A New Brakes Alternative

[Greg Amy <grega@pobox.com>]

With all the latest talk about UFOs vs. G60s vs. Big Reds and the like
finally subsiding <grin>, I thought I might expand on a post from Sarge.

The big discussion this time seemed to have centered on the value of the
performance of UFO brakes vs. that of the G60 conversion. Granted, with the
smaller rotor will give you lesser performance, with the good side of being
cheaper to repair/replace. Those that may have already either done a
conversion, or that may own a car that has the G60s as OEM, are still faced
with an expensive ($2500+) upgrade to improve braking performance.

That's where we come in; there is now available a performance conversion for
G60 cars for less than half the cost of the Big Red brake kits, with most of
the performance.

John Karasaki and I were trading emails a couple months ago, as I have a
1991 200q and my brakes were needing replacement. I was quite taken back by
the prices involved in replacing UFO rotors. I felt that for the amount of
money I would have to spend for just rotors, certainly there was a better
alternative. I found that 2Bennett was offering a Big Red conversion kit for
under $2000, bolt-on for the UFO struts. This was one of my alternatives.

Soon thereafter, a local friend of mine that owns an S6 replaced his brakes
with Hoppen S8 brakes, and gave me his old parts. I decided that I was going
to install these S6 parts. John quickly pointed out that I would be
disappointed in the performance of these brakes, as they were significantly
smaller than the UFOs.

But the part that caught my attention was when John told me that he found
out Porsche Boxster brake calipers were bargain priced and that Audi A8
rotors were, too, and wouldn't it be cool if he designed a bracket to make
all that work on a G60 car...

This got the gears to turning between us. Both of us have mechanical
engineering experience, so we decided to make it happen, to design and
fabricate a bracket to install Porsche Boxster brakes onto our cars.

The 1999 Boxster calipers are Brembo monoblock (single-casting) aluminum
4-piston calipers, using 38mm and 40mm pistons. They were designed around a
3xxmm by 25mm rotor. The Audi A8 rotor is a 314mm by 25mm rotor, and of
course already has the right bolt pattern for our cars. Even better, each of
these parts is bargain priced: you can get the calipers for $295 each, and
the rotors for $132 each, with a set of pads available for $99, and these
are full-boat retail prices! I have to imagine that there are some good
aftermarket pads for the Boxster, and maybe even performance rotors for the
A8.

So I sat down with AutoCAD and designed a bracket allowing the installation
of these parts onto a 1995.5 S6 strut. The bracket are fabricated of 7075
aluminum, and allow a bolt-on installation. Since the rotors are 314mm it
will require a minimum of 16" wheels, and we will be doing full testing of
fit using most of the factory wheels we can find.

Right now, these brackets are undergoing field testing, with scheduled tests
at Portland Intl Raceway on April 16th, and at Lime Rock Park on April 23rd.
Once the fit and performance of these parts has been verified, we will be
setting up a production run of these parts based on demand, and let others
share in the technology.

Our plan is not to sell everything as a complete kit. We will be selling
ONLY the pair of brackets, with installation instructions and a complete
list of parts required for installation. It will be up to the individual
user to obtain the factory parts either locally or via mail order, and you
will have to make your best deal as you can. We can suggest cooperative
sources for the parts (can you say "Linda"?), but of course it will all be
available from your local dealer just as easily.

We will be offering these brackets within 4-5 weeks at an initial-run price
of $200 for a pair, including instructions and parts lists.

Given the ability to get better pricing than retail, it is quite possible to
have a complete bolt-on Brembo 4-piston caliper brake setup for UNDER $1000.

Please note that these parts are intended for OFF-ROAD USE ONLY and are not
suitable or approved for use on public streets and highways!!!

This solution would go the farthest to span this gap between the economists
and the all-out hi-performance enthusiasts, and I think a whole lot of
people would be very happy with this setup. We do not have hard data as far
as performance numbers go, but we will have a better idea of how well it
works after April. All data indicates that this should be a real nice setup.
Not as powerful as the Big Reds, but significantly better than stock G60 or
UFO brakes.

Initially, these parts will be available for only those cars that use the
same strut and hub as the 1995.5 Audi S6. As far as I know, this includes
all of the S4 and S6 cars. If this is successful, we will then consider
other applications, including the earlier-year 5k and 200, and any other car
that gathers sufficient interest to make it cost-effective (usually 50 parts
-- 25 cars -- minimum.)

Unfortunately, the car that gave birth to this whole idea -- the UFO-braked
cars -- can never use this setup, as the diameter of the wheel hub is too
big fit inside the A8 rotor hat.

If you are a reseller or a dealer of aftermarket Audi parts, we would also
consider any offers to purchase this design at a flat rate, along with our
resources reference for volume production who are already tooled.

Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact me or John
Karasaki (johkar@teleport.com) for details.

Greg Amy
Milford, CT