brakes for 16" wheels?

humps

humps

A2OC Donor
it is that time when the brake pads are down and I need a replacement. With the usual rule of upgrade when replacement is needed :)

I can do the simple mintext disc/pads combo upgrade but why stop there ;-) I know Mike has done an excellent 312mm conversion but I'm pretty sure it won't fit inside my 16" SE alloys! So do people know what's the max size I can potentially go for? May be a set of calipers from polo gti or golf? Recommendations welcome!
 
Hi Humps
Unlike most other VAG cars, you can't increase the disc size without changing the bottom suspension leg castings. This is because the caliper mounting on the A2 is is part of the casting and not a bolt-on bracket.
If you stick with standard size discs then premium discs and pads may give some improvement. Brembo for example claim their 'Max and Sport' disc material has a higher friction coefficient and combined with sports pads, should make a difference. Dan b was looking at Ferodo DS pads but I don't know if he bought any. The only risk with track day type pads is they may need warming up to work at optimum efficiency. The modern pad materials are claimed to be much better from cold but I'd like someone else to try them out to confirm initial bite is at least as good as 'standard' pads

Cheers Spike
 
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you can do this with the bottom mountings from a Polo / Ibiza 130PS TDI, which should give you access to 280mm+. And apparently 312s will fit under 16s.

Part numbers:
6Q0 407 255 S = Radlagergehäuse links = 103,82€
6Q0 407 256 S = Radlagergehäuse rechts = 103,82€
Possibly:
2x 6Q0 407 621 AJ = Radnabe mit Lager = 109,62€

If they weren't included in the kit:
8N0 615 125 A = Bremsenträger links = 118,32€
8N0 615 126 A = Bremsenträger rechts = 118,32€
8N0 615 311 C = Deckblech links = 21,11€
8N0 615 312 C = Deckblech rechts = 21,11€

those prices are also old, I would expect at least +25%.

Bret
 
Thanks both. Track oriented pads for the road may not be ideal for me but I can probably warm them up easily with the kind of roads I drive ;-) TBH, I did a 7x20min sessions track day under 30C sun and the OE brakes were totally adaquet. 2 Cupras with 312mm discs went a little spongy towards the end of day. May be I really don't need much better brakes or that the car is so slow on acceleration I didn't have to brake as much compared to others! (me thinks the latter)

Spike, I kind of knew about that caliper odditiy but didn't invesitgate the full story. I just didn't do home work to see if there are straight swap components from a Polo or alike, may be 280mm+ disc.

Bret, thanks for the tip, I'll take a look. I need to find some time to research and ebay trolling, but may run out of pads by then!
 
a2tdi did a lot of work on this over on the german site. Steel lines, Dot5 fluid, zimmermann discs, Ferodo pads (some have recommended Blackstuff over there) - there are lots of ways to get more out of the standard system and TBH with a petrol without a supercharger / 1.8T conversion, I can't see the point of upgrading much beyond 280s, better airducting to cool and the above mentioned "small stuff".

Bret
 
Ferodo DS pads in my experience have better than OE bite from cold unlike other fast road or track pads I have tried on other cars. Not bought any for the A2 yet. Didnt realise there was a bigger disc option from the VAG parts bin though thats interesting news...
 
924GTS said:
I was watching these Brembo calipers - from a Seat Leon - are they usable for an A2?
Click to expand...

They won't fit the standard A2 lower suspension legs but you may be able to use them with the lower legs from a TT or Polo (Brett provided some part nos in an earlier post) This makes things a bit expensive as new legs plus wheel bearings cost over £200 per side. Caliper mounting brackets are also required.
If you use second hand castings then its still advisable to replace the wheel bearings which are around £80 each plus fitting.

Cheers Spike
 
That's quite a few bits - although I've not driven the A2 much I can't say the brakes were in any way lacking as-is!
 
Spike confirmed more or less what I gathered so far. Definitely need the lower leg and bearings and you must be looking at 450 for brand new, even with used parts (spike, good call on new bearing, exactly what I thought too) it wont be that much cheaper. You can get used 1.8T golf calipers and 288mm discs but will still cost you £100 or so. I'm adding up the cost and find it hard to justify, given the OE brakes were fine even on a hot track day. Unless I go for a supercharger, that is! But it is just weird with big front disc and rear drums...

Think I might go for an easy Mintex setup and put the money for the new A2 :)
 
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