86% would change the front to rear bias from 60/40 to 74/26. Does that sound right?

It's a bit more complex than that, but using S3 front disks on the rears will increase unsprung weight also, which effects handling etc. I'd stick with standard rears with maybe uprated pads if Brembo's was up front, it's more than enough for standard and remapped power.

I only put the ECS stage1 rear on for looks, and they came at a good price at the time!
 
Brembos (I still love you for them Joe) + Ferodo DS2500 + RBF 600 fluid + Vented, grooved discs + braided lines works brilliantly for me, I keep catching my self out with how well it stops with the new pads and having the calipers on the correct sides:tocktock:.
 
Brembos (I still love you for them Joe) + Ferodo DS2500 + RBF 600 fluid + Vented, grooved discs + braided lines works brilliantly for me, I keep catching my self out with how well it stops with the new pads and having the calipers on the correct sides:tocktock:.

What?! You was running the calipers upside down? Surprised they fit upside down, did I not leave the carriers bolted onto the calipers for you? lol
 
It's a bit more complex than that, but using S3 front disks on the rears will increase unsprung weight also, which effects handling etc. I'd stick with standard rears with maybe uprated pads if Brembo's was up front, it's more than enough for standard and remapped power.

I only put the ECS stage1 rear on for looks, and they came at a good price at the time!

Where did you get the ecs 308 rears from mate? How much too?

Ta!
 
Where did you get the ecs 308 rears from mate? How much too?

Ta!

I got it off UKMIVs classifieds, the guy purchased them and never got round to fitting them, they was approx 350+vat to buy new, I got them for 300 I think? Nearer £500 with today's exchange rate I think?
 
Brembos + Ferodo DS2500 + RBF 600 fluid + Vented, grooved discs + braided lines works brilliantly for me,

I've just fitted mine last night, with DS3000 pads from Bill, and they're ****** amazing already!

252c25d2.jpg
 
Just to clarify, If I want to upgrade to S3 312mm brakes on my A3 Quattro, what do I need apart from Discs? Is it just the carriers, or the carriers and the calipers? If it's calipers, then I'm assuming bigger pads as well...

Also, will the difference be noticeable, or is this not really a worthwhile mod?
 
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Just to clarify, If I want to upgrade to S3 312mm brakes on my A3 Quattro, what do I need apart from Discs? Is it just the carriers, or the carriers and the calipers? If it's calipers, then I'm assuming bigger pads as well...

Also, will the difference be noticeable, or is this not really a worthwhile mod?

Carriers and disks mate, it retains the original caliper and uses the same pads as the smaller setup also.

Is it a worthwhile mod depends on how you rate the standard brakes, it's a small improvement over your 288mm(I presume that's what you have now), it's more handy if you have a remapped car, standard power I doubt you would need them, in my opinion.
 
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Carriers and disks mate, it retains the original caliper and uses the same pads as the smaller setup also.
Is it a worthwhile mod depends on how you rate the standard brakes, it's a small improvement over your 288mm(I presume that's what you have now), it's more handy if you have a remapped car, standard power I doubt you would need them, in my opinion.

Yeah, I have the 288mm discs now, and also yes, my car is mapped, so it might be worth it..
Also, looks a bit better behind the wheels I suppose.
To answer your question, I think they are average at best, especially when getting into it after driving something newer..
 
Do I need different calipers on the rear of my A3 if I want to fit an S3 rear setup?

Or is it the same change as the Front's? (e.g just change the carriers and discs)
 
Any idea if the standard A3/S3 brake hoses will fit the R32 front calipers upgrade?
 
ahh ok, thanks for the info, will have to get myself some R32 braided ones... how easy is it to get these to fit?
 
ahh ok, thanks for the info, will have to get myself some R32 braided ones... how easy is it to get these to fit?

No idea with braided hoses mate i just used the stock r32 ones everything just bolted on with the expection of the brake hose clamp/mount on the top of the wheel arch which needed a little widening to get the new hose in with a dremel and pair of pliers.
 
They should have the same conection I would guess. Did you have to cut and solder the pad wear indicators to the r32 pads as I don't think they have the wear indicators?
 
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Hi All,

It seems that the Calipers in the A3 TQS are exactly the same as the calipers in the S3 (54mm ATE single-piston). Can someone confirm??

Obviously the carriers in the S3 are for 312mm disks, but are the calipers exactly the same?

