Two-Piece Rotors

[Lamfalus]

315mm rears

Hmmmm, VW.com says:

"Power assisted, dual circuit, vented 345 x 30mm front discs and 310 x 22mm rear discs "

[TLud]

315mm rears

No, it's 310 mm for the rear.

[takmanR]

Spoke with the folks at Racing Brake a few weeks back and they are also working on matching calipers to go with the 345 rotors. These will be designed with the R in mind for piston sizing and brake balance. Soon you will be able to start with a rotor upgrade, and then add on the light weight calipers later if you "feel the need for speed" at the track. This will make for a nice staging on the upgrade pathway. Some additional info on this setup below, which is apparently even closer to being a reality.

http://forums.racingbrake.com/showthread.php?t=849
http://www.racingbrake.com/v/images/vw/RB_MK5_R32.jpg
http://www.racingbrake.com/v/images/vw/_MG_4909.JPG

IMHO I would not go with expensive rear rotors that don't take much of the braking load and save my coin for the front axle. Racing Brake even has a 330 mm BBK kit for as low as $1655 on the internet. It is said to lower the unsprung weight by a whopping 22 lbs per corner for a total of 44 lbs per axle. That is some serious weight reduction! With lighter wheels and tires, you are down over 30lbs per corner or 60 lbs for the front axle. There is a review out there from some one who did this and was very happy with the results, but I can't remember where I saw it. I can't quite confirm these numbers yet either. When the rotors get a little smaller though, they of course get even lighter and have less rotational inertia. This also helps acceleration as well. At any rate, food for thought on this subject.

[MasterNele03]

Just confirmed. They do offer these for the GTI.

Yea I know they have then for the GTI, I'm curious if they'll put those in the group buy or start another group buy for us aswell.

[takmanR]

Found that other post with a full review of the Racing Brake 330 mm BBK kit on an R32.

http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthrea...ew-impressions

[Lamfalus]

Spoke with the folks at Racing Brake a few weeks back and they are also working on matching calipers to go with the 345 rotors. These will be designed with the R in mind for piston sizing and brake balance. Soon you will be able to start with a rotor upgrade, and then add on the light weight calipers later if you "feel the need for speed" at the track. This will make for a nice staging on the upgrade pathway. Some additional info on this setup below, which is apparently even closer to being a reality.

http://forums.racingbrake.com/showthread.php?t=849
http://www.racingbrake.com/v/images/vw/RB_MK5_R32.jpg
http://www.racingbrake.com/v/images/vw/_MG_4909.JPG

IMHO I would not go with expensive rear rotors that don't take much of the braking load and save my coin for the front axle. Racing Brake even has a 330 mm BBK kit for as low as $1655 on the internet. It is said to lower the unsprung weight by a whopping 22 lbs per corner for a total of 44 lbs per axle. That is some serious weight reduction! With lighter wheels and tires, you are down over 30lbs per corner or 60 lbs for the front axle. There is a review out there from some one who did this and was very happy with the results, but I can't remember where I saw it. I can't quite confirm these numbers yet either. When the rotors get a little smaller though, they of course get even lighter and have less rotational inertia. This also helps acceleration as well. At any rate, food for thought on this subject.

Can't wait to see what we end up with. I want to see what a stock R caliper weighs. I'm getting it in my head that I want to remove as much weight as possible from my car.

Short list:
wheels - 6lbs x 4 = -24
Passat hubs = -12 total for hubs and LCA
Passat lower control arms (above)
rotors = maybe 5 lbs each up front and 3 rear? I'll estimate -16 total
battery (not relo, lightweight Li-Po replacement) -30lbs
calipers = -5 lbs total?

That's -87lbs, maybe conservative on some of that. Would be great to say I cut 100lbs of weight from my car w/o going crazy (other than $$$$ of course )

[ToeBall]

Can't wait to see what we end up with. I want to see what a stock R caliper weighs. I'm getting it in my head that I want to remove as much weight as possible from my car.

