New brake calipers for my Polo: Brembo 17Z

Introduction

I bought new brake calipers for my Polo. Initially, I ordered Brembo 17Z calipers with my second Polo 9n3 in mind, but since there wasn’t a chance to buy anything better, I ultimately decided to put them in my 6R. I couldn’t buy calipers from Polish WRK Brakes, which I described in a separate post. Meanwhile, my mate Michel changed the calipers in his black Polo – so I had a nice point of reference.

About Brembo 17Z Calipers

Brembo 17Z, like the larger 18Z, are quite popular among BBK (Big Brake Kit) sets that don’t cost millions but work well. On YouTube, you can find them not only in VAG group vehicles but also in Lexus, BMW, Subaru, etc. The calipers themselves are made of aluminum, and their brake pads weigh about the same. Besides, their rebuild kits are readily available, which isn’t always the case with some more “performance-oriented” sets… (e.g., with the VWR set).

Caliper Identification

• 17 ZL = left
• 17 ZR = right

Design and Availability

I was never a fan of their somewhat dated look, but they’re bigger than my current ones, so at least after proper painting, they’ll be more blue 🙂 Another advantage is that they’re widely available, so even if something gets damaged, they’re easy to replace.

Installation and Customization

Color Matching

I bought the front and rear set on OLX, ordered them right away in my color, RAL 5002 (Ultramarine Blue), so they match perfectly with the rest of the suspension components:

Wheel Compatibility

Brembo 17Z calipers came factory-fitted with 17-inch wheels, which is also a plus because there’s no need to drive exclusively on 18″ wheels. In my opinion, the Polo 6R runs more comfortably on 17s 😉

Below are some photos to illustrate the size of the 17Z calipers:

Custom Branding

The calipers typically have “Porsche” or “Brembo” written on them:

but that wouldn’t quite fit the Polo, so using the Porsche font, I designed stickers with the correct text, which is “POLO”:

For now, I haven’t applied the stickers yet because I’m waiting to test fit the wheels – I’ll do it later, when they’re on the car.

Technical Specifications

Part Numbers

Compatible Touareg Models

List of Touareg models that came with 17Z calipers:

• 2004 Volkswagen Touareg 3.2L Base V6 BAA
• 2005 Volkswagen Touareg 3.2L Base V6 BAA
• 2006 Volkswagen Touareg 3.2L Base V6 BAA
• 2007 Volkswagen Touareg 3.6L V6 BHK
• 2004 Volkswagen Touareg 4.2L V8 AXQ
• 2005 Volkswagen Touareg 4.2L V8 AXQ
• 2006 Volkswagen Touareg 4.2L V8 AXQ
• 2004 Volkswagen Touareg 4.9L TDI 5.0L BKW
• 2007 Volkswagen Touareg 5.0L V10 TDI BWF

Rotor Compatibility

These calipers originally came with 330mm diameter rotors, but they can be used with slightly larger 334mm ones – thanks to which you don’t need to drill the rotors to create the correct 5×100 PCD – you just need to use Golf 4 rotors with 18Z caliper pads 😉

Rear Brake Plans

The rear calipers from the Touareg should fit 312mm vented rotors, but I’ll leave that for later, as my current vented 256mm don’t heat up as much as the front 310mm (actually, even the B5 S4 had only 245mm in the rear).