Cheers
Alex
 
The quattro A3's had 312's and vented rears. Exactly the same as the S3.
 
The Quattro A3s have 288mm fronts. My question is whether the front calipers on my A3 are the same as on the S3?
 
yes they are the same.

Would have thought the quattro A3's had 312's.
 
As my standard S3 brakes suffer fade from normal day to day driving during heavy braking, I was wondering what the best approach is for improving things, especially if I am going to be using it on the track.

1. Change discs and pads (thinking Ferodo DS2500 and grooved discs)
2. Upgrade to LCR brembo's (is this different from the GT kit??)

Obviously the first one would be easy. however for point 2, do I need to consider other things when upgrading to Brembo's (i.e. clearance, lines, etc.)? I have standard Avus alloys on at the moment.

Also, have the chance to buy cupra R brembo calipers + carriers + lines + discs + pads at £500. Is this too much??

Thanks
 
As my standard S3 brakes suffer fade from normal day to day driving during heavy braking, I was wondering what the best approach is for improving things, especially if I am going to be using it on the track.

1. Change discs and pads (thinking Ferodo DS2500 and grooved discs)
2. Upgrade to LCR brembo's (is this different from the GT kit??)

Obviously the first one would be easy. however for point 2, do I need to consider other things when upgrading to Brembo's (i.e. clearance, lines, etc.)? I have standard Avus alloys on at the moment.

Also, have the chance to buy cupra R brembo calipers + carriers + lines + discs + pads at £500. Is this too much??

Thanks

If track work is on the agenda, it's a no brainer really, go for option 2, and £500 is a good price for this setup used.

Difference between LCR and Brembo jnr kit is a slight change in caliper design, they both use the same size disks and offsets, and the same caliper carriers. Brembo GT kit comes with crossdrilled disks which are rubbish and as soon as get get hot, LCR kit would obviously has solid disks which are a lot cheaper to replace! They fit under the standard 17" Avus rims no problems at all!
 
Bringing this one back gents....

I can get hold of some LCR Brembos which come with discs and pads, but no lines...

How would I go around fitting them? Doesn't Bill have some special lines which fit these to 8L S3's?

Cheers,

Ryan
 
Bill does indeed do lines, and I have a set on my track car, very nice they are too!

Around £50 from memory, don't be fooled into getting a set off eBay though, the lines avail on eBay only replace the flexi part of the OEM line, bills replace the whole lot from caliper to chassis
 
+1 I have bills lines too they are the bees knees
 
I got hold of a pair of boxster fronts last week for £180. I've done a lot of research into these as not many of the 8L clan use them but the golf boys give them a good review. The calipers are monoblock (1 piece of metal) so they are apparently more ridged than LCRs and due to the fact not many people are after them they are a lot cheaper ;)

I'll update this thread when it's all on to let you know what I think.
 
anyone have any guides on fitting brakes on a 54 plate A3 1.9TDI 8P 105BHP? just about to have a go at mine. it needs disks and pads all round. is it fairly straight forward, can anyone advise any tips or tricks to make the job easier, or anything that I might stumble across?
 
Not sure if im posting this in the right thread but has anyone seen these on ebay?

GOLF MK4 TT S3 CUPRA BIG BRAKES | eBay UK

I have been watching them for a while, the seller has gone from 600 down to 540 with no bids at all. Is there a reason for this? I am interested but the fact nobody is willing to bid is putting me off?
 
Not sure if im posting this in the right thread but has anyone seen these on ebay?

GOLF MK4 TT S3 CUPRA BIG BRAKES | eBay UK

I have been watching them for a while, the seller has gone from 600 down to 540 with no bids at all. Is there a reason for this? I am interested but the fact nobody is willing to bid is putting me off?
Just make sure there front calipers or a total waste of time.
 
One more for the list, from the 2002 model.
The 239mm rears are quite unusual, and haven't appeared in this thread before:

Audi A3 1.8T Quattro Sport
- The Front brakes are 288mm x 25mm Vented Discs, 54mm ATE single piston calipers
- The Rear brakes are 239mm x 9mm Vented Discs, 41mm Lucas single piston calipers
 
That's got to be an error man, the front discs you state are correct for an a3 TQ, but the rears on a TQ are 232x9 solid. Piston size you state is correct.

Think about it, how could you ever have a 9mm thick vented disc? it just wouldn't work.

Feel free to show us otherwise, but every TQ I've seen has 232x9 solid rears like any other mk4 golf/A3