Re: V8 quattro tyres

[Eliot Lim <eliot@u.washington.edu>]

On Fri, 11 Aug 1995 LToy@aol.com wrote:

> The internal caliper/friction ring brakes *greatly* increased the brake
> system's swept area.

that's true, and the internal caliper brakes are immensely powerful at
hauling the car down from really high speeds.. i drove the car at a
race track a long long time ago (sigh!) and those brakes are really
something at 120mph... 

but...

for the heavily patrolled highways of WA state they are overkill and
the problems do outweigh the advantages.

remember that the regular discs are not chopped liver... they haul
the car down from speed at a very respectable rate as well.  and
even with these "downgrades" there is still more swept area than
the perfect LS400...

>  But to keep us Americans happy with our brakes, they
> chose a real goofy pad (read:  quiet) that caused a lot of excess heat and
> rapid warping of the ring. I have heard a number of people complain about
> having to take their cars (not just Audis) back to the dealer because the
> brakes sqeak--so?  the car stops, right?

the problem is not confined to the american market.. audi abandoned the
internal caliper brakes world wide.. i think the new A8 uses regular
dics but some ultra high grade stuff...

> Another problem besides warping and excess weight:  very limited choice of
> aftermarket wheels for these cars (otoh, why replace a *forged* bbs rim?)

the 91 200TQ had the BBS rims, but the 90 V8 had ho-hum ronals (?) 
and if you had stock pads, the BBS rims would be a serious pain to
keep clean... :) :) :)

>  Supposedly, if you get good pads for these cars, the brakes work very
> well--I'll never know--my car was changed over before I got it.

you're not missing much i assure you.  the extra unsprung weight
was nasty.. it made the car feel 1000 pounds heavier and the
ride was certainly more thumpy, meaning that you had to reduce 
the tire pressures a little to make things bearable, to the
detriment of steering feel and handling sharpness.

there is no doubt in my mind that the slight loss in braking power is
more than made up for by the lighter feel and the sportier handling
that accompanies lower unsprung weight.  i have boge pro gas shocks up
front and this car will take high speed sweepers unmatched by 99% of
the other cars out there...


eliot