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Aftermarket pads & discs for the MKV R32?


theshadow
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Due to continually warping my discs and burning out the OEM pads at track days I've been hunting around for race compound pads and upgraded discs for the stock MKV .:R brakes but havent't had much luck. A couple of companies such as Stoptech do front rotors in 345x30mm which should be a direct fit but it seems that NOBODY (Hawk, EBC, Ferodo) makes high performance pads to fit our OEM front calipers!

I'm totally satisfied with the stock brakes as far as sheer stopping power, just wish they lasted longer and didn't heat up so much. I'd rather avoid doing an expensive upgrade to a big brake kit just to get access to better pads...seems a bit of a waste but no idea what to do.

Does anybody know of anyone who makes pads for our cars besides VW?

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anyone?

really strange if nobody at all makes race pads for our cars...but then again maybe it's the limited edtion thing?

on a similar note, doesn anybody know if the MKV R32 calipers are used on any other care i.e. audis etc.? If so then that may be a start.

otherwise I wonder if RS32's BBK is for sale?

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Shadow, this is "3dr" from the 'tex. As Dave mentioned, Carbotech makes custom pads. For a few quid less than 70K I might add, lol!

Following Dave's suggestion I've emailed Mike @ PureMS, as they import our 345mm fr and 310mm rr setup (yes, 3.2L A3, New S3, New 3.2L TT, and MkV R32 share the same brakes - which are in fact B6 S4 elements). They may make a set to be sold as is... As soon as I find anything out, I'll post about it here.

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Hey I'm planning on going April 28th - May 2nd... When are you planning on going?

Mike @ PureMotorSports emailed back last night:

Ben,

You can search for the pads on our website.

CT915-1521S4 is the pad you need for the fronts.

CT1018-1521 is the pad for the rear.

These are the B6/B7 S4 applications.

The -1521 compound is their Bobcat compound which is their street

performance pad. We can also get various other racing compounds if you

wish.

Thank you

PURE Motorsport

www.purems.com

[email protected]

866-397-5487

So there you go beerchug.gif

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Well, you have to just try sometimes, don't you? Ergo, I've just now ordered a set from PureMS (link above). They're expensive, but they are the first I've seen available for the MkV A3 / R32.

Carbotech do have a great reputation amongst real-life track-day enthusiasts, so I have faith.

As soon as I receive / install them, I'll do a review here.

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thanks a bunch, Ben, excellent info as always. Now time to wake up the credit card smile.gif

RedRobin: Actually I'm totally satisfied with the power or the OEM brakes, but they're not so good at high temps...just looking for something a little more able to handle high tmperatures.

I read an article on the Stoptech site which suggeted that "warped rotors" are a myth - instead they suggested that brake vibrations tend to occur when the pad melts unevenly onto the rotors, causing microscopic buildups of gunk on the rotor face that, in extrme conditions, react chemically and urn into another compound which builds up on the rotors over time. This techncally does mean that the rotor surface ends up being uneven but not due to the rotor itself bending.

So in short - looking for a pad upgrade to see if it helps the problem. On a fresh set of front rotors now, will likeyl find out what's up prety soon - 2 autocrosses and a trackday happening this month, brakes are gonna suffer! smile.gif

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Hi Shadow, thx for the kind words mate.

I read that same stuff, and StopTech do seem very down-to-earth and knowledgeable. Still, warped or not, I NEVER got my OEM rotors to bite properly, or even stay judder-free, after having abused them at the track.

You can easily track the OEM setup, but it's that last little bit of braking force (and heat) that you have to stay away from.

Yes, I tried 230-50km/h ABS threshold braking to try to rid the rotors of pad material, but it just never came back 100%.

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Just been looking at Awesome's site- they've got some nice looking rotors from Tarox for the R32...

http://www.awesome-gti.co.uk/vw%20golfmk4/brakes.html

Also, on the Awesome site, are a few after market air flow system mods. Has anyone tried these and will they work? Plus there's a power steering pulley, which claims to be lighter, use different gearing etc, so will sap less power off the engine. Bullshit? Or real?

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Well well well...:

After a few short days, the lovely package arrived at my doorstep :

webcarbobox.jpg

Service over the internet and telephone was first rate (thanks again Walter!), but sadly the rear pads referenced are an incorrect size:

webcarbotechrearstoobig.jpg

Per ETKA, 3.2L A3s use the following pads: front 1K0 698 151b, and rear 1K0 698 451b. If someone could confirm that the MkV R32 uses the same ones, it would help everyone here – though I’m 99.99% sure they are identical.

I called PureMotorSports, and Walter put the correct rear pads in the mail. Should be here within 5 work days. Sadly, PureMS is not willing to foot the shipment costs, which is quite unaceptable: I ordered the set they said I would need and so they should have covered the costs of their mistake.

Regardless, we pushed on with the front pads. They were a direct replacement, and went in like feet in well-worn slippers:

webfrontcarbotech.jpg

A quick bleed of the system, and off I went to bed the new front pads in. 6 or 7 fast stops from 100 to 40 got them hot and smelly, but not burning:

webpadstemp.jpg

I've seen 400 degrees Celcius on the track, so this isn't too much...

The disc did turn instantly blue; quite a nice color, and should match the R32's calipers reasonably well:

webbluedisc.jpg

I then I settled in with a copy of Evo (en Francais! - MUCH better in Shakespear’s tongue by the way) for the obligatory cool-down period.

30 minutes later I was on the road again: well waddya know? These things BITE!!! My OEM pads were still fresh, but these things just grip the rotor like baby’s mouth on momma’s t*ts! I am well impressed, and can’t wait to receive the rear pads.

I did try stupid-hard braking in a turn to see just by how much balance was askew, but was surprised to find balance was still OK. Our cars are so front-heavy that we could just as well do with no rear brakes at all ;-)

Next weekend I hope to attend a track day: we’ll see how they fare with REAL abuse. Stay tuned…

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Hmm good stuff!

I enquired by email quitong teh specs they sent you, Ben, and whoever answered is pointed out the same mistake with regard to the rear pads!

Glad to hear first impressions are good, can't wait to see what the AX6 pads perform like!

Will post a full review when I get them to a track.

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