[V8] UFO brakes at Audi

Ed Kellock ekellock at gmail.com
Tue Dec 30 22:16:25 PST 2008 

I've run UFO's for years.  No problems.  I pulled a fairly new looking set
and the pads from a junkyard car about 5 years ago.  The pads are on the
1990 that the GF drives around town.  The rotors are on my 5spd.  I got new
Mintex Red box for it and bedded them in very deliberately prior to a trip
during which I would tow a trailer on the return.  That car still stops as
well as my 91 Avant with big reds.  

Any rotor can "warp".  I believe it is more about the transfer of pad
material to the rotor when super heated, though I think there's still a good
deal of debate on that. 

I have never intended my Avant for any use that would require the big reds,
so I will probably switch them out with the 5spd so I can run "normal"
wheels and tires on the Avant for winter.  The 5spd will someday receive a
4.2 engine and won't be needing winter tires often or at all, though it is
the most amazing winter driver of all of them.  

In 10 years and on two V8's, I have yet to buy a new set of UFOs.  The only
ones that were no good were on the 5spd when I got it and had a band of rust
on the innermost portion of the rotor surface.  That, I could never work out
of them.  I'm not close enough to the guy who figured out a jig to turn them
true.  The shipping would be ridiculous.  

I prefer to run no larger than 16-inch wheels and few big brake kits
accomodate that.  My 93 has G60's that are about as max'ed out as you can
get with those with crossdrilled rotors and special pads and I still prefer
the UFOs.

To each their own.  

Ed


> -----Original Message-----
> From: v8-bounces at audifans.com 
> [mailto:v8-bounces at audifans.com] On Behalf Of Ingo Rautenberg
> Sent: Tuesday, December 30, 2008 10:31 PM
> To: Seamus O'Carey
> Cc: v8 at audifans.com
> Subject: Re: [V8] UFO brakes at Audi
> 
> 
> The UFO's have a bowl of steel that attaches to the wheel hub 
> on the inside and attaches to the rotors on the outside, 
> allowing the caliper to be mounted inboard.  The idea is that 
> this setup can handle strong braking at Autobahn speeds while 
> still allowing use of a 15" wheel for ride comfort. The 
> design allows for a larger effective brake swept area.  I 
> have one '91 V8 5 -speed with that setup and the braking is 
> almost comparable to my other 91 5-speed equipped with 
> Porsche Big Reds and Coleman Rotors, but the Big-red equipped 
> car requires 17" wheels -- and I refuse to run 17's in the 
> winter/snow.
> 
> Ingo
> 
> On Wed, Dec 31, 2008 at 12:24 AM, Seamus O'Carey
> <cheshirecatsbox at gmail.com>wrote:
> 
> > Can someone explain to me the UFO brakes?  I've seen 
> pictures of the 
> > rotors, and I just don't understand them.
> >
> > Also, it sounds like they warp pretty easily?  This might be why I 
> > have a slight pulsing in my steering wheel (or the wheels could be 
> > just out of balance).
> >
> > On Tue, Dec 30, 2008 at 8:18 PM, too many quattros < 
> > thequattroking at yahoo.com
> > > wrote:
> >
> > > over the years i have read posts from a die hard few that 
> just love 
> > > the
> > UFO
> > > brakes.  honestly, i am not sure why.  i have had two cars with 
> > > them.
> >  yes,
> > > they did seem to stop better then G60 brakes when used in 
> day to day 
> > > driving (although i never did measure the distances).  
> but, one romp 
> > > in the hills and it was so easy to cook the UFO brakes.  when i 
> > > converted my V8q to Willwood brakes back in 1994 or 1995 (by this 
> > > time, i had already been through 3 or 4 sets of UFO 
> rotors), i was 
> > > highly impressed with the rigidity
> > > of the Willwood brakes.  the Brembo rotors did not heat 
> soak like the
> > UFOs.
> > > the overall braking of the car was GREATLY improved.  
> imo, there is 
> > > NO comparison.  in short, what is the point of a set of brakes if 
> > > you have
> > to
> > > replace a warped pair after just a spirited drive or two? 
>  BTW, the
> > fastest
> > > set of UFO brakes i ever warped was warped in about 2 
> weeks.  i put 
> > > them
> > on
> > > and two weeks later i had to make a panic stop from about 75 MPH 
> > > when a truck pulled out in front of me on the highway 
> (ambient temp 
> > > was about
> > 105
> > > that day).  i slowed to about 20 mph.  that was it, another 800$ 
> > > (back
> > > then)
> > > to replace the rotors.  about 6 months later i had the 
> willwoods on.  the
> > > UFOs were a great idea, poorly executed.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Shayne
> > >
> > > PARTING:  1972 Mercedes Benz 280 SE 4.5
> > > PARTING:  1986 Audi 4000 CS quattro
> > >
> > >
> > > > From: Roger Woodbury <rmwoodbury at roadrunner.com>
> > > > Reply-To: <rmwoodbury at roadrunner.com>
> > > > Date: Tue, 30 Dec 2008 17:32:20 -0500
> > > > To: <b.homburg at web.de>
> > > > Cc: V8 Audi Fans <v8 at audifans.com>
> > > > Subject: [V8] UFO brakes at Audi
> > > >
> > > > Perhaps I should have said that Audi USA is no longer 
> supporting 
> > > > the V8 Quattro's UFO brakes.  Here in this country, a 
> great many 
> > > > V8's and 200 20Valve cars were converted to G60s due to 
> warping.  
> > > > I am not surprised
> > > that
> > > > they may be unavailable here now, as there are some 
> hoses for the 
> > > > 200 20Valve turbo that are no longer available through Audi.
> > > >
> > > > UFO calipers in the US from the franchised Audi dealer 
> were about
> > $1400.
> > > > That is one reason why I was so interested in aftermarket brake 
> > > > systems
> > > for
> > > > this car.  IF it came down to $1400 for UFO calipers 
> and $12-1300 
> > > > for a conversion to something else, I would have to 
> think long and 
> > > > hard about which way to jump.
> > > >
> > > > Roger
> > > >
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