# 2007 GTI Pad and Rotor Options



## The Critic (Oct 12, 2006)

My buddy has a 2007 GTI 6MT with the 18" factory wheels. During the 20k service, the dealer discovered that the rear pads have 1mm remaining and the front pads have 3mm remaining. The rear brakes have been a bit noisy lately, so their findings do not surprise me.
I went to AutoHaus AZ and found Zimmerman brake rotors and Textar brake pads. I noticed that the rear Textar pads include new caliper bracket clips and guide pin bolts, so I assume that the clips and guide pin bolts are mandatory replacement items with every rear brake service. 

Questions:
1. Will the Textar pads perform just as well as the Genuine VW pads? I think my buddy is very satisfied with the performance of the Genuine VW pads, so I want to make sure the Textar pads are identical in terms of performance.
2. Are the Textar pads noisier and/or dustier than the Genuine VW pads?
3. Are Zimmerman branded rotors considered to be high quality replacement rotors? Or should I spend the extra money for the Genuine VW rotors?
4. I understand that the guide pin bolts are one-time-use items on the rear brakes as they are stretch bolts. Do the front brakes have any hardware components that need to be replaced with every brake service?
5. What are the GTI's rotor sizes? I was told that the front rotors are 312mm and the rear rotors are 286mm. Is this correct?
I'm new to German cars, so I greatly appreciate the advice. Thanks in advance!


_Modified by The Critic at 5:33 PM 6-6-2009_


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## GT17V (Aug 7, 2001)

1. Dunno. Never tried them
2. See above
3. They are decent
4. No.
5. Yes


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## The Critic (Oct 12, 2006)

*Re: (GT17V)*

Went with Zimmerman rotors for the front and the rear. Also ordered Textar pads for the front and TRW pads for the rear. $318 shipped for everything.
I'll keep everyone posted on the results. :thumbsup:


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## spitpilot (Feb 14, 2000)

*Re: (The Critic)*

Two things you need to do rear MKV rotor replacement...
4 new caliper carrier bolts..these are not the guide pin lock bolts..but the large bolts that hold carrirer to suspension....they are STRETCH TORQUED ONE TIME USE bolts....dealer sold me for about $2-3 each.
A very short 14mm triple sqauare socket bit.
These bolts have 14mm triple square heads...you need a very short (to clear suspesion parts and get a straight shot at the bolt heads with your breaker bar...if you don't get a straight shot..you run good chance of strippin out the triple square!







)....I had a Snapon Bit from my suspension work...but it was way too long..even after I dremeled the bit portion as short as possible..the socket on this bit is just massive....Got a good short one from "Metalnerd" website..and it's 1/2 the price of Snapon! http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif Torque spec on carrirer bolts don't sound like much "90 Nm (66 ft lb) plus 1/4 turn"...but its that 1/4 turn (stretch torquing the bolts) that requires serious "grunt"...get the car up high on jackstands to give you room to put a pipe "cheater" on your breaker bar..and it better be a good breaker bar...not some Chinese POS! I'm not that big so I had to have son give me some extra push on the breaker bar with his foot to get the final bit of that 1/4 turn on those bolts!


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