Brakes A'Flame!

[SOP8920@Siena.edu]

Well.. not really. I was home this weekend and had an opportunity to take my VW
golf for a spin in the woods (it's currently in the possession of my bro). 
He recently had the brakes "done" and a new exaust (from cat back) put on.

As I'm coming down the mountain, driving very spirited.. I noticed an
incredible amount of Brake fade. The entire time I had been smelling hot
brakes. This was amazing fade though.. pedal almost to the floor board... car
hardly stopping. I pulled over and noticed (with the brakes off and the tranny
in neutral) a moderate amount of smoke pouring out of the front wheel wells. 
As expected, the brakes "returned" after they had a chance to cool off.
    Now.. this alarmed me a bit b/c I've never noticed this amount of brake
fade. I did have a heavier than normal load and the hill was steep, but
SMOKE? Extreme fade? 
    My hypothesis: (1) Chintsy brake pads, (2) increased load combined with
steepness of the hill I was descending, (3) new brakes (approx. 1month), or
(4) problem with the brake proportioning valve sending too much to the front
and not enough to the rear. 
    Any ideas? Should this concern me? I was thinking about giving the mechanic
who performed the work a call but I thought I would consult the list first.

Sorry for the low audi content in the above.. but since Audi and VW share a
common heritage (and seemingly a tight common future in terms of products) and
quite a few of you out there have experience with this, I thought I would ask.


As for the Q, all is running surprisingly well. Knock on wood! Happy motoring.
                               -Osman Parvez
                                89 200q
                                Siena College
                                Albany NY

                                
P.s. Do you think that the VW is underbraked? Front disks with rear drums
inadequate for it's performance potential?