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Author Topic: Rear brakes, worth upgrading?  (Read 2311 times)

Offline colesey

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Rear brakes, worth upgrading?
« on: July 16, 2018, 08:08:48 pm »
My brakes had a nice upgrade last week - endless mx72 pads & bronze bushes on front / HEL lines / ATE 200 fluid - and I can now pretty much now do stoppies. Question is how worthwhile it is to upgrade the rear brakes with, say, similar pads or caddie calipers? I appreciate how the front does 80% of the work but would also like to keep the car well balanced in addition to maximising stopping power. Appreciate the views of those with experience of such matters.

Offline Andy

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Re: Rear brakes, worth upgrading?
« Reply #1 on: July 16, 2018, 08:10:34 pm »
it balances the car better when braking..the r32 rear brakes is the best option

Offline Shoduchi

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Re: Rear brakes, worth upgrading?
« Reply #2 on: July 17, 2018, 12:30:35 am »
If you have a BBK on the front, definitely get the R32 rear brakes at least. It's like Andy said. If you still have factory fitted brakes, just upgrading the pads on the rear should be enough to balance the car under heavy braking.

Offline colesey

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Re: Rear brakes, worth upgrading?
« Reply #3 on: July 17, 2018, 07:01:56 am »
Guys, thanks for sharing your thoughts. I am still using stock hardware but with fairly recent mtec c hook discs. The car is just a stage 1 for road use, so I think I will just order in some better rear pads to match the front.

Offline Shoduchi

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Re: Rear brakes, worth upgrading?
« Reply #4 on: July 17, 2018, 11:17:06 am »
That will be enough. I've done that with my diesel Golf after fitting the R32 front calipers. It made a noticeable difference with more aggressive pads on the rear.

Offline Stupots

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Re: Rear brakes, worth upgrading?
« Reply #5 on: July 17, 2018, 05:35:31 pm »
Didn't the ATE 200 fluid shorten ABS pump life/cause ESP issues in the long run due to it's viscosity? Fine on a track car but not advisable on a road car? I know I read it somewhere as the general consensus, so much so, that I binned mine and ordered genuine VAG fluid instead before I did my brakes.
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Offline Christiank

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Re: Rear brakes, worth upgrading?
« Reply #6 on: July 28, 2018, 10:29:22 am »
My brakes had a nice upgrade last week - endless mx72 pads & bronze bushes on front / HEL lines / ATE 200 fluid - and I can now pretty much now do stoppies. Question is how worthwhile it is to upgrade the rear brakes with, say, similar pads or caddie calipers? I appreciate how the front does 80% of the work but would also like to keep the car well balanced in addition to maximising stopping power. Appreciate the views of those with experience of such matters.
Hey mate,
I would upgrade rear brakes to match the stopping power at the fronts - this is even though the car is only for normal and "fast" road use.

Should give a more balanced braking experience :)


I've got a mate who thinking about stepping up his brake game on the stock GTI caliper, I told him about your choices in pads etc and he was very interested.

Do you got a topic anywhere with parts for the setup or could you drop me a PM ?:)
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Offline colesey

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Re: Rear brakes, worth upgrading?
« Reply #7 on: July 28, 2018, 11:04:24 am »
Yeah you're right and i will be upgrading the rear pads soon.

This link was my inspiration - www.golfmkv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=167216 - though the fluid sounded a bit extreme for road use so I went with ATE 200.  The pads came from Nengun Japan, brake lines from HEL and the bronze bushings from at-rs.de.

Btw discs are mtec c hooks, which I had already, and tyres are fresh PS4.
« Last Edit: July 28, 2018, 11:39:40 am by colesey »

Offline colesey

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Re: Rear brakes, worth upgrading?
« Reply #8 on: July 28, 2018, 11:05:07 am »
Yeah you're right and i will be upgrading the rear pads soon.

This link was my inspiration - www.golfmkv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=167216 - though the fluid sounded a bit extreme for road use so I went with ATE 200.  The pads came from Nengun Japan, brake lines from HEL and the bronze bushings from at-rs.de.