Fabia vRS Combi 312mm brake conversion

[group 3]

Hi folks, just thought I'd share my experiences of putting the 312mm fronts and 256mm rear brakes on my 2013 Fabia vRS.

I picked up some used front brake calipers with carriers on a popular internet auction site along with a set of rear calipers and carriers to suit the 256x22mm rear discs. These parts came off a US Mk4 GTI Anniversary Edition but I think a lot of Jetta's also had these brakes, they even come in red! I also managed to get hold of brand new front and rear discs and pads locally for a very good price.

The front brakes are very easy and don't amount to much more than a straight unbolt and bolt on the new bits, a couple of observations, I could've used my existing calipers and just swapped over the caliper carriers. I had read elsewhere that the Fabia 5j needed the calipers as well as the carriers but at least for my car this is not the case. Also I tried fitting the larger brake dust shields to keep everything OEM looking but the shields I found have a different bolt pattern and don't fit. You don't really need them but I may investigate further in the future. The front brake lines bolt straight up but I'll change them for braided lines soon as I think the originals are just a touch too short but that's probably just me being fussy.

The rears are a little more involved but only slightly so, you can apparently fit bigger dust shields on the back but it involves removing the rear bearings and I decided not to bother. So arm yourself with a trusty angle grinder and trim the outer part of the original shields to make room for the 256mm discs. I also sprayed mine with some matt black hi temp paint just to make it look neater and stop any rust forming.

I rebuilt the calipers I bought for the rear as they weren't in quite as good a shape as the fronts I bought, so new seals, slider pins and anti rattle clips.

Bolt it all up, bleed the brakes and you're good to go.

If you're unhappy with the standard vRS brakes and you want to fill up that wide open space behind your wheels then I highly recommend this upgrade.

[mmmRacer]

Like your work group 3.

The standard brakes are at best average on my RS combi too.

Would you say the biggest improvement is in stopping power or having less brake fade? Also are the rear discs vented?

[group 3]

Yep I hated the long pedal and feeling like it was never going to pull up in time, reminded me of a few Merc's I've driven all the braking occurs in the last few cm of the pedal travel.

It just feels more positive on the brakes and gives you more confidence, it'll definitely have less fade because there's so much more metal to heat up compared to stock but I'd say the extra stopping power and feel is the biggest improvement.

Yep the rears are vented.

[sinclap2]

Any pics?

[mmmRacer]

I know what you mean about the feel. It is scary under hard braking sometimes wondering if it will pull up. So I have to say I don't test my luck. I have to say I am mostly interest in the rear brakes on your car as the front is a pretty standard upgrade. One thing that I would like to know is if the rotor is a bit thicker around the stud pattern as I would like to widen the rear track without using spacer?

[group 3]

I'll sort out some pics when I install my new springs and shocks, possibly over the weekend.

Yep the fronts are really a no brainer, I'm pretty sure the 256x22mm rear rotors don't add any track width.

[mmmRacer]

Put some 17 x 7.5 wheels with a ET 35 offset so the front wheels are now flush with the guards. Add to that the Eibach 30mm lowered springs and it looks much better.

Have heard of the front brakes being transferred to the back before if you like to go bigger. Also something about Audi TT rear setup too.

[gavs]

Good job on having a go mate, you will most definitely get a good visual upgrade as well as heat dissipation under repeated long hard stops. However the better pedal feel will be down to the new fluid and pads rather than the actual increase in rotor diameter. Not trying to sound like a troll, just trying to help a brother out here but most likely if you changed your fluid and put better pads in the Fabia to begin with, plus a tweak to the brake pedal response with VCDS and you would have got far better performance gains. In total you have probably added a further 7-8kgs of unsprung mass to the car and decreased your braking performance at the front end because if you didn't change over the caliper as well, you are still left with the lesser of the 2 288mm calipers regarding piston diameter. Basically, rule of thumb for the best brakes you can fit to your car is this: the smallest and lightest you can get away with, coupled with the best pads and best fluid you can afford.

[group 3]

I think you're putting a lot of faith in brake fluid and pads if you really believe that makes all the difference, I used ordinary off the shelf Dot 4 fluid and a set of everyday Bendix pads. I tried the VCDS change and wasn't overly impressed and yes I did replace the calipers.

I think you're ignoring the increased leverage effect that the larger discs have on braking performance and feel.

About the only thing I do agree with in your post is the increase in unsprung weight.

[benoz11]

I think you're putting a lot of faith in brake fluid and pads if you really believe that makes all the difference, I used ordinary off the shelf Dot 4 fluid and a set of everyday Bendix pads. I tried the VCDS change and wasn't overly impressed and yes I did replace the calipers.

I think you're ignoring the increased leverage effect that the larger discs have on braking performance and feel.

About the only thing I do agree with in your post is the increase in unsprung weight.

I don't know about the fluid but good pads make a massive difference to braking ability. Because you haven't increased the swept area of the pads the gain made from bigger disks is around 8% - you would have got that from better pads alone. The change in pedal feel is likely unrelated. It will definitely look better though.