Big Brake Kit for the Octavia? (Fits GTI MK5/6 and others)

[Weekend-Warrior]

The other night I had a look at the master cylinder to see if there was a part number I could google. I couldn't see anything except for the VW and Audi logos and a "23" cast into it. Not sure if this relates to the bore size.

Also went back and had a look at the piston sizes for your calipers. 28mm, 31mm and 35mm and re-did my maths.

Comes to 4665mm2 which I think isn't bad compared to stock which is 4580mm2.

[Martin]

Thanks for the piston calculations

During the week I've been messing around with my brake kit,
Had two minor technical issues which HPA and the manufacturer talked me through
I must say, the technical support is fast, detailed and professional, very happy

I have tried the Skoda Neptune wheels - the spokes actually hit the caliper
My Golf R replica wheels don't hit, but there is only 1mm clearance, so need to use a 2mm spacer
My Audi RS4 wheels are the best - they have heaps of clearance - no worries at all (photo tomorrow)

One of the numerous reasons I choose the HPA brakes was the compact caliper
It is one of the two most compact calipers available for a VAG vechicle
The caliper protudes only 28.5mm from the face of the rotor
(Many are around 40mm making large spacers or agressive wheels necessary)

I'm working through stress relieving the new rotors
Then I have to break/bed in the pads & rotors at temperature
Then on the 17th there is the Marulan track day

(Should I get a pair of semi slicks for the track day?)

[Martin]

Last Thursday night I used the brakes 3 or 4 time to slow from 80km/h to 50km/h
That put heat into the brakes, they started to bite impressively
(Since then I've had the worst man flu ever, still recovering, didn't drive all weekend)
I can't believe I've had these bad boys for two weeks and have not done a big stop yet
Still - track day at Marulan on Friday, should be fun for sure

[Martin]

Here is the latest photo of the brakes, you can clearly see a healthy level of brake dust has built up (light brown colour)
The pads are certainly shedding a bit more than stock - will see how hard they are to wash in a few days
At $129 for complete set I'm not concerned about pad wear



I've twice made the mistake of braking enthusiastically (to stop for an orange light that most people would run through)
This is has put the cars behind me into a little stress having to brake pretty hard
Note to self, be more aware of followers (unless I need a new bumper)

I've found that during rush hour traffic with light brake usage the rotors are running ~10 degrees cooler than the stock rotors

While this brake kit works just fine from cold and around town, I've discovered that when you get them hotter than average, they really start biting at a rate not normally experienced in a production car


In my travels today I saw a high end Audi sedan with larger brake rotors than me!

I just hate production brakes and tyres on track days - they can really spoil the fun
I did not want to hammer my rather expensive Michelin PS3 tyres on the track (while they are very good tyres, they are not worth $300 a corner - but that's another story for another thread)
So I put a spare pair of Continental Sport Contact 2 tyres on spare rims
While these tyres have many good qualities, I immediately noticed they don't have the crisp turn in of the Michelin PS3
So, not wanting this to spoil the track day, I've bought a pair of Toyo R888 street legal semi slicks ( R888 ) for track days

They look pretty mean! ( Please don't rain on Friday! )


I do get carried away for sure, one thing always leads to another
ECU upgrade, Exhaust Upgrade & CAI, suspension upgrade, Springs & Roll Bars, Brakes and now tyres
Yet at the end of the day the limiting factor will be organic

[Martin]

So today I've performed step one of the brake rotor seasoning procedure
4 normal (street driving) stops from 100km/h to bring the rotors up to temperature
4 stops from 100km/h using 50% braking force
Drive for 5 minutes without using much braking to allow cooling
4 stops from 100km/h using 75% braking force
Drive home let it cool down and settle over night
(All stops were actually partial stops down to 15km/h)

The 75% braking put a smile on my face, the car really is arrested quickly and competently
I can't imagine driving a stock Octavia hard again, the brakes would scare me after using these HPA deamons

(The rotors still have light cross hatch matching marks)

Part two of this rotor seasoning process should get the rotors up to 480 degrees

[Martin]

I completed the brake rotor seasoning process - did not get time to do the pad brake in process
As a result, the pads could only take 4 laps before the heat got to them
What's interesting is how quickly these ceramic came back, give it a rest for half a lap and we are good to go hard again
But in they performed better in the afternoon - 6 laps and the driver overheated rather than the pads
I was getting great deceleration rates and ABS kicking in all the time on one corner
I was not using an excessive amount of brake pedal pressure, this BBK is easy and comfortable to drive hard

Here are some installation photo's

[Martin]

Today I've switched over from ceramic pads to Ferodo DS2500 Semi Metalic pads (road/track option)
And the braking just keep getting better, great bite immediately, not even bedded in yet
Looking forward to the next track day (VW Nationals I think)