Big Rear Brakes? 2012 Jetta

Cephyr13

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Dallas, TX
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2012 Jetta TDI, 6MT
Is there a fairly inexpensive rear brake kit that enlarges the rear brakes of a 2012 Jetta?
 

Mongler98

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COLORADO (SE of Denver)
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98 Jetta TDI AHU 1.9L (944 TDI swap in progress) I moved so now i got nothing but an AHU in a garage on a pallet.
No. As you used inexpensive in that sentence that also included the word kit.
 

CleverUserName

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NorCal
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2014 OZ Cruze CTD & 2010 JSW 6MT & 2017 GMC Canyon CCLB ATX 2.8 Duramax
2010 GTI and the TDI cup car has 286 mm rear brakes. They also come with different TRW calipers. You need the carriers, dust shields, and calipers. Not sure what brake lines will work with a Jetta, may need GTI SS lines as well. You can call NGP and ask about lines.

ECS has drilled and slotted 2 piece floating rotors that fit this size. https://www.ecstuning.com/b-ecs-par...piece-brake-rotors-pair-282x12/009901ecs01kt/

Should be about $600-700 in parts maybe less if you can find junkyard parts cheap where you live.

The other cheaper option is a 286mm powerstop rear kit. $400-500 in parts. https://www.summitracing.com/parts/pwr-k2261#overview



No. As you used inexpensive in that sentence that also included the word kit.
Is there a fairly inexpensive rear brake kit that enlarges the rear brakes of a 2012 Jetta?
 
Last edited:

scrambld

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Jun 26, 2004
Location
Belchertown, MA
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'06 Jetta...TDI/5spd :) >>>now a '15 Passat TDI/DSG
2008 (MK5) R32 310mm vented rear rotors...with appropriate caliper, caliper bracket, and dust shield to make it look OEM. But then your brakes are out of balance front/rear. You then need 2008 (MK5) Passat 3.6L 4-MO or R32 front 345mm rotors, calipers, brackets, and shields....oh and appropriate brake hoses front and rear. 😁

OOPS! I read OPs post thinking Passat not Jetta. Not sure if the '12 Jetta runs a MK5 chassis like the NMS Passat. If so I believe it will still work, if not...?
 

oilhammer

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outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
The 2012 NCS still has the beam axle. No brake upgrades available, you'd need to swap to IRS first. You already have the "upgraded" brakes, as all TDIs got rear disc.... the lesser trimmed gas NCS cars still had drum rear brakes in 2012.

Your car also already has one size up FRONT brakes, again, the S trim NCS had smaller ones of those, too.

The NCS TDIs already have pretty decent brakes, as the car is pretty light.
 

Cephyr13

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2012 Jetta TDI, 6MT
I like some of the options you guys mentioned, but if the TDI already has the upgraded brakes, then I'll just try slotted rotors front and back for now. I carry about 500 extra pounds in my car and it's a bit much for the brakes at really high speeds. If the slotted rotors don't work, I'll upgrade the fronts with a set of GTI brakes.
 

turbobrick240

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maine
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Upgrading the front brakes makes more sense. I'd try a fluid flush and new pads first.
 

Cephyr13

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2012 Jetta TDI, 6MT
Upgrading the front brakes makes more sense. I'd try a fluid flush and new pads first.
Only reason I was looking at rear brakes first is because they need to be done but the fronts don't necessarily need to be done right now. Also, I wanted to see the effect of only upgrading the rears. I wanted to see if it off-sets the braking balance of the car.
 

turbobrick240

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Just putting on new rotors and pads on the back with a good flush/bleed should make a noticeable improvement in braking. I just replaced all four rotors and pads on my car last month and the improvement to braking performance is massive. I just used OE type stuff from IDparts. The braking degradation really sneaks up on you over time with rusty/grooved rotors/ worn pads and old fluid.
 

oilhammer

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outside St Louis, MO
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There are just too many to list....
The NCS TDI has plenty good factory brakes as they are, really. Even the S cars with the little 280mm fronts and rear drums can stop the car adequately if everything is in proper working order. I can give lots of examples of other cars that can't stop nearly as well.
 

Cephyr13

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2012 Jetta TDI, 6MT
The NCS TDI has plenty good factory brakes as they are, really. Even the S cars with the little 280mm fronts and rear drums can stop the car adequately if everything is in proper working order. I can give lots of examples of other cars that can't stop nearly as well.
Yeah, but most people don't carry 500 lbs of extra weight in their cars and have to stop very quickly from exceptionally high speeds. 😉
 

oilhammer

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outside St Louis, MO
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There are just too many to list....
500 pounds is well within the GVWR of the car. It is a five passenger car, after all. Plus the trunk. Although I rarely need to use my brakes at high speed, that would be some sort of emergency situation. I just drove from Flagstaff AZ home to Missouri and I was doing 80+ most of the way and never had to use my brakes once until I was below 45 or so getting off the highway. I was doing over 100 several times through New Mexico and Arizona. :D The car will slow itself down fairly easily, just allow plenty of room.
 

