Over assisted / servoed / sensitive brakes

[mfl]

If want to drive a car with on/off brakes, try driving a CX2400 Citroen, the brake pedal had no discernible movement at all and operated according to how much pressure you applied. first time you drove one, you'd panic as the brake pedal wasn't moving !

I can't heel toe either, but that is because the brake pedal is too high relative to the throttle and I can't bend my ankles enough,

as for the brake pedal being too servo-ed, I regularly jump into my son's Punto and don't notice a difference, but the travel is noticeably shorter than the Commodores I used to own.

[oldngrey]

I am the Original Poster with an end to the story in case anyone is interested.

Today I drove 2 different Golf 118TSI DSG demo cars, one a wagon and the other a hatch.
Both felt identical to each other and both were fine. After an initial bite, the pedal had good feel and I was able to do smooth stops time after time. So yes, more servo boost than Mazdas and Hondas, but easy to adapt to and drive smoothly. That bears out most of the comments here.

That makes the one I drove last week the odd one out. It was impossible to come to a smooth stop. I *think* it had more servo boost too, but can't swear to it. An oddity and definitely not normal.

[brad]

Maybe the brakes on the one you drove the other week weren't bedded in yet?

i find the Golfs pretty cruisy/easy cars to drive. Stick thumb in bum, mind in nuetral & away you go

[guliver_twist]

Love the brakes on my car, granted not as much travel as other cars I have driven, but works better in my opinion. It helps you lazily tap the brakes without lifting your heal when switching between brake pedal and accelerator, making for a less tiring drive, especially on long distance trips. I find the car stops and feels smooth, delicate and precise with its braking. I don't know what people are complaining about. It took me 2 minutes to get used to the shorter pedal travel, and now I prefer this to other cars.

[brad]

As I stated before, my brakes always feel fantastic when I get the car back from service (even the non brake bleed services). I assume because they get the dust build-up off or something.

Lately they have been feeling a bit like "all the other cars" but I had to do a very rapid decel yesterday from 110 down to about 50 complete with chirping tyres & shuddering (and going to the floor) ABS activated brake pedal (I'm assuming they must have Brake Assist as well). After that, the pedal was right back to normal again, so I assume the big stop took all the furry bits/dags off the brake pads.

Dead-set. I thought I was done for & didn't have a chance at stopping in time but it was all good.

[Brian]

As I stated before, my brakes always feel fantastic when I get the car back from service (even the non brake bleed services). I assume because they get the dust build-up off or something.

Lately they have been feeling a bit like "all the other cars" but I had to do a very rapid decel yesterday from 110 down to about 50 complete with chirping tyres & shuddering (and going to the floor) ABS activated brake pedal (I'm assuming they must have Brake Assist as well). After that, the pedal was right back to normal again, so I assume the big stop took all the furry bits/dags off the brake pads.

Dead-set. I thought I was done for & didn't have a chance at stopping in time but it was all good.

Good to hear you avoided a Lara (Bingle) Brad. I absolutely love the brakes on the TSI. Couple of k's drive to get used to them especially after the Commodore SS pedal mashing experience to get some effect!
Would find it hard to revert to non VW brakes now!
Brian

[cs3110]

The brakes are fine in highway conditions but they are about as annoying as it gets in peak hour.

[Jaap74]

I just recently went from a 1995 Audi 80 to a MKV GTi. I thought the brakes were very sensitive in comparison to begin with but now I've gotten used to them.

[geeza]

I've had my MK 6 GTI for 2 months now and think the brakes are very "grabby" or a little overly sensative - i'm interested to see if its just my car or all GTI's....

I came from a MK1 though so having any brakes is a new experience!

[MACCAA]

Had a friend who bought an Audi A3 Quattro.Brake set up is basically MKV Golf.
He complained about over sensitive brakes,I drove it and they were VERY "bitey".
Took it to a Motorway,got some clear road,and did a bedding in process usually reserved for race-type brake pads.
Basically,you brake HEAVILY[panic-stop style] from around 100kph down to 60-ish,then immediately accelerate back to 100.Repeat 6-8 times,then try not to use the brakes for a bit to let them cool,which should be easy on a Motorway.
His car only had 700k on it,and this procedure imparts a transfer layer of pad material evenly over the discs,whilst cleaning up any rough bits on the pads.
Brakes are now working fine with no excessive initial bite.
Cheers
Len