'77 Audi Fox Turbo

[I.Mannix]

>3. I started with wimpy single piston calipers that did not haul the car
>down very quickly.  They faded after one stop from 100mph. .....If I took
>this >car to the track with the stock brakes I wouldn't be able to brake
>after half a >lap.

You're doing something wrong - bad fluid, pads, who knows what.  Stock
brake pads might not be optimum for track use, but they'll _work_, assuming
the rest of the brakes are OK.

Improved Touring cars(SCCA ITS-E) cannot change brakes - just lines and
pads.  Wonder how on earth they stop?  (hint, good fluid and good pads will
fix a LOT of problems).  People can race 2200+ pound cars with stock brakes
all day long - but yours cannot stop from 100?



Those big brake companies
>have surely have fooled tons of customers, especially those silly race car
>drivers.

Relatively few race classes allow aftermarket brakes, surprisingly enough.
You do not _need_ silly brakes on your FWD 80.  Nothing wrong with having
them in my world, but the added benefits are negligable - if your stock
brakes were fading after one stop, there simply is something wrong, which
will make your $1500 brakes feel astounding.  Having them is one thing;
extolling the benefits is another.  Sure, they probably help in terms of
fade, add unsprung weight, rotational mass(oh, wait, those are bad?), and
the tire still dictates how quickly the car can stop.

I drove my 87 5kcsq at Pueblo this summer - took me 9 or 10 laps to make
the stock brakes fade - bearing in mind that my 5k had sat for over a year
before I bought it, and the PO probably had not bled the brakes.  The
brakes SHOULD have faded, particularly considering the front straight is
3500' long or so - braking for turn 1 started at roughly 115-120.  My
brakes are currently neglected, short of new pads, and they're _fine_.
Still have not bled them.  Basically, I don't know how badly you have to
treat your brakes for them to fade from 100.  I'm slacking pretty hard with
mine, they still work very well.  Hmmm.



>My 80 is silly, and I love it.  I'd love a quattro to someday, but not just
>yet.


Buy a quattro, then do all the fun stuff to it.  Or buy a Jetta and do the
fun stuff to that.  For me, the only reason to put up with an Audi,
particularly a later Audi, is quattro - if you're going to hotrod a FWD 4
door sedan, Jettas are really quite nice.


I.Mannix