Facelift 2017 8V S3 Front Calipers Torched!: Replacement or Upgrade?

[Nikhil Dua]

Hi everyone,

I just came back from Laguna Seca track day, having taken the S3 there for the second time now. Truly amazed by this beast!

I was getting my pads swapped today back to street and the shop mentioned that my front calipers had essentially been torched during track day during hard braking, to the point where the seal around the piston is breaking off. He recommended that I immediately get these replaced to avoid brake failure and brake fluid leakage.

My question is:
- Should I just buy 2 used calipers from ebay and call it day or would it be worth it to just upgrade the front brake calipers? How much do bigger calipers make a difference on the track? I usually only go twice a year. I still have a lot of pad left on my street pads and track pads.
-Used Calipers + Labor would be around $700. Not sure how much bigger calipers would cost but new OEM calipers + labor by itself is already $1200!!

Thanks!

Nik

 

[Harvey]

Hi Nik, I do 2, 3 or 4, more where possible track days a year in my track prepped Astra (white car in my avatar to the left). I was checking over the car the other month and also noticed the same issue your mechanic did, the external weather seals had perished as pictured below. After successive heat cycling due to the excessive temperatures you see on circuit this is quite normal and simply fixed by replacing the caliper seals. This also gives you a chance to inspect the caliper pistons to confirm they have no pitting or deep score marks. If all is OK with the pistons you can re-use them and simply replace the internal scraper seal and the external weather seal. Any competent mechanic can replace the seals or take the calipers to a specialist for inspecion/refurbishment. So long as you are using appropriate brake pads on circuit, which it sounds like you are, combined with regular brake fluid changes then there will be no need to upgrade the calipers if you are still happy with the on circuit braking performance.

 

[Nikhil Dua]

Hey!

Thanks for such a comprehensive reply

I'll check with my mechanic and see if I can get by through just replacing the piston seals. Crossing my fingers here to avoid the expensive caliper swap!

Do you know a good website to find the seals parts ? Is ebay trustworthy here?

Best,

Nik

 

[Harvey]

Any decent auto supplier should be able to supply the relevant seals either direct, online or via eBay. You could always try contacting brake caliper refurbishment companies they may offer same or next day options. If you have basic tools and trust yourself it's not a hard job for the home mechanic to tackle.