RE: 91TQ 20V Brakes

[Peter Henriksen <peterhe@microsoft.com>]

I assume you have UFO (internal caliper brakes), right?

Audi doesn't recommend anything anymore. They used to pay for the entire
thing - never as a recall item, mind you - and just retrofit the non-q
91 200 brakes and front suspension to the cars, thus getting rid of
what's essentially a bad design.

The UFO brakes have great stopping power in that they have a huge swept
area for fitting inside a 15" wheel. This is what the design was
intended to accomplish. However, they also don't vent very well, so they
tend to warp. This is expensive. New rotors are $600/side from the
dealer and there are no aftermarket sources (to my knowledge, anyway).

Having the other brakes retrofitted has 2 drawbacks: cost (easily
$1,500) and loss of stopping power. There's at least one lister who
feels that his car is underbraked with the non-UFO brakes and has the
off-track excursions to prove it.

I was all gung-ho on replacing the UFO brakes on my car, but I have
decided to stick with them and try to treat them better in the hope that
I can avoid warping them (not everybody with UFOs have this problem).
Also, I'm under Audi's 12/12 parts and labour warranty which has already
gotten me one free set of rotors.

There's a possible fix for the warped rotors as well (tested by at least
one other lister): warm up your brakes as usual, drive along at about
80mph and stop hard. Repeat at least one more time. Then drive around
for a while to allow the brakes to cool evenly (i.e., no more hard
braking and don't stop too anywhere).

BTW, I have a schematic of the UFO brakes on my Web page:
http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/1001.

Good luck with it.
- peter, peterhe@microsoft.com

>----------
>From: 	George[SMTP:gsimmons@sjm.infi.net]
>Sent: 	Wednesday, November 20, 1996 11:24 PM
>To: 	quattro@coimbra.ans.net
>Subject: 	91TQ 20V Brakes
>
>My 1991 TQ 20V has developed a front-end shimmy when I apply the brakes. 
> My mechanic says the rotors are warped which I suspected, but he also 
>says that Audi actually recommends that the entire front brake assembly 
>be replaced because of all the problems they have had.  He says that 
>will run about $2,000; however, he says that the brake assembly from a 
>'90 or '91 non-20V or non-V8 will do the job.  Before I begin searching 
>wrecking yards, I just would like a reality check.  Has anyone had 
>experience with this?
>
>Thanks.
>
>George Simmons
>