jkram10

So I just bought a 01 a6 2.7t that needed front pads and one of the front calipers replaced. I bought the caliper ahead of time not knowing it had a twin piston caliper (bought a single piston). This may be a stupid question but I was wondering if I could replace the larger caliper with the smaller single piston caliper.

NJA642

I think they are different rotor diameters/offsets.

It would probably work well enough to drive, but might not be safe.. I'd have some concern with the left & right not matching.

4Driver4

Can? With the right hardware, yes. Should you? I think you know that answer.

jseklund

Yeah...buy a new carrier bracket and then get a new caliper and carrier bracket for the other side ...I believe the knuckles are the same, so you CAN do it.

I think I would just buy the right dual piston caliper and be done with it.

As 4D4 pointed out...you are on here asking this question for a reason...because you already know the answer and you are hoping someone will tell you otherwise.

georgeb944

Not a good idea. The larger calipers and rotors are needed because of the extra capabilities of the more powerful engine. Having owned four C5 cars (one 2.8 and three 2.7t), I can definitely say that the four pad brakes are a lot better than the two pad brakes.

Being cheap when it comes to brakes is low probability gambling of the worst kind.

Buy the right four pad caliper and return/sell the single piston one on ebay.

Just Me

well, needed or not having two different front calipers will be a real recipe for disaster. Different clamping pressures, different threshold pressures, wow. Get the right thing.

G

indoor

What's up with the caliper that needs to be replaced? You might be able to re-build it(they have kits available) if you're on a budget and if it's still on the car (not in the garbage)

But otherwise I agree with the other ones that putting a different type of caliper is a no go(and I'm going to throw a virtual rock at you too if I see you driving with different calipers (sarcasm)

blink

I would go with the rebuild. Autozone stocked the kit for my rears, and the cost was only a few dollars.