Short list:
wheels - 6lbs x 4 = -24
Passat hubs = -12 total for hubs and LCA
Passat lower control arms (above)
rotors = maybe 5 lbs each up front and 3 rear? I'll estimate -16 total
battery (not relo, lightweight Li-Po replacement) -30lbs
calipers = -5 lbs total?

That's -87lbs, maybe conservative on some of that. Would be great to say I cut 100lbs of weight from my car w/o going crazy (other than $$$$ of course )

And apart from the battery, all of what you listed is unsprung weight, the majority of which is rotating mass.

[sh{}e]

Can't wait to see what we end up with. I want to see what a stock R caliper weighs. I'm getting it in my head that I want to remove as much weight as possible from my car.

Short list:
wheels - 6lbs x 4 = -24
Passat hubs = -12 total for hubs and LCA
Passat lower control arms (above)
rotors = maybe 5 lbs each up front and 3 rear? I'll estimate -16 total
battery (not relo, lightweight Li-Po replacement) -30lbs
calipers = -5 lbs total?

That's -87lbs, maybe conservative on some of that. Would be great to say I cut 100lbs of weight from my car w/o going crazy (other than $$$$ of course )

I'm thinking of doing the same thing. I might get some really lightweight wheels and save 10lbs per corner. There is an easy 60lbs+ to shave with wheels and rotors. The only thing I will not do again is get a lightweight battery. It sucks in the winter time when it comes to being consistent in starting the car.

[Wlfsbrg2.0T]

Can't wait to see what we end up with. I want to see what a stock R caliper weighs. I'm getting it in my head that I want to remove as much weight as possible from my car.

Short list:
wheels - 6lbs x 4 = -24
Passat hubs = -12 total for hubs and LCA
Passat lower control arms (above)
rotors = maybe 5 lbs each up front and 3 rear? I'll estimate -16 total
battery (not relo, lightweight Li-Po replacement) -30lbs
calipers = -5 lbs total?

That's -87lbs, maybe conservative on some of that. Would be great to say I cut 100lbs of weight from my car w/o going crazy (other than $$$$ of course )

Yes! I want to be in the lightweight club too!!!

My plans are similar to yours, but I probably won't change the hubs/LCAs.

My goal is -100 lbs through wheels, rotors, maybe calipers, battery, carbon fiber hood (painted to match), and the removal of some unnecessary things.

[TLud]

Spoke with the folks at Racing Brake a few weeks back and they are also working on matching calipers to go with the 345 rotors. These will be designed with the R in mind for piston sizing and brake balance. Soon you will be able to start with a rotor upgrade, and then add on the light weight calipers later if you "feel the need for speed" at the track. This will make for a nice staging on the upgrade pathway. Some additional info on this setup below, which is apparently even closer to being a reality.

http://forums.racingbrake.com/showthread.php?t=849
http://www.racingbrake.com/v/images/vw/RB_MK5_R32.jpg
http://www.racingbrake.com/v/images/vw/_MG_4909.JPG

IMHO I would not go with expensive rear rotors that don't take much of the braking load and save my coin for the front axle. Racing Brake even has a 330 mm BBK kit for as low as $1655 on the internet. It is said to lower the unsprung weight by a whopping 22 lbs per corner for a total of 44 lbs per axle. That is some serious weight reduction! With lighter wheels and tires, you are down over 30lbs per corner or 60 lbs for the front axle. There is a review out there from some one who did this and was very happy with the results, but I can't remember where I saw it. I can't quite confirm these numbers yet either. When the rotors get a little smaller though, they of course get even lighter and have less rotational inertia. This also helps acceleration as well. At any rate, food for thought on this subject.

The 330 mm SBK piqued my interest as well, and I agree with you that the best bang for the buck is in the front. That said, I'm going to upgrade to the standard size RB rotors and possibly do the front caliper upgrade when they finish it.

