jlh28athome

I am looking at several options. First I will only be tracking the car once and a while. I just want more braking to go with the more power I am working on. I am guessing the easiest would be to upgrade to A8 rotors and TT caliper holders. Anyone done this? Impressions? The other think I am considering is a A8 rotor and porsche boxster caliper setup. A few tuners sell the kit. Has anyone tried this? Impressions?
Another thing I am wondering is will this mess up my ABS and will I need to upgrade other brake compoments? I know it will shift the braking balance (front/rear), so should I also do some kind of a rear upgrade. Thanks for reading this mess. In case you are wondering 7 questions

WClark

Have had them installed since January this year. I also run EBC pads, had them for about 6 months prior to the larger rotors. The rear is stock except for the pads.

I guess I would say I am an advocate of this upgrade. I would certainly do it again and I will never go back to stock. I am also running wider than stock tires and the Audi/Eibach suspension which may have some effect on the results I observe.

The car stops with much more authority (quicker for a given pedal presssure) and assurance (better bite at high speeds). Straight line panic stops are fast and straight and car remains balanced when braking in a curve.

The front brakes do more of the braking as evidenced by an increase in dust on the front wheels and decrease on the rear (yes EBC will generate dust - come see). On both slippery streets and in Auto-X driving I see no issues with the change in where braking is done.

If there