Hella Pagid 355122612 Rear Rotor | VW Jetta Audi A3

The Hella Pagid 355122612 is the rear disc brake rotor for a long list of Volkswagen and Audi compact cars. If you're doing a rear brake job on a Mk6 Jetta, a Beetle, a Golf, or an Audi A3, this is the coated solid rotor that goes back on the hub. It's 253mm across, 9.90mm thick, one solid piece of gray cast iron with a rust-resistant coating already on it.

These cars run a solid rear rotor, not a vented one. The rear brakes on a front-wheel-drive compact don't do as much work as the fronts, so a 253mm solid disc is plenty for the job. This one measures 51.20mm from the mounting face up through the hat, rides on a 65mm center bore, and uses the 112mm bolt circle you'd expect on this platform. It weighs right around 3.6 kg. Nothing exotic here. Just the correct part, built to the factory footprint.

The zinc-style coating is there to keep the hat, the edges, and the inner faces from flashing over with surface rust the first week the car sits in a driveway. It looks clean going on and it stays clean everywhere the pads don't sweep. The braking surface itself will wear bright within a few stops, and that's completely normal. The high-carbon gray cast iron handles the heat cycling of daily driving without complaint as long as you bed the pads in properly.

Fitment covers the 2010 to 2013 Audi A3, the 2012 to 2018 Volkswagen Jetta, the 2013 to 2019 Volkswagen Beetle, and the 2015 Volkswagen Golf and Golf SportWagen. That's a wide net across these compacts. Because the platform shipped with more than one rear brake setup over the years, check your existing rotor diameter or run your VIN before you order. If your car left the factory with the 253mm rear disc, this is a direct bolt-on with no modification.

It cross-references the common factory rear rotor numbers, including Audi 1K0615601AB and 5Q0615601, and Volkswagen 5C0615601 and 1K0615601K. If any of those are stamped on the rotor you're pulling off, or printed on your parts invoice, you're looking at the right rotor.

A quick word on when to replace. Rotors don't last forever. If you've got a pulsing brake pedal, a lip on the outer edge you can catch a fingernail on, deep scoring you can feel, or the disc has simply worn down near its discard thickness, it's time. Nominal thickness here is 9.90mm, and rotors this size typically carry a stamped minimum around the 8mm mark, so measure with a caliper if you're not sure where yours stands. Putting fresh pads on a worn or warped rotor just hands the problem straight to the new pads.

This is sold as a single rotor. You've got two rear corners, so order two if you're doing the axle, which you should. Replace rotors in pairs so the car brakes evenly side to side. And this is the rotor only. Pads, the rear wheel-speed or wear sensor, and mounting hardware aren't included, so grab a rear pad set at the same time. Clean the hub face down to bare metal before the rotor goes on, snug the retaining screw, torque the caliper carrier bolts to spec, and bed the new pads with a series of moderate stops before you lean on them hard. A thin smear of anti-seize on the hub face where the rotor seats keeps it from rusting itself onto the hub, which makes the next brake job a lot easier. And spin the rotor by hand once it's mounted to check for any obvious wobble before the wheel goes back on.

For a rear brake refresh on one of these VW or Audi compacts, the Hella Pagid 355122612 is the straightforward, correctly sized replacement. Order two, add a set of pads, and you've got the rear axle sorted in an afternoon.