I'm thinking of doing the same thing. I might get some really lightweight wheels and save 10lbs per corner. There is an easy 60lbs+ to shave with wheels and rotors. The only thing I will not do again is get a lightweight battery. It sucks in the winter time when it comes to being consistent in starting the car.

Exactly. I saved 8 pounds of rotating mass per corner with wheels and tires. Saving an additional 8 pounds of rotating per corner in front and 3 pounds per corner in rear would give me a total savings of 54 pounds of rotating mass, which is huge.

[webcrawlr]

Great, now you guys are telling me there's calipers on the way as well? You're spending too much of my monies!

[Lamfalus]

And apart from the battery, all of what you listed is unsprung weight, the majority of which is rotating mass.

I know!

[Lamfalus]

I'm thinking of doing the same thing. I might get some really lightweight wheels and save 10lbs per corner. There is an easy 60lbs+ to shave with wheels and rotors. The only thing I will not do again is get a lightweight battery. It sucks in the winter time when it comes to being consistent in starting the car.

Bay Area California so not much winter to speak of.

[webcrawlr]

The 330 mm SBK piqued my interest as well, and I agree with you that the best bang for the buck is in the front. That said, I'm going to upgrade to the standard size RB rotors and possibly do the front caliper upgrade when they finish it.

Put any thought in to the VWR BBK? Looks like a 7-8lb savings per corner with big meaty 352x32 rotors. The cost compared to the RB kit in development looks to be very close.

[TLud]

Put any thought in to the VWR BBK? Looks like a 7-8lb savings per corner with big meaty 352x32 rotors. The cost compared to the RB kit in development looks to be very close.

It looks like a great kit also, but like I said earlier, the stock brakes perform just fine for my purposes. Unless I win the lottery and my schedule miraculously opens up, the amount of time my car will spend on a high speed track will most likely not justify getting a BBK. At this point, I just want lower dusting street pads with good modulation and lighter two-piece slotted rotors (also saves 8 pounds per corner in front). Odds are, I won't ever touch the calipers.

My only concern with the VWR BBK (and possibly the RB BBK) would be for those guys who want to run 17" wheels on the track, which won't work. That's where that 330 mm kit becomes an interesting option.

[Ryan E.]

just wanted to mention I've had great success with the rotors, last years HPDE season I beat on the rotors event after event and they still look amazing running Carbotech 1521's for the street and XP20's for track use.

Here's some teaser pics of the Caliper Replacement, I should be fitting them for testing in the next few weeks.

http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthrea...nt-Teaser-Pics

[TLud]

just wanted to mention I've had great success with the rotors, last years HPDE season I beat on the rotors event after event and they still look amazing running Carbotech 1521's for the street and XP20's for track use.

Here's some teaser pics of the Caliper Replacement, I should be fitting them for testing in the next few weeks.

http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthrea...nt-Teaser-Pics

6+ pounds of weight savings on top of the 8 pounds from the rotors. Wow.

Ryan, do you mind sharing your thoughts on the RB rotors with the 1521 pads? Initial bite, modulation, noise, dusting?

[Atl-Atl]

Since it looks like testing is under way, any idea if the calipers will clear stock Golf R wheels?

fingers crossed...

[TLud]

Since it looks like testing is under way, any idea if the calipers will clear stock Golf R wheels?

fingers crossed...

Both the VWR and the RB front BBKs will clear the Talladegas.

[Ryan E.]

I'm a huge fan of Carbotech after using the 1521 and XP20 pad with RB rotors. The 1521 have great release and modulation. The MKV R32 front brakes are known to be very twitchy in stock form, the 1521 pad removes some of that twitchiness while providing excellent low/high speed modulation/release.

The 1521 has less dust than stock and they wear well, not too fast. They work great cold with good torque and you never have the ABS kick in on abrupt stops prematurely. I have to say I have had no noise issues too. The overall pedal feel is very enjoyable, I highly recommend.

If you ever want to track the XP20 are defiantly the ticket.

