[s-cars] Front brake research/ brake pad

[manuelsanchez at starpower.net]

Paul,

I have been running the ECS stage 2 kit for about 2 years.  At
the time they came with the Euro A8 rotors, 314x30 (12.5x1.25
in) and Hawk HPS pads.  

Hawk HPS
After the first month they squealed like a stuck pig. My boss
was embarrased to ride in the car with me. He'd say, "what's
that terrible noise". I'd respond "That's the beautiful sound
of Performance". 

I tried lots of things to stop it, remounted the rotors to be
sure any rust scale had been cleaned off, various types of
anti-squeal products (The Red CRC stuff worked the best in my
case), even the stuff that you spray on the WEAR surface of
the pad that was "guaranteed" to stop squeal, it didn't. I
tried the Porsche  anti squeal pucks, with and without goop,
no joy. I tried some mercedes shims, which actually worked for
about a month and then the noise came back.

What did work?  After a healthy beating at the track where
they got nice and hot they would be quiet for about 4-6 weeks.
Then the squeal returned.

Textar
At the recommendation of others I tried the oem Porsche Textar
pads. In my case they were much much quieter when they did
squeal. They don't squeal nearly as frequently as the Hawks.
As mentioned they are a bit dusty. I think I found mine for
about US$100.  Currently these are the pads I use for every
day driving.

I got into the habit of swapping in the Hawks for track days
and putting the Textars back on after about a month after the
event when the Hawks would start squealing again. The Hawk
HPS's lasted about 6 track days and an untold amount of street
miles (I'll guess about 7,000 miles).

In my particular set-up, the squeal occurs mostly at what I
call medium pedal pressure. If I drive like a granny with
light pedal pressure, no squeal, with heavy emergency
pressure, no squeal. Unfortunately for the average pedal
pressure for stopping I would get squeal. Mine would be quiet
when ice cold, once they warmed up to street temp they would
make noise. The high heat of the track made them quiet.

Others have experienced different results, but i have heard
from a few with very similar experiences as mine.

Is it worth it?  Abso-frickin-loutley. Still can't stop as
fast as an E36 M3, but having gone to the track with the stock
G60's and my 993TT I can say there is no comparison.  The
confindence the big reds give is worth every penny, knowing
that your brakes will actually work at the end of the loooong
straight at the end of a 20 min track session just makes it
worth it for me. The practical benefit is there, particularly
at the track.  Occasionally the Bling factor is cool too,
especially when you catch someone by surprise They see the
large red porsche calipers, some of the facial expressions are
kinda funny.

I initially considered the BIRA route, but the timing/waiting
didn't work for me. 

2 years ago the ECS Stage 2 kit was US$1,350.

Good Luck.

-manny
95.5 UrS6 Avant ECS Stage 2




Message: 6
Date: Thu, 9 Feb 2006 22:26:22 -0500
From: cello at adelphia.net
Subject: Re: [s-cars] Front brake research/ brake pad
recommendations
To: s-car-list at audifans.com
Message-ID: <26831834.1139541982183.JavaMail.root at web19>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8

I'm currently doing this upgrade at the moment - 993TT Big
Reds/with the A8 323x30 rotors.   Now I'm looking to see what
folks' experiences are with a variety of pads.  This car will
only occasionally see track use.

Dust and noise are a concern, but not compared to performance.
 I'm just looking to benefit from what others have experienced!

Thanks-
Paul
95.5 S6 Avant
90 CQ
99 A6 Avant