Bigger brake options for 82 rabbit

[jackbombay]

My friend has an 82 rabbit and he wants bigger brakes for ir, we live next to a huge steep mountain pass, 3 miles of %10 grade, it wrecks non vented rotors quick.

  So whats the cheapest way to get some vented rotors/calipers up front?

[somolovitch3]

From what I have seen on othe forums, vented rotors off an 86 and later should bolt on. You will have to use thinner pads. This is for 9.4's, if you go to 10.1's, you will need the calipers too. as well as 14" rims.

[jackbombay]

From what I have seen on othe forums, vented rotors off an 86 and later should bolt on. You will have to use thinner pads. This is for 9.4's, if you go to 10.1's, you will need the calipers too. as well as 14" rims.

   Are the thinner pads a stock item? or specialty after market? I'm sure he'd prefer to do it without calipers if possible.

[VWCaddy]

I think you just order the pads for the year vehicle you got the rotors off of.  I used the Mintex red pads on mine:
http://www.4crawler.com/VWpickup.shtml#Wheels

[GypsyR]

You want 86 Rabbit "GTi" rotors and calipers. Bolt-on solution. The pads on solid rotor cars are suprisingly thick when new. The GTi pads trade some of their thickness to accomodate the wider rotor. Pad life will be shorter but no big deal. GTi pads are about as thick as those typically found on a Corolla or other small cars.
I don't personally see any downside to the upgrade. Another plus is that you can find "performance" brake pads for GTi's that don't exist for solid rotor setups.

[belchfire]

Just came back from the junkyard after looking at just about every combination out there. The trick set up is calipers and brackets from an '85 -(don't know how new) audi coupe GT. The brackets will bolt directly to the A1 knuckles. The only thing is that you have to switch left to right as the Audi mounts behind the axle. The rotors are from a '96 jetta. Audi has a diferent B.C. and hole. 10" vented bad boys.

[belchfire]

Roughly measured the piston dia. Stock was about 47 mm, Audi was about 53 mm. This means about 12% more pressure. Don't know if I'll have to change the master or how it will balance with the rear as my caddy isn't on the road yet.

[zukgod1]

This is very good info, keep the updates comming.....


dan

[lord_verminaard]

Also, front and rear disc from a 16v Scirocco also bolt right up.  You also need the proportioning valves from the Scirocco as well.   Plus the rear stub axles and parking brake cables.  A 22mm master cylinder from a Corrado wouldn't hurt either.  The fronts are 10.1" and the rears are the standard 9" that most any VW used.  This whole setup can be had pretty cheaply from Parts Express.  This setup with all stock components stops a Rabbit pretty quick, upgrade the rotors/pads/lines to performance items and it will outstop a Porsche.  

Brendan

[blkboostedtruck]

on my caddy i put a early MK2 master cylinder and the power booster! i did have to modify the rod from the pedal to the master under the dash! i do have vented roters and 200mm drums in back ! but i sure have a good pedal when it comes time to stop quick! I still plan on going with corrado discs front and rear! I'll update when i put those on my caddy!
 thanks Duane

[moosiah]

Hi there the frankenbunny runs 10.1 front rotors and 40x200mm drums in back. the rotors are audi 4000 gt 'atom' slotted w sirroco 16v calipers. this is bolt-on. the rears are quantum backing plates w jetta2 drums, bolt-on. I am going to switch to a 22mm master cyl w a 9" booster. this master cyl can cost some bucks,,, Ive seen it for 2-300$!!!!!! I did find a place that had them for under 100$ ......  I used the audi 'rolla' wheels (14")to clear the 10" brakes... there's a long post about this near the start of this forum. I didn't use the rear disks because I Need a Good parking brake for parking on SF hills and boat ramps (glug glug!!  :oops: )

[BlackTieTD]

if you have the kelsey hayes calipers (which the 82 should, like my 82) then you can swap in the 'GTI' vented rotors and thinner pads, and change nothing else. i don't know if you need better performance than that because of that crazy downhill, but i can lock up my tires easily with a blown brake booster with the above-mentioned setup. but i haven't done much mountain driving.

[g-spec]

Depending on what size wheels he wants to run....he could upgrade to corrado g60 brakes.....They are supposed to be a simple upgrade....the only thing is you cant run anything smaller than 15inch wheels!!! If they stop a corrado really good I cant imagine how they would stop a MKI

[BlackTieTD]

fwiw i have had a set of corrado brakes in my shed for years and i haven't bothered putting them on my rabbit. no need from what i've found. you mentioned he'd like to keep original calipers. makes a whole lot of sense to me to try the GTI vented rotors, thinner pads, with the kelsey hayes calipers that he should already have. get a good fluid in there, maybe some stainless lines, bleed it well and have it all top notch. unless you are going for looks or there is some serious mountain driving occuring... should be all he needs.