Discs Or Drums On My Xs?

[Jer309GTi 3]

I'm going to be putting a GTi rear beam on my xs soon, and was wondering which was best to use out of 1.6 drums or 1.9 discs.

 

I was thinking as the xs is lighter and less powerful than a GTi that discs would be overkill. The drums would be easier to fit too as it currently has drums. But obviously the discs would give better braking and better pedal feel. I'm going to be fitting 1.6 brakes on the front if that makes any difference.

 

Cheers

[macaroni 17 1 Cars]

In terms of brakes, I doubt it would make much difference what you put on the back. I don't know if the gti beam is wider track, which would be good, but I wouldn't do the swap just for brakes.

 

Just my 2p'orth!

[Anthony 1,003]

From a braking point of view there's not really much difference - drums are a bit more fiddly to service and the adjusters can be problematic, but in terms of performance they're fine on a lightweight car like a 205.

 

Only thing to check is rear compensators, as I can't remember if XS's use the base model setup of having the brake compensator built into the drum brake cylinder rather than the GTi external compensator - if they do, then you'll end up with no rear brake compensator (unless you fit one of course) and rear wheels that'll lock under hard braking.

 

Macaori - the main reason for using a GTi spec beam is the thicker torsion and anti-roll bars compared to the XS spec beam.

[Jer309GTi 3]

Cheers for the replies

Macaori - the main reason for using a GTi spec beam is the thicker torsion and anti-roll bars compared to the XS spec beam.

 

Thats the reason I'm going to do it

[Guest Crowley]

I read up on this, and carried it out on my old 1.8D. Both of the GTi's have external compensators according to the Haynes manual, so the 1.6 wouldn't have one fitted in the drum as with the lower models. The 1.6 compensator is apprently in the engine bay near the master cylinder, and the 1.9 has two around the fuel tank.

I fitted a 1.9 GTi rear axle on mine, and it worked fine at first and improved the ride, however it means that the car tends to tip forward when the supsension is stressed as the front and rear setups don't match.

I also has a problem with the discs prematurely rusting after 6 months which may be due to the master cylinder not applying the right amount of force to the rear brakes causing them to underbrake. I don't know enough to be sure why it did it

 

Good luck if you decide to go ahead

Edited March 13, 2006 by Crowley

[Guest smokinslim]

As i understand some XSs were factory fitted with 1.6 beams; For those that weren't the following is true:

 

1.6 drums are slightly wider than XS ones (shoes are 5-10mm wider, can't remember exactly) hence the wider track.

Only Gtis have adjustable rear compensators (as far as i know lower models don't have any).

XS and Gti drum backing plates and cylinders look very alike but are different and incompatable.

Also the pipe unions onto the cylinders differ in size.