I had issue with HP+ pads when I tracked the rotors for the first time because I got them too hot. I then realized that there's no sense in trying to using a dual duty pad for track and street. That might work with the softer metal of the OEM rotors but not with the RB rotors, so I stepped it up to a proper pad that could handle running with the big boys and haven't had any issues since.

I would like to reiterate that I've never had any pad issues on the street.

I have a set of Racing Brake ET500 pads for the rear that have been sitting in my garage to be put on for months with the rear 2-piece. I plan to try those out when I put on the test calipers. I believe I'll also be using the ET500's with the RB caliper replacements. So I'll provide some feedback on those after I try them.

I think you could easily go through 2/3 sets of pads and not have to replace the rotor rings, so not only are you saving weight, the longevity of the product is like no other rotor I've used in the past.

6+ pounds of weight savings on top of the 8 pounds from the rotors. Wow.

Ryan, do you mind sharing your thoughts on the RB rotors with the 1521 pads? Initial bite, modulation, noise, dusting?

[TLud]

I'm a huge fan of Carbotech after using the 1521 and XP20 pad with RB rotors. The 1521 have great release and modulation. The MKV R32 front brakes are known to be very twitchy in stock form, the 1521 pad removes some of that twitchiness while providing excellent low/high speed modulation/release.

The 1521 has less dust than stock and they wear well, not too fast. They work great cold with good torque and you never have the ABS kick in on abrupt stops prematurely. I have to say I have had no noise issues too. The overall pedal feel is very enjoyable, I highly recommend.

If you ever want to track the XP20 are defiantly the ticket.

I had issue with HP+ pads when I tracked the rotors for the first time because I got them too hot. I then realized that there's no sense in trying to using a dual duty pad for track and street. That might work with the softer metal of the OEM rotors but not with the RB rotors, so I stepped it up to a proper pad that could handle running with the big boys and haven't had any issues since.

I would like to reiterate that I've never had any pad issues on the street.

I have a set of Racing Brake ET500 pads for the rear that have been sitting in my garage to be put on for months with the rear 2-piece. I plan to try those out when I put on the test calipers. I believe I'll also be using the ET500's with the RB caliper replacements. So I'll provide some feedback on those after I try them.

I think you could easily go through 2/3 sets of pads and not have to replace the rotor rings, so not only are you saving weight, the longevity of the product is like no other rotor I've used in the past.

Thanks for the detailed impressions, Ryan. That does it. I was trying to be good, but I'm putting in an order for these rotors.

[takmanR]

Weight loss could be as I see it:

Everyday driving
wheels and tires: 8x4=32 lbs
330 bbk racing brake: 22x2=44 lbs
Lithium Battery: 30 lbs
passat hubs & LCA: 12 lbs
Total everyday weight loss of 118 lbs

Track day (stage 1) easy
Spare tire: 31 lbs
Styrofoam, jack, and tools: 9 lbs
additional 40lbs less

Track day (stage 2) just a little work
Remove rear seat backs: est 40 lbs
additional 40 lbs less

This makes for a grand total of 198 of weight reduction for a day at the track! Not bad considering the last 80 lbs is free!!! Anybody else have any ideas?

[ToeBall]

I'm a huge fan of Carbotech after using the 1521 and XP20 pad with RB rotors. The 1521 have great release and modulation. The MKV R32 front brakes are known to be very twitchy in stock form, the 1521 pad removes some of that twitchiness while providing excellent low/high speed modulation/release.

The 1521 has less dust than stock and they wear well, not too fast. They work great cold with good torque and you never have the ABS kick in on abrupt stops prematurely. I have to say I have had no noise issues too. The overall pedal feel is very enjoyable, I highly recommend.

If you ever want to track the XP20 are defiantly the ticket.

I had issue with HP+ pads when I tracked the rotors for the first time because I got them too hot. I then realized that there's no sense in trying to using a dual duty pad for track and street. That might work with the softer metal of the OEM rotors but not with the RB rotors, so I stepped it up to a proper pad that could handle running with the big boys and haven't had any issues since.