Cephyr13

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2012 Jetta TDI, 6MT
Stock are 288 mm and 253 mm on my car, according to the dealer. I ordered a StopTech set of drilled/slotted rotors and pads for the entire car. It'll probably take care of the problem.
 

Cephyr13

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2012 Jetta TDI, 6MT
500 pounds is well within the GVWR of the car. It is a five passenger car, after all. Plus the trunk. Although I rarely need to use my brakes at high speed, that would be some sort of emergency situation. I just drove from Flagstaff AZ home to Missouri and I was doing 80+ most of the way and never had to use my brakes once until I was below 45 or so getting off the highway. I was doing over 100 several times through New Mexico and Arizona. :D The car will slow itself down fairly easily, just allow plenty of room.
Well, when you're doing well over 100 on a race track, and you hit the brakes hard and the brakes warp, you know you have a brake problem. lol I don't like when that happens and it's been happening to me.
 

Paulman

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2013 Jetta TDI (buyback at 109,000miles) 2014 Jetta TDI 59,000miles
I just replaced the brakes on my 2014 TDI/DSG because it had a vibration at high speed when hard braking at high speed.
My fantastic local VW guru just put Zimmerman/Akebono on all four corners.
I now have the problem of the suspension alarmingly dipping forward whenever I brake at 80mph!
Paulman
 

Mongler98

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98 Jetta TDI AHU 1.9L (944 TDI swap in progress) I moved so now i got nothing but an AHU in a garage on a pallet.
Well, when you're doing well over 100 on a race track, and you hit the brakes hard and the brakes warp, you know you have a brake problem. lol I don't like when that happens and it's been happening to me.
you cant have 500 lbs of stuff in your car on a track...
seriously im not sure why the rear's need upgrading. are you planning on adjusting the portioning valve?
i know its been said like 30 times now but seriously consider better pads/shoes
Maybe there is an issue with the self adjuster?
i ran my little mk3 HARD all day on track and autocross with stock measly drumbs and just hawks pads up front on slotted cheap $30 a pop rotors on ebay. even with RE71's tires (the best you can go before hoosiers, i was still able to lock up the breaks even when stupid hot. never once did i say.. the rears need more. only that i could use a bit more area up front for faster rotor cooling... not stopping.
no matter how much you put back there, unless you drop a boat anchor our the trunk you still only have 25 to 30% breaking power from front dive conditions.

you seem determined to upgrade a part for no reason and just randomly spout out that its hauling or racing issues.
 

oilhammer

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outside St Louis, MO
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There are just too many to list....
The Interstate is not a race track. If you are racing on the Interstate, I have nothing to add... When I drive down the Interstate, I am watching what is in front of me, well in advance of any normal need to even touch my brake pedal let alone require them to slow the car down, unless there was some form of emergency, which would be a very rare occurrence (I couldn't begin to remember the last time I needed to do such a thing).

Maybe my driving skills being honed over so many hundreds of thousands of miles of driving cars that would be considered slow, and not ever wanting to lose precious momentum once obtained, has afforded me these abilities. When you only have 48hp under your right foot ('79 Rabbit), or 52hp ('91 Jetta), or any air-cooled Transporter (the most powerful version of those was a whopping 70hp), you want to maintain your speed. Probably why I've never actually worn out a set of brakes on most anything, ever. I end up having to replace components due to rust and such, not from actually burning them up. I've never worn out a clutch, either. And both of these are also in spite of lots of towing with lots of vehicles that some morons think couldn't/shouldn't tow anything.

Sometimes I think these newer cars with often ridiculous amounts of power (and the NCS TDI is certainly a car that has a very good power-to-weight ratio) makes critical driving common sense go out the window. I'll add automatic transmissions also make that happen faster, especially when that is all you've ever driven.
 

Mongler98

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98 Jetta TDI AHU 1.9L (944 TDI swap in progress) I moved so now i got nothing but an AHU in a garage on a pallet.
500 lbs is a car full of people.... skinny people.
The car should be able to perform very well at any speed with the stock setup.
This is either a troll thread or something is really wrong with OPs cars breaks.
 

turbobrick240

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OP wasn't happy with the performance of his old brakes. He ordered new brake parts. Nothing to get worked up into a tizzy over. I'm sure everything will work out fine.
 

Mongler98

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98 Jetta TDI AHU 1.9L (944 TDI swap in progress) I moved so now i got nothing but an AHU in a garage on a pallet.
Yeah, but they're not in the trunk...lol...the car will be more equally balanced when "breaking"....BTW, it's brakes or braking....😁
speech to text.... lay off the grammar hate.
when BRAKING, under normal GVWR it makes no difference. towing... or other factors... sure...
 

