[V8] Fw: UFO Brake Conversion

Thu Apr 29 15:24:50 EDT 2004

I feel like I have to throw my $.02 in here.

I did the G60 conversion and I must say, at the time, I was glad I did.  
Whatever merits the UFO's had when new and in good condition, were lost when 
they warped, which they always did.  There are few things that are more 
annoying than driving in a luxury/sports sedan that shudders everytime you 
brake.  If the warpage is annoying, you can bet the pulsing coming from 
inconsistent friction is degrading performance as well.  IMHO, the UFOs 
suck!

Since changing to G60s with metalmaster pads 60,000 miles ago, I have had no 
warping issues at all, and I am working on the same pads/rotors.  Trust me, 
I drive my car hard, and I drive it on hills.  If they were seriously 
undersized for the car, they would have worn out tens of thousands of miles 
ago.  For example, the Chrylser Town & Country my wife drove had seriously 
undersized brakes--they wore out every 10k-15k miles!

As for performance, take a look at BIRA.  They tested a G60 set up against 
UFOs and the G60s stopped the car faster.  Now, they hem and haw about how 
the UFO set up was old and tired--what does that mean?  The only thing I can 
imagine is that the rotors were warped--but that's true about practically 
every set of UFO rotors out there.  They warp--the newer ones are better, 
but they all suffer the same problem.

Will the G60s fade more than the UFOs?  Probably, but not by much.  This is 
total speculation here, but I would imagine that with that cover on the 
UFOs, they retain more heat than a g60 set up (hence, the warping problem), 
so I'm guessing that the difference is not as big as some may claim.

Lest anyone acuse me of being a G60 fan, I'm not.  I just think they are a 
better option than the constantly warped UFOs.

A better option would be to go to a BIRA set up or a Wilwood set up sold by 
RPI.  BIRA makes a kit for the UFO hubs which will allow you to 
significantly upgrade the braking performance on the V8 without have to 
change out the struts etc.  Your money goes to buying nice Porsche calipers 
and new rotors, rather than some rusty crap front suspension off a car in a 
junk yard.  You have to upgrade to a larger rim, but a BIRA brake sytem on a 
V8 with wider/larger rims would give far better performing car in every way 
(except snow traction).  The RPI/Wilwood set up will out perform the UFOs or 
G60s as well and allows you to maintain a stock rim, but I believe it only 
works if you've swapped out the UFO struts etc. for the G60s.

I don't know if AudiConnection is still doing it, but they also designed a 
Wilwood Superlite solution which replaced the UFOs and fit under the stock 
rims.  You might ask Keith if they still offer that solution.

In short, there are many options out there now, which were not available 
when I did my g60 switch.  I would explore them if I were you.  If brake 
fade is a major concern, then I don't think you should be looking at either 
the G60s or the UFOs.  If greater performance is not a concern, I would 
still go to the G60's and kiss the headaches associated with the UFOs bye, 
bye forever.

Just my $.02--take it for what it's worth.

Bill Gutierrez
1990 V8 5spd

>From: "Coleman, David" <David.Coleman at blackrock.com>
>To: "Scott Baumann / Progressive Technology Solutions" 
><baumanns at baldwin-telecom.net>
>CC: "V8 List (E-mail)" <v8 at audifans.com>
>Subject: RE: [V8] Fw: UFO Brake Conversion
>Date: Thu, 29 Apr 2004 09:18:41 -0400
>
>Scott,
>
>As far as I know, the G60 designation refers to the model caliper, not the 
>VW model -- though perhaps the "Girling 60" calipers could have actually 
>come on Corrados as well as the Audi 100/200/S4.
>
>The OE Factory changeover used the hub and strut assembly from the S4, 
>though I *think* any of the above models will work.  I know this is minimal 
>info, but that's all I have.  The archives certainly have the rest.
>
>HOWEVER, that said, mine already had the swap done when I got the car, and 
>having driven both mine and a friend's with the UFOs, I'd have never made 
>the change.  G60s fade like mad and suck in the wet.  They just don't 
>belong on a 2-ton car.  UFOs might cost more to replace, but with proper 
>braking technique, they should rarely need replacing.  My friend's UFO car 
>had over 200k miles and was barely into its second set.
>
>-DaveC.
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: v8-bounces at audifans.com [mailto:v8-bounces at audifans.com]On Behalf
>Of Scott Baumann / Progressive Technology Solutions
>Sent: Tuesday, April 13, 2004 11:26 PM
>To: v8 at audifans.com
>Subject: [V8] Fw: UFO Brake Conversion
>
>
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: Scott Baumann / Progressive Technology Solutions
>To: v8 at audifans.com
>Sent: Saturday, April 10, 2004 8:36 AM
>Subject: UFO Brake Conversion
>
>
>Hi all -
>Sorry to be redundant about a UFO question:
>
>What is required for a UFO to Girling conversion?  I was told that the 
>actual Girling setup is straight off of the
>VW Corrado, and as such I could use the Corrado calipers.  My question  is 
>this - does a guy merely pull the UFO's and remove the UFO style caliper, 
>and bolt-in the G60 caliper?  I see Zimmerman rotors on Ebay for pretty 
>cheap, and can also find G60's from a Corrado for reasonable as well.  Is 
>there any other modification that is required, such as brake lines, 
>suspension, etc?  I do not have a single manual for my V8Q, and as such 
>have no point of reference.
>
>Thanks
>Scott Baumann
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