RE: brakes and lonnnng downhills

[Henry Harper <hah@srv.net>]

>
> At the bottom, Kirby Smith
> > noted--to our surprise--that both _rear_ wheels were noticeably hotter than
> > the fronts.
>
> Could be your brake bias settings.  Also, the front rotors are
> vented while the rears are not, and you also have ducting
> (or should) going right to the front brakes on that
> car.
>

Actually, the rear rotors on 200q20v cars *are* vented. I believe this is the 
same rotor application as "heavy duty" late 200q10v avants, V8, S4/S6. 
Certainly the rears don't have cooling ducts, though one wouldn't think the 
front ones would be so effective at only 20-25mph.

Maybe the front rotors, because of the grade, were cooled more effectively by 
the denser air at a relatively lower elevation...:)

I read somewhere that the advice for UFO-equipped cars was "there's no such 
thing as too much rear brake bias". Perhaps a previous owner took this to heart 
before being "converted".

Henry Harper
http://www.srv.net/~hah
1991 200 quattro, 96k, so easy on the brakes they never heat up, Moab road trip 
this weekend
1988 GTI 16v, 185k, wounded and leaking from front main seal (onto t-belt, darn 
it)