Big Brakes!

  After researching the costs and benefits of a new brake system I stumbled upon the idea of dropping in 11in. corrado front disc brakes into my rabbit. The norm for most rabbits is to upgrade from the wimpy 9.4 in. brakes to the larger 16V scirocco 10.1 in. discs, while this was a viable option and it still allowed me to use 14 in. wheels, I just didn't feel that the brakes would stop the horrible fading that I was getting whenever I drove my car hard with the stock brakes. While the corrado setup increases rotating mass through larger wheel size and disc size, it has been said by some to be the best bang for your buck in the braking dept.

  I picked up a rear axle from a 16V scirocco with disc brakes since my rear axle was old and it had drum brakes. I used the pedal cluster out of a 16V scirocco, along with the booster and master cylinder from one as well. I decided against using the screw-in type proportioning valves found on the scirocco and used the stock proportioning block from my car. I opted for cross-drilled and slotted rotors from Accessories Unlimited for increased performance up front, and left the rears alone.

  As for braking performance of this set-up, it is absolutely phenomenal. From 60 to zero the braking has improved ten-fold. There is no more fading no matter how hard I have driven the car on the street. I am extremely impressed at how well the set-up actually works.

NOTE: When installing a rear disc set-up, you may encounter problems attempting to bleed the brakes. If you do, try removing the rear calipers and rotors (together) from the hub and flip the caliper upside down to bleed them. The rear calipers have a tendancy to not bleed correctly due to poor bleeder screw placement which allows the new fluid to bypass the caliper cylinders completely.