2022 Golf Mk8 R Brake Upgrade on 2007 Golf Mk5 GTI AWB

[Enigmatik]

Hi all,

I just got my Mk5 GTI with REVO Stage 2 tune back from fitting a fresh set of brakes all around and I thought this might be some useful info for other members!

My primary reason for the upgrade was that my brakes were just looking really tired with dirt I couldn't get to with my limited tooling at home and paint peeling, and I didn't really have the time or inclination to send them off for a full refurb. The performance and looks of the new setup were just a big bonus!


PARTS

I purchased the following for fitment and had my local garage in Surrey fit them:

- OEM Golf Mk8 R calipers & carriers, used (P/Ns: 5WA615123 5WA615124) - £700 for all Mk8 bits below (also incl. rear electronic brake calipers, which I need to sell), eBay
- OEM Golf Mk8 R 357x34 front discs, used (P/N: 5WA615301A)
- OEM Golf Mk8 R pads, used
- OEM Golf Mk8 R 310x22 rear discs, used
- Golf Mk5 R32 rear calipers & carriers, with Brembo pads new - £390, AZ Car Parts
- HEL Performance braided hoses made to order - £120, HEL website
- OEM VW dot 4 brake fluid - £14, VW main dealer
- OEM new carrier and caliper bolts - £45, VW main dealer

Additional parts supplied by garage (from main dealer) were the short bent hardlines on the rear calipers - I was told the originals could be used, but they turned out to be too corroded.

All Mk8 used bits quoted as coming off a 2022 Golf Mk8 R with less than 6000 miles, which from the condition and very limited wear on the discs/pads I can believe.

The Mk8 R 2-pot front calipers I bought were the 2022 onwards Mk8 R, made by TRW. From some limited research it seems the earlier model 8 R calipers were made by ZF. I have no clue what the differences are, but thought I'd make a note of this.


FITMENT

I had been worrying about fitment for a while, specifically about dust shields/backing plates and caliper clearance with my 18-inch MK7 GTI rep wheels. Turns out I didn't need to worry about either 

Mk8 R / S3 8Y OEM dust shield were purchased for £75 from main dealer and I had been considering R32 rear shields for £55 from Darkside, before reading other forum posts saying the originals can simply be bent back... and both ended up totally unnecessary!

Everything bolted up using stock dust shields with no issue at all. The Mk5 GTI shields were retained front and rear - 2mm bend adjustment of the front shields and about 3mm bend on the rear shields. Everything looks factory and you wouldn't know they'd been bent without being told.

The only downside of all this is I don't have the cooling benefit of the Mk8 R vented shields - time will tell if that's a big factor or not.

Wheel clearance is about 5mm, so we're good there too.


PERFORMANCE

If I'm honest, the Mk5 GTI brakes with MTEC grooved and slotted discs and Mintex pads were very adequate for my daily and fast road uses.

The main difference I'm feeling with the upgrade is more more linear and progressive braking. If I want to ease them in it's now a lot more natural, and when I stamp on them I feel like the back of my skull might pop out of my eye sockets 

With the old Mk5 GTI brakes the bite was quite immediate and sharp, but limited in terms of feel and progression.

Also, with the Stage 2 tune I felt the upgrade was a good performance failsafe.


ADDITIONAL NOTES

1. Mk5 R32 rear calipers - the calipers supplied by AZ are OEM spec TRW's, but unfortunately the carriers are generic silver galvanised units that look like they were painted with a rattle can of slightly mismatched paint and no clear. The carriers were scratched in minutes 
2. HEL braided lines - absolute lads. They answered my questions quickly and without a fuss. All I had to do is make a note in my order for a full Mk5 GTI set of braided lines that the fronts were to be fitted to Mk8 R calipers and the rears to Mk5 R32 calipers and they delivered exactly what was needed, next day delivery!
3. BBK Alternatives - I'm sure there are better kits available at similar price. I had looked at the highly rated Yellow Speed front kit for around £1200 for example. The OEM nature of this setup for a daily driver is what swung me in the end.

___

Total Cost including fitment I'm out of pocket £1500. I still need to recoup some money from parts not used, so this may end up around £1300 if I'm lucky.

Some pics will be up shortly 

[Enigmatik]

Pics of the final results. Unfortunately the garage forgot to take pics of the fitment as requested, so these will have to do:

[pudding]

Great write up 

They certainly look very beefy.  I had the same pedal feel with the  MK7.5 340mm brakes.  It felt less sharp, or more progressive, than the stock brakes as you say. I put it down to a caliper to master cylinder volume mismatch but they worked well from hard stops none the less.  In the end I couldn't get on with the dead pedal for the first inch of travel and went back to the stock 312s    I suspect they would have worked better with the bigger TTRS master cylinder but I couldn't be bothered with that, not to mention it's £500 odd price tag.