# Rear brakes too aggressive : causing difficult handling.



## CanadianNorth (Aug 15, 2012)

I have a 2013 cc, and I am having trouble with my brakes. 

I have 70k km on the car, and I just did my brakes. The rear were completely none and the front were 75% good. 
I realize now that this may be the cause of my oversteer issues, particularly on slippery roads. 

My question is, is there away to adjust brake ratio ? I have heard of people using more aggressive pads on front or back , but this sounds likes bit of about or miss method

Thanks


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## GasInMyVeins (Jul 11, 2010)

No, there isn't a way to adjust bias with the factory equipment. VWs have 60-65% front bias stock though, so it sounds like you have an undiagnosed issue.


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## germancarnut51 (Mar 23, 2008)

Changing brake pad compounds is just one way to adjust the characteristics of the brake system performance.

Tire pressure, tire design/make, suspension setup (ride height, spring rates, and shocks/struts), caliper size, and brake pad/shoe compound are just some of them.

The easiest way to change the way the brakes work is to adjust the tire pressure (changing tire pressure affects over or under steer) or change the brake pad compound (changes the way the brakes work (effort, max stopping, temperature range, front to rear brake balance).

What kind of tires do you have on the car (front and rear)? Mixing tire types can cause problems.

Do you have the stock rear disc brakes, or have you modified/oddified the rear brakes?

Have you done anything to the front brakes?


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## CanadianNorth (Aug 15, 2012)

The brakes were stock, never done before. Everything stock. Tire pressures were all the same as well. 
Tires are all the same, Goodyear eagle GT (cheap).


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## CanadianNorth (Aug 15, 2012)

What would you recommend for front vs back pads? Or for tire pressure

Thanks


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## germancarnut51 (Mar 23, 2008)

Sounds like your problem is cheap tires, and not slowing down when road conditions are slippery.

Sounds like what you need to do is get some winter tires.

If you can't do that, try more aggressive brake pads in the front (semi-metallics), or pads (ceramics?) rated for high miles (harder?) in the back. Don't change both sets of pads at the same time. Try change the rear pads first (drive at least 500-1K miles) to let the pads break-in so you can see the results, before changing the front pads.

depending on how much air you have in the tires, you could also try letting pressure out of the rear tires (a couple of pounds at a time, trying each lower pressure for at least 100 miles so you can see what it does).


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## BsickPassat (May 10, 2010)

CanadianNorth said:


> I have a 2013 cc, and I am having trouble with my brakes.
> 
> I have 70k km on the car, and I just did my brakes. The rear were completely none and the front were 75% good.
> I realize now that this may be the cause of my oversteer issues, particularly on slippery roads.
> ...


it sounds like you're braking mid-turn which is unloading the rear of the car to the front.... I have to try very hard to get the rear end to swing out in the snow (with the ESP disabled and I use snow tires).

If you tried slowing down to the appropriate speed for the appropriate turn for the appropriate condition BEFORE the turn, you'll find that it's not the fault of the car, nor its rear brakes.


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## GasInMyVeins (Jul 11, 2010)

BsickPassat said:


> it sounds like you're braking mid-turn which is unloading the rear of the car to the front.... I have to try very hard to get the rear end to swing out in the snow (with the ESP disabled and I use snow tires).
> 
> If you tried slowing down to the appropriate speed for the appropriate turn for the appropriate condition BEFORE the turn, you'll find that it's not the fault of the car, nor its rear brakes.


The brake bias of a stock VW is so front-biased that mid-corner braking won't cause the rear to rotate unless you are specifically trying to get it to. My GTI is set up with way more rear bias than stock and it will only rotate if I actively try. 

OP has a car problem, not a driver problem.


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## BsickPassat (May 10, 2010)

GasInMyVeins said:


> The brake bias of a stock VW is so front-biased that mid-corner braking won't cause the rear to rotate unless you are specifically trying to get it to. My GTI is set up with way more rear bias than stock and it will only rotate if I actively try.
> 
> OP has a car problem, not a driver problem.


The OP's CC is my Passat wrapped in a sexier body. The chassis is the same. Comparing a MK4 to a PQ46 chassis to literally comparing apples to oranges (and I used to have a MK4 as well)

It is more of a driver technique than issue with the car.


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## GasInMyVeins (Jul 11, 2010)

BsickPassat said:


> The OP's CC is my Passat wrapped in a sexier body. The chassis is the same. Comparing a MK4 to a PQ46 chassis to literally comparing apples to oranges (and I used to have a MK4 as well)
> 
> It is more of a driver technique than issue with the car.


That's a cool story, but the fact that his rear brake pads wore totally out when the fronts still had 75% pad means that there is a mechanical issue. The fronts should be doing 65%+ of the work and they clearly aren't.


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## Eric D (Feb 16, 1999)

GasInMyVeins said:


> That's a cool story, but the fact that his rear brake pads wore totally out when the fronts still had 75% pad means that there is a mechanical issue. The fronts should be doing 65%+ of the work and they clearly aren't.


Perhaps the EPB was damaged when the rears pads were changed.

OP, who replaced the rear pads? You or a shop? Was an EPD tool used (VCDS or similar)?


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## GasInMyVeins (Jul 11, 2010)

Eric D said:


> Perhaps the EPB was damaged when the rears pads were changed.
> 
> OP, who replaced the rear pads? You or a shop? Was an EPD tool used (VCDS or similar)?


I believe he's saying he replaced the pads because the rears were shot, not that the rears went to **** after. He only has 43k miles.


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## germancarnut51 (Mar 23, 2008)

I've noticed that the rear disc brakes of cars with ABS will wear faster than those of cars that do not have ABS.

The reason? ABS allows car designers to use more brake at the rear than cars that don't have ABS. Therefore the rear brakes on a ABS car do more of the braking than a car that does not have ABS, and will wear the rear brakes out faster than a similar car without ABS.


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