I would like to reiterate that I've never had any pad issues on the street.

I have a set of Racing Brake ET500 pads for the rear that have been sitting in my garage to be put on for months with the rear 2-piece. I plan to try those out when I put on the test calipers. I believe I'll also be using the ET500's with the RB caliper replacements. So I'll provide some feedback on those after I try them.

I think you could easily go through 2/3 sets of pads and not have to replace the rotor rings, so not only are you saving weight, the longevity of the product is like no other rotor I've used in the past.

Have you tried StopTech Street Performance pads? I'm curious on your take. From what I've read, they're also low dust, but grip to the point of almost having too much bite.

[TLud]

Have you tried StopTech Street Performance pads? I'm curious on your take. From what I've read, they're also low dust, but grip to the point of almost having too much bite.

I ran those as my street pads with the StopTech BBK on my M3. Excellent pad, and I highly recommend. I didn't experience what you describe, but it would be hard to experience too much bite with that car.


Sent from my iPhone 4S using Tapatalk

[Ryan E.]

awesome, they make the stock brakes a solid package as far as I'm concerned and you can still run 17's if you wanted.

Thanks for the detailed impressions, Ryan. That does it. I was trying to be good, but I'm putting in an order for these rotors.

I've tried EBC Yellows, Reds, Hawk HPS and HP+ along with the Carbotech pads mentioned.

What you're describing is exactly what I'm talking about with the good low speed Modulation and Release with the 1521, they don't do that where my XP20's for track definitely do that, but I need the extra torque at the track.

Have you tried StopTech Street Performance pads? I'm curious on your take. From what I've read, they're also low dust, but grip to the point of almost having too much bite.

[nkgneto]

RB Front and Rear Two-Piece

[sgt_bo]

oK guys been reading the forum for a while now. I am no car mechanic by any means, but I do want to spruce up my R. Especially with living in Germany I want to be able to stop pretty quick because people like to pull in front of you when your at 110 MPH. So with all that said, where can i get a brake upgrade at? I would like to jump in on a group buy or anything.

TLud i have seen your build on your R and it is pretty impressive. I am going to be using some of your ideas and incorporate them into my R build.

Thanks for the information

[nkgneto]

This was just posted by Ryan.E here.
Reminder the rotors are 345x30

Just wanted to update everyone on long term wear. I measured the rotors after 9 track events and I only have .18mm of wear, that's Huge!

[Trackhead]

If interested, shoot me a PM. We can get these for a lot less than the list price. Thanks to Peteski for the hookup.

This.

[webcrawlr]

Waiting on hats to arrive at RB then I'll be running these as well. Dropping 22lbs of rotating mass from new wheels and tires was pretty noticeable. I can't wait to see what another 20lbs feels like.

[TLud]

oK guys been reading the forum for a while now. I am no car mechanic by any means, but I do want to spruce up my R. Especially with living in Germany I want to be able to stop pretty quick because people like to pull in front of you when your at 110 MPH. So with all that said, where can i get a brake upgrade at? I would like to jump in on a group buy or anything.

TLud i have seen your build on your R and it is pretty impressive. I am going to be using some of your ideas and incorporate them into my R build.

Thanks for the information

If you look at my build page, you can see what I'm going with. I got my RB Rotors from Luis at Automobile Day Spa; I got Carbotech 1521 pads directly from Carbotech; I got StopTech stainless steel brake lines from Dion at Achtuning; and I picked up some ATE Super Blue brake fluid locally. Shoot me a PM for more info on pricing.

This was just posted by Ryan.E here.
Reminder the rotors are 345x30

Wow, that is impressive. Really impressive. Improving longevity and durability to my setup will be yet another great benefit of this upgrade.

Waiting on hats to arrive at RB then I'll be running these as well. Dropping 22lbs of rotating mass from new wheels and tires was pretty noticeable. I can't wait to see what another 20lbs feels like.

+1 It's funny, my rotors were at my door step 2 days after placing the order. Just waiting on the SS lines.