[s-cars] The front brake upgrade grinds forward

[Eric Phillips]

Taka

Thanks for the advice.  I actually have searched the, errr, fabulous,
archives, and the info often leads to dead ends or pages no longer
available.  The archives can be a pain to search efficiently, and
there are rememdies for this.  One thing I've heard is to copy/paste
all the text into a Word document, and use Word's search function. 
Since that is not really an option for me, WRT to the time it would
take, I have sought out other sources, and have found some very
helpful folks who were willing to give me leads.  And I do appreciate
that.

Yes, this has been discussed - and 95% of the writing is opinion, and
5% is hard fact with part numbers.  Sifting through the opinion to get
to the fact is sometimes difficult.  Saying that finding the data is
"easy" isn't exactly accurate.  I did find the part numbers I was
looking for - but not in the list archives.  I'd be happy to share
them and their source with anyone who wants them.  I will allow for
the fact that you might be more skilled at finding the info than I. 
In fact, I suspect that's 100% true.  Maybe if I used your
technique/software, I'd have a better shot?

I hope to provide a distillation of the hard info when I write this
thing up.  I do apologize for clogging up the list with my n00b
questions - it's not my intent to offend, only to gather data and do
the job right the very first time, so I can, at some future point, pay
back the kindness by helping some other poor n00b.

The bracket issue has been solved.  No worries.  Thanks for your help, however.

To your questions:  I have heard, but do not know for certain, that
brake ducting is not required for street applications, nor for short
track events.  The lower thermal mass of racing rotors argues for
ducting in racing applications.

I have also heard that directional vanes do a better job at pumping
air through the rotor, and that this is why they are directionally
vaned.  ISTR StopTech's website saying something about this - and that
hard data exists on what happens if you run the directional disks on
the wrong side of the car.  The rotors I got from ECS for the rear of
my car were directionally vaned, not radial.  I do not know if the
stock A8 rotors are directional or radial - I don't have a pair to
look at.

Two piece rotors.  I have read a bunch, and opinions fly like water in
a monsoon.  Floating rotors supposedly do not warp as easily.  This is
good, because the lower thermal mass means larger heat cycles.  Are
they worth the money?  For a daily driver, I can't see how.  For a
track car?  Lower unsprung/rotating mass helps, and mass is a big deal
in racing.

For this application, the fact that the rotors were designed for the
calipers and vice versa makes it a bit more of an open question,
especially when the cost can be triple of just a standard one-piece
rotor.

The higher thermal mass of one-piece rotors for street-only
applications seems approriate for their intended use and duty cycle.

I did dig around on the 'Net last night and found some other potential
suppliers for the rotors.  I was having trouble due to the rotor size
split during the A8 2000 model year.  All the places pretty much say
"call".  When I call them all, I'll provide the data to this list.

Non-brake content:  FMIC plans move forward, with sources for parts
narrowing sharply.  My thanks to all those who offered opinions,
sources and contacts.  Your help has paid off for me.

Eric

> Date: Thu, 23 Mar 2006 08:19:56 -0500
> From: "Taka Mizutani" <t44tqtro at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [s-cars] The front brake upgrade grinds forward
>
> This is getting ridiculous-
>
> Eric: If you STFA, you'll find all the info that has been discussed ad
> nauseaum on the s-list for several years about sources for brake parts, etc.
> If you don't like dealing with Alex, then go source the parts from Europe
> directly. There are other companies that sell replica brackets that work
> just fine that are based in the US.
>
> Ken: Same goes for you- it's not that hard to find this info.
>
> Dave: You need to chill the F*** out.
>
> If we can get back to less fighting and more discussion, how about a few
> brake related questions:
>
> 1. Why would one choose floating vs. fixed rotors- advantages and
> disadvantages of both, for both street and track use?
>
> 2. Straight vaned, differential vaned, directionally vaned, advantages of
> each? "straight" being like the stock Audi rotors, differential being like
> Mercedes rotors (vanes being offset from each other, directional applies to
> Mercedes and Porsche rotors (aren't Audi rotors radially vaned?).
>
> 3. What about brake ducting? Is it useful for street applications or do you
> really need 90-100+ mph speeds to make them work?
>
> Taka
>
>
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> End of S-CAR-List Digest, Vol 29, Issue 96
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