... I would like like much lighter wheels and if anything the lighter brakes have only made me want them more, knowing the improvement it makes. Hohum.
I really don't understand why you are feeling an improvement .
1. The discs are a lot heavier than stock (btw, have you weighed them?). This, along with the size (they're bigger than stock and moment of inertia is not working in your favor) should mean you should feel the car pull slightly worse than stock.
2. The overall weight of the new calipers + pads + discs + spacer should be really close (if not more) than stock calipers + pads + discs.
Are you sure it is not placebo?
Anyway, I love your brakes and I am sure they are well worth it... If I had another mk5 platform car I would definitely change the brakes first with a OEM'ish 4 pot caliper such as yours!
Hi Rex,
Remember that these are the TTS discs and
NOT the 345mm S3 discs which I have been informed are about 2kg heavier than the TTS discs.
I did compare the TTS disc to the standard 312mm disc and the difference was grams, not kg's.
As for the calipers, the TTRS calipers are lighter than the standard calipers but the real saving is in the carriers. The DaveB/AKS carriers are loads lighter than the standard ones and over all the combination of discs, carriers and calipers mean the difference is quite significant. The difference manifests itself in several ways. Not all of which I am qualified to comment on but to me it feels as if the wheel tracks the road better, making it more comfortable but also my simple brain suggests if the wheel is in contact with the ground more of the time I will achieve a higher grip level.
Obviously, if you used the better floating discs you would save more weight but you would need to spend a lot more money.
Also, remember that I also tried the much heavier 19" wheels, which ruined the ride so I have based my opinion on going both ways as it were.
All that said, Yes, it could be placebo!