Advice on Corrado Brakes
Discussion
I need to change my discs, pads and calipers el pronto so was wondering if anybody had any advice to offer regarding what to get. I don't want to push the boat out that far as I won't be doing any track days and I don't exactly use the brakes heavily whilst driving. I'd rather not pay over the odds by getting genuine VW parts either.
Not sure why you need to replace the calipers, but if you do you should consider going the whole hog and upgrade to a late mkIII golf 288MM set up. This will require new carriers as well, but even from VW these parts are not too expensive. I did this last year, got the pads and disks from GSF (Brembo disks and Pagid pads) the carriers from a scrappy and the calipers from VW. Although the change from 280mm to 288mm may not sound too much, the pads are a great deal biggger, when combined with a set of braided hoses the stopping power is greatly improved without any penalty in pedal feel. Oh, and they do fit behind a set of 15" speedlines as well. If in doubt give Stealth a ring, I can't remember if new hoses are necessary or not but Vince will be able to tell you.
Plotloss said:
How come you need to change the calipers?
I went to Thor Racing last week and they discovered that my calipers were engaging the discs as I drove. (The discs were still too hot to touch after my car had been parked up for an hour and a half.) Peter said that I might as well get the discs and pads changed rather than just the calipers. I was considering new pads and discs at the next service (due in 1,500 miles). I had asked my garage to check the wheels a couple of weeks ago as there was a strange noise coming from them. I'm a bit miffed that they missed this.
288mm is the biggest you can go on the standard 15" wheels and do indeed require new carriers and calipers. I ended up going for some secondhand Golf III ones that Vince (Stealth) sourced for me and overhauled & painted. I went with Brembo 288mm discs, Mintex Xtreme pads and Goodrich braided hoses. From what I can work out form the itemised bill the whole cost come in round about £400-odd.
If you're prepared to fit 16" wheels then you can fit the 312mm brakes off the Seat Leon or Audi TT, and I think there is even a 326mm option off the Leon Cupra-R although you may need 17" wheels for that.
Initially I wasn't happy with the non-linear braking on the new setup which emphasised the standard Corrado "under-brake then over-brake" but after they'd settled in (and been subjected to a track day) they've become much more linear and I'd recommend the setup. There's certainly no denying the increased stopping power.
Edit: Vince tells me that although the extra 8mm doesn't sound much, the far bigger pads give something like a 60% increase in swept area so is well worth doing.
If you're prepared to fit 16" wheels then you can fit the 312mm brakes off the Seat Leon or Audi TT, and I think there is even a 326mm option off the Leon Cupra-R although you may need 17" wheels for that.
Initially I wasn't happy with the non-linear braking on the new setup which emphasised the standard Corrado "under-brake then over-brake" but after they'd settled in (and been subjected to a track day) they've become much more linear and I'd recommend the setup. There's certainly no denying the increased stopping power.
Edit: Vince tells me that although the extra 8mm doesn't sound much, the far bigger pads give something like a 60% increase in swept area so is well worth doing.
Edited by JonRB on Tuesday 1st May 16:04
Cheers Jon!
Glad to hear that you are happier with your new set up now that they've bedded in.
GSF have recommended me Brembo discs, Pagid pads and Excel (?) calipers. They don't think that the Golf MkIII will offer me a significant enough gain to warrant getting new carriers. I'll probably stick with that set up as it sits nicely within my budget.
Edited to add that maybe I should have a think about extra costs if Vince says that they give a 60% gain. I've only ever had to brake hard three times in the Corrado and I was far from pleased at the result, more like
Glad to hear that you are happier with your new set up now that they've bedded in.
GSF have recommended me Brembo discs, Pagid pads and Excel (?) calipers. They don't think that the Golf MkIII will offer me a significant enough gain to warrant getting new carriers. I'll probably stick with that set up as it sits nicely within my budget.
Edited to add that maybe I should have a think about extra costs if Vince says that they give a 60% gain. I've only ever had to brake hard three times in the Corrado and I was far from pleased at the result, more like
Edited by EmmaP on Wednesday 2nd May 14:48
EmmaP said:
Cheers Jon!
Glad to hear that you are happier with your new set up now that they've bedded in.
GSF have recommended me Brembo discs, Pagid pads and Excel (?) calipers. They don't think that the Golf MkIII will offer me a significant enough gain to warrant getting new carriers. I'll probably stick with that set up as it sits nicely within my budget.
Edited to add that maybe I should have a think about extra costs if Vince says that they give a 60% gain. I've only ever had to break hard three times in the Corrado and I was far from pleased at the result, more like
Glad to hear that you are happier with your new set up now that they've bedded in.
GSF have recommended me Brembo discs, Pagid pads and Excel (?) calipers. They don't think that the Golf MkIII will offer me a significant enough gain to warrant getting new carriers. I'll probably stick with that set up as it sits nicely within my budget.
Edited to add that maybe I should have a think about extra costs if Vince says that they give a 60% gain. I've only ever had to break hard three times in the Corrado and I was far from pleased at the result, more like
Edited by EmmaP on Tuesday 1st May 16:11
you may find GSF do not sell the carriers, and I would be pretty sure Excel are not the OEM suppliers, EKTA lists them as an ATE part. I would agree with Jon and Vince, even with no ABS at the moment (knackered wheel sensor) I am very glad of the bigger brakes and can attest to the improvement. Try www.vagparts.com who will supply OEM parts but at a discount to VAG UK, they will probably be able to tell you who the OEM actually is.
JonRB said:
Note: Just because your ABS warning light is on due to a faulty sensor doesn't necessarily mean that the ABS isn't working.
Either way it's an MOT test failure though, so not something to leave for anything more than up to a year.
Either way it's an MOT test failure though, so not something to leave for anything more than up to a year.
Ah yes! It's the sensor on one of the rear wheels that is out. I think it was behaving itself when I had it MOTed though
I've had it looked at several times as did the previous two owners. Are you interested in uprating your brakes at all?
I got quoted from a VW/Audi Specialist (Ricci Concept-in Hull);
£65 each for 'S' ventilated or cross drilled disks.
£65 a pair for sports pads.
What are the brakes like on Corrado VR6's by the way?
I'm about to buy a 1995 version.
Ta,
Chris.
I got quoted from a VW/Audi Specialist (Ricci Concept-in Hull);
£65 each for 'S' ventilated or cross drilled disks.
£65 a pair for sports pads.
What are the brakes like on Corrado VR6's by the way?
I'm about to buy a 1995 version.
Ta,
Chris.
christhecarnut said:
What are the brakes like on Corrado VR6s by the way?
Quite adequete for road use, although do suffer from a lack of initial bite and sponginess of the pedal, hence my reference to "classic Corrado under-brake then over-brake".
As has already been mentioned, this can be cured by the 288mm brake conversion.
Edit:
christhecarnut said:
Are you interested in uprating your brakes at all?
Errr, you haven't read the whole thread, have you?
Edited by JonRB on Wednesday 2nd May 13:49
Normally I'd go with just the uprated pads and discs, with braided lines and DOT 5.1 fluid to go (when was the last time the brake fluid was changed BTW? With the ABS unit on the blink, I have a suspicion that this hasn't been done often enough in the past...) but when needing new callipers as well, I think I'd want to seize the occasion to upgrade with the Golf III items. I guess the price diffrence between the two options would be the carriers needed to bolt the later calipers to the uprights - shouldn't be that much?
[edited as usual 'cos I can't type proper, me]
[edited as usual 'cos I can't type proper, me
] Edited by 900T-R on Wednesday 2nd May 14:27
christhecarnut said:
How about uprated brake pipes with the aforementioned disks and pads. I'm sure that would go a long way towards getting rid of the problem.
I'm not convinced that it's a matter of simply putting braided hoses on to get rid of the problem. I think it's something more fundamental like the design of the pedal box or similar.
Besides, Emma is already changing the discs, pads and calipers (the latter due to binding). If she's going to do that then she may as well go the extra few miles and change the carriers as well and have the same 288mm setup as I have.
900T-R said:
Normally I'd go with just the uprated pads and discs, with braided lines and DOT 5.1 fluid [...] but when needing new calipers as well, I think I'd want to seize the occasion to upgrade with the Golf III items. [...]
Indeed. Exactly my thinking too.
Edited by JonRB on Wednesday 2nd May 14:28
christhecarnut said:
Are you interested in uprating your brakes at all?
What are the brakes like on Corrado VR6's by the way?
I'm about to buy a 1995 version.
What are the brakes like on Corrado VR6's by the way?
I'm about to buy a 1995 version.
As I don't plan to do any track days, uprating them isn't something I had planned to do. Having said that, I am considering going the Golf MkIII route, although my man at the garage and Thor don't think it's necessary. I am about to get the true fault diagnosed as my man isn't convinced it is the calipers that are at fault.
As for Corrado brakes, they are shite. And the hand-brake is piss poor too. I wouldn't let that put you off though. It's sounds like you've done a good bit of research already. I love my VR6
Gassing Station | Audi, Seat, Skoda & VW | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff