Brakes for my 1997 VR6 (US Edition)

[korsou 9]

Hello Gents,

I have a 1997 VR6 Golf and it has 288mm front brakes. I have a friend who would sell me his 2004 Seat Ibiza front brakes as they are 312mm and have AP large brake calipers. Does anyone know if they will fit or am I better off getting the Leon Cupra R BREMBO brakes?

Thanks and regards,

Korsou

[Lukey. 381]

Any 312mm brakes wont fit under the standard wheels so if you have standard 15s this is something to be aware of.

ibiza cupra AP brakes stick out a fair way from the hub, you can see this with the standard cupra wheels, the offset is huge on them to clear the calipers then they slant way back into the arch by the outer rim of the wheel, so you may have wheel offset clearance issues.

A better and cheaper way to 312mm is to take the carriers from a mk4 or mk5 golf, or TT, or S3 etc any VAG car that has 312mm brakes fitted, some 6mm washers/shims/spacers and 6mm longer high tensile bolts. You already have the same size callipers, 288 and 312 pads are the same size so you can just replace the carriers with the 312 sized ones and fit 312mm discs, you wont have the offset problem then as the 312s sit 6mm further into the car than 288s (which is what the spacers and longer bolts are for)

[korsou 9]

Hello Lukey,

Thanks for the response. I knew about installing the 312mm disc with the spacer and so on but with that setup I would not get the bigger calipers. Any comments on the Brembo Brakes? I would need to change the wheels anywayso offset etc is not an issue for now. Thanks again

[Lukey. 381]

the leons are even bigger at 323mm and they also stick out quite far, 15mm further out i think, you may want to check out the porsche brakes as i think they fit with less effort and offset problems straight out the box.

Are you planning some serious power or track? or just for the scene points of 4 pots? only reason i say is that 312s would be more than enough for any NA VR

[korsou 9]

Darn, you are a book of knowledge. Can you let me have some sites or info on that swap? Rotors, pads etc etc

Thanks

[Lukey. 381]

i looked into it for brakes on mine, but decided to leave it in the end due to cost and i wouldnt really use them,

The most popular setup seems to be either boxster S fronts or 911 turbo rears with 312mm discs, these require fabricated carriers but plenty appear on ebay etc.

there are so many sites and info and different kits, opinions on which model calliper is best that just googling it will keep you busy for days, there is also a lot of threads on this site regartding this, searching this site first may provide you with the most relevant information.

[korsou 9]

One more question, if you install the 312 rotors, since there is more clamping force does the ABS activate sooner? Or just the same as before? Thanks

[Lukey. 381]

the ABS function would stay the same for the most part, as it only detects wheels locking, you would get much improved braking through the bigger brakes though as the force is more. I always thought the braking system was quite good and the ABS on my VR wasnt very intrusive actually, you can stand on the brakes pretty hard and the ABS wont interfere, unless your wheels obviously lock

[korsou 9]

Hello Lukey,

Yes I fully agree, I am happy as can be with the brakes on my car, no doubt, they have saved me from several potential scratches . I was asking since I also have a Nissan 200SX which I have put bigger brakes and I ended up taking the ABS unit off since it would activate all the time. Iguess More Brake Clamping = More Wheel Locking. Just a thought and wahted to see what the overall experience was.

Thanks

[Lukey. 381]

yea i think different sytems behave in different ways, on an ibiza FR i had i put 312s on it and it had the effect of turning the ABS sensitivity down, it interfered much less often. but on the VR6 i think it pretty much stays the same