[V8] new

[Jeremy Ward]

Hey Andy, welcome to V8 ownership.  What size wheels do you have?  This will
limit your choices if you are sticking with stock 15".

UFOs would be a welcome upgrade with any sized wheel.  Stopping power
greatly increased and it true to the car; as you probably know dealerships
were 'upgrading' customers to the smaller G60s (with way less stopping
power) if they complained about warped rotors.  Apparently the heat from
stop-and-go traffic can warp them, as the directed wind cools the rotors at
freeway (Autobahn) speed.  Don't ever run with out a belly pan if you have
UFOs.  Many UFO owners have been very happy with them and the parts aren't
nearly as expensive as previous (relative) prices.  You can also pick them
up used; check my links page for recommended V8 dismantlers or
AudiFans.com/marketplace.

I did a search through my archives (as this has been discussed in depth
before) and found a conversation between GregJ from BIRA and the most
knowledgeable V8 master mechanic in the US (Keith Tackett of
Gruppe 1 Tuning, previously AudiConnection):

-------------------------------------------
In a message dated 8/4/04 10:59:56 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
gregsj2 at comcast.net writes:

> We've received some flak about the required wheel upgrade (to 16s or 
> 17s).  Let me begin by saying Keith's/Audiconnection's Wilwood upgrade 
> is very slick and we love and support the "Yankee Ingenuity" that
> created it.   If you want a brake upgrade under a 15in wheel, it's the 
> way to go.  There are, however, two caveats.  The first is that brake 
> rotors are essentially heat sinks.  When you are trying to haul down a 
> fast, front-end heavy, 4000 lb car, there's a whole bunch of braking 
> energy that becomes heat, which can eventually lead to what we all call
> "brake fade."   Plain and simple, you can fit more heat sink under 16 
> and 17in wheels.  Second, Wilwoods are light racing calipers that were 
> designed for cars that come with mechanics who cam rebuild the 
> calipers whenever it's necessary.

Good points Greg.....But...;)

 Honestly I gotta say that if someone has G60's and needs a real brake
upgrade that fits under a 15" wheel then RPI's 11" setup using Wilwood
Dynalite calipers on the existing G60 rotor is the best choice. The Wilwood
calipers may not have dust seals but none of the cars I've converted nor
owners of Wilwood equipped cars I've talked to has had any issues with seal
failure. Beside that my feeling is that if someone is driving a car hard
enough that the G60's are an issue then periodic (say 3 to 4 year) caliper
service is a small price to pay for improved safety margin. 

 As for the rest of my $0.02.....

 I'm no longer offering any brake upgrades for several reasons..the big one
being that its difficult to justify the time invested for the return to my
pocket...yep, I need to eat.

 If wheels are not an issue then BIRA's Sys2 and ECS's stage 2 setups are
the way to go. For all intents and purposes they are the same system the
difference being ECS's use of 993 TT (aka big reds) calipers where BIRA uses
standard
996 monoblocks. The more compact 996 monoblock allows fitment of a wider
range of wheels without using spacers.

 If its a UFO car in question where the owner just desires a switch from
UFO's I STRONGLY recommend staying away from G60's. A better choice is to
install the 92-96 100/A6 strut housings along with the associated 288mm ATE
57 brake setup. A set of 10mm spacers are required to get the wheels back
out where they belong but its a small price to pay in the long run. Several
advantages to doing so. A substantial increase in swept area over G60's
along with the greater leverage, less caliper mounting flex, calipers are
more resistant to rust, real performance pads are cheaper, and the big one
in my book....if someone switches to 16's at a later date they can upgrade
the brakes to 312mm rotors by simply switching the caliper mounting bracket
(off the shelf TT bracket) and a pair of 312mm A6/A8 rotors.

Keith
-----------------------------------------

Hope this helps,

- Jeremy in Portland
www.MyV8Q.com 

-----Original Message-----
From: v8-bounces at audifans.com [mailto:v8-bounces at audifans.com] On Behalf Of
Andrew Schlueter
Sent: Saturday, August 12, 2006 10:50 PM
To: v8 at audifans.com
Subject: [V8] new


hey i am new the v8 world, just moved from the 200t20v.

Ok quick question. I got the g60's, what are my cheapest options for brake
upgrades? DIY perfered.

Thanks,
Andy Schlueter
'90 Audi V8
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