Cephyr13

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Joined
Jul 9, 2011
Location
Dallas, TX
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2012 Jetta TDI, 6MT
you cant have 500 lbs of stuff in your car on a track...
seriously im not sure why the rear's need upgrading. are you planning on adjusting the portioning valve?
i know its been said like 30 times now but seriously consider better pads/shoes
Maybe there is an issue with the self adjuster?
i ran my little mk3 HARD all day on track and autocross with stock measly drumbs and just hawks pads up front on slotted cheap $30 a pop rotors on ebay. even with RE71's tires (the best you can go before hoosiers, i was still able to lock up the breaks even when stupid hot. never once did i say.. the rears need more. only that i could use a bit more area up front for faster rotor cooling... not stopping.
no matter how much you put back there, unless you drop a boat anchor our the trunk you still only have 25 to 30% breaking power from front dive conditions.

you seem determined to upgrade a part for no reason and just randomly spout out that its hauling or racing issues.
I meant on "the track." Remember the unspoken rule in this forum? lol My M3 is my track car. Jetta is the work car.

I figured out the problem. The rotors were getting too thin. I put slotted, cross-drilled rotors on the car and it's doing well now.
 

Cephyr13

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2012 Jetta TDI, 6MT
500 lbs is a car full of people.... skinny people.
The car should be able to perform very well at any speed with the stock setup.
This is either a troll thread or something is really wrong with OPs cars breaks.
The rotors were too thin. I replaced them with slotted, cross-drilled rotors and they're doing fine now.
 

Cephyr13

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Location
Dallas, TX
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2012 Jetta TDI, 6MT
The Interstate is not a race track. If you are racing on the Interstate, I have nothing to add... When I drive down the Interstate, I am watching what is in front of me, well in advance of any normal need to even touch my brake pedal let alone require them to slow the car down, unless there was some form of emergency, which would be a very rare occurrence (I couldn't begin to remember the last time I needed to do such a thing).

Maybe my driving skills being honed over so many hundreds of thousands of miles of driving cars that would be considered slow, and not ever wanting to lose precious momentum once obtained, has afforded me these abilities. When you only have 48hp under your right foot ('79 Rabbit), or 52hp ('91 Jetta), or any air-cooled Transporter (the most powerful version of those was a whopping 70hp), you want to maintain your speed. Probably why I've never actually worn out a set of brakes on most anything, ever. I end up having to replace components due to rust and such, not from actually burning them up. I've never worn out a clutch, either. And both of these are also in spite of lots of towing with lots of vehicles that some morons think couldn't/shouldn't tow anything.

Sometimes I think these newer cars with often ridiculous amounts of power (and the NCS TDI is certainly a car that has a very good power-to-weight ratio) makes critical driving common sense go out the window. I'll add automatic transmissions also make that happen faster, especially when that is all you've ever driven.
To each his own.

And when I said race track, I should have said "race track." Do you not know about the rule here in the forum? I shouldn't have to explain this to other veterans.

I'd fe much safer with me driving than you because it sounds like I have a lot more experience in dangerous situations, both on and off track, over a ton of years. 6 months after my son gets his license, I'm taking him to autocross and to a stunt driving class, and eventually to short race classes. He's very responsible, but I want him to have excellent car control. That's why the best drivers come out of Finland. They learn to do a lot of crazy driving/car control in drivers ed.
 

Cephyr13

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Joined
Jul 9, 2011
Location
Dallas, TX
TDI
2012 Jetta TDI, 6MT
you cant have 500 lbs of stuff in your car on a track...
seriously im not sure why the rear's need upgrading. are you planning on adjusting the portioning valve?
i know its been said like 30 times now but seriously consider better pads/shoes
Maybe there is an issue with the self adjuster?
i ran my little mk3 HARD all day on track and autocross with stock measly drumbs and just hawks pads up front on slotted cheap $30 a pop rotors on ebay. even with RE71's tires (the best you can go before hoosiers, i was still able to lock up the breaks even when stupid hot. never once did i say.. the rears need more. only that i could use a bit more area up front for faster rotor cooling... not stopping.
no matter how much you put back there, unless you drop a boat anchor our the trunk you still only have 25 to 30% breaking power from front dive conditions.

you seem determined to upgrade a part for no reason and just randomly spout out that its hauling or racing issues.
I always removed the portioning valve on my SHOs. It helped with braking in turns on the track. Keeps you from spinning. I planned to do it on this Jetta, just in case the situation arises. That, along w/ bigger rotors, takes some of the workload off the front brakes. It's a good feel.

I've had this car for a couple of years but I still consider myself new to these TDIs. I used to buy and sell them, but never truly owned them until 2 yrs ago. So I'm still trying to figure out the ins and outs of stock and upgraded brakes, etc.
 

Mongler98

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COLORADO (SE of Denver)
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98 Jetta TDI AHU 1.9L (944 TDI swap in progress) I moved so now i got nothing but an AHU in a garage on a pallet.
Well... I dont brake for corners. Not like I need to for track anyways. Stock brakes are more than adequate for great times.
But that's how I go.
 

Cephyr13

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2012 Jetta TDI, 6MT
Well... I dont brake for corners. Not like I need to for track anyways. Stock brakes are more than adequate for great times.
But that's how I go.
I want to know how you're not braking for corners on the track. 'cause I barrel toward the corner and brake hard in a straight line right before I turn in. Sometimes, I'll brake late and still be braking on the turn in, which is when I risk losing the rear end, unless I have the portioning valve removed/blocked.
 
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