MK6 Replacement Brake Pad Thread

[Lucas_R]

Another update for those interested. Here are the front wheels after about 500kms (combination of Sydney stop-start traffic and freeway driving). As you can see, the wheels are still visually very clean, but wiping the wheel surface you can see the dust (about the same as 50km driving with the stock pads)

[Ryan_R]

Looks very good.

[Ohmang]

Are these Remsa harder pads than the stock ones? If they are , they will be wearing your disc rotors down instead. Fair enough there is less dust but I would be interested to see how the discs hold up over time.

Anyone had their discs replaced? I'm sure it will be quite costly...

[Corey_R]

I'd also be interested in how much the Golf GTI and Golf R discs cost to replace...

[Lucas_R]

Read the links below (you need to scroll down a bit to get to the Remsa info on the first link) - they are a massive company making hundreds of thousands of pads each year. The stock pads will wear the disks out much faster than some aftermarket pads. Im sure anyone with a European car than has done more than about 60,000km has had to have their disks changed - this is largely due to the factory pads being very agressive.

My good friend purchased a 2nd hand 2007 Mk5 GTI in January 2011 and in the service records it shows that front and rear disks have been changed at the 45,000km service........so there's your answer.

My neighbour has a early 2000's Holden Astra and he has travelled around 140,000km and has had his entire brake system (pads and disks) changed twice........putting that into perspective, i bought a cheap 92 model Ford Laser to drive around while i was waiting for my Golf to be built - it had 296,000km on it when i sold it a month ago and it was still on its original brake disks.

Positives for stock pads = they work well (although too touchy for my liking)
Negatives for stock pads = huge amounts of brake dust and wear your disks out prematurely.

It's the stock 'Euro spec' brake pads that are the problem - not the disks. The Euro spec pads are simply not needed here in Aust because we don't have the snowy below zero temperature and endless rain of Europe.

Eraps

Remsa

Are these Remsa harder pads than the stock ones? If they are , they will be wearing your disc rotors down instead. Fair enough there is less dust but I would be interested to see how the discs hold up over time.

Anyone had their discs replaced? I'm sure it will be quite costly...

[Ohmang]

Yes, Remsa is a reputable company - I had a good read of the site.

As for the Astra + golf vs ford laser I don't think you can compare those two modern cars vs an older one. I have a Volvo S40 and know all about the brake pad dust - it's terrible.

I think with modern euro's both the pad and the disk are made of softer materials compared to older vehicles. Maybe the introduction of modern ABS and EBD systems has allowed them to do this. If you had softer pads + discs on a non ABS / EBD car you would be locking up at the slightest touch. Years ago, we had to rely on good old foot pressure to brake effectively. Nowdays we have a computer doing it for us.

This is how they get the excellent stopping distances - a combination of soft pads and discs and a computer.

If you throw a harder pad in the mix I still feel the disc would wear out faster. If you replace your discs with a harder product - (maybe the remsa ones) you may get away with it. But then your braking efficiency would drop.

It's a catch 22..

My solution would be to stick with the stock configuration and just buy a Karcher water blaster and give them the once over every week. Dust only becomes a problem when it is left on the mag wheel and gets baked on.

[TDI DSG]

I recently replaced the rear pads and rotors on our MK5 with aftermarket parts, using RDA rotors and Bendix pads. The brakes feel exactly the same but with no dust whatsoever. The brake dust is a real pain as within a hours driving (traffic) your wheels look crap !

Can not vouch for longevity yet. Stock front pads and rotors will see 120K min, rears replaced at 77K.

[Lucas_R]

Exactly the point I am trying to get across.....although I find strange that you had to change the rears on your car and haven't had to do the fronts yet. Are you sure the fronts haven't been done at an earlier stage. Considering the front brakes do the vast majority of the braking....they will wear more quickly than the rears

I recently replaced the rear pads and rotors on our MK5 with aftermarket parts, using RDA rotors and Bendix pads. The brakes feel exactly the same but with no dust whatsoever. The brake dust is a real pain as within a hours driving (traffic) your wheels look crap !

Can not vouch for longevity yet. Stock front pads and rotors will see 120K min, rears replaced at 77K.

[TDI DSG]

Exactly the point I am trying to get across.....although I find strange that you had to change the rears on your car and haven't had to do the fronts yet. Are you sure the fronts haven't been done at an earlier stage. Considering the front brakes do the vast majority of the braking....they will wear more quickly than the rears

Our Golf certainly has not had the front pads replaced. From talking to other Golf owners wearing out rears long before fronts is common - I beleive it has something to do with the antidive of the Golf during braking.

Although the stock pads work well and seem to last, I would'nt use oem due to cost and brake dust. From memory the pads and rotors were around the $200 mark all up and were replaced in around an hour.

[dave_r]

I'd also be interested in how much the Golf GTI and Golf R discs cost to replace...

Well the pads are only around $230 for all 4 corners (supply only) and I know what I'd much rather be paying to replace!

Feel free to get a quote on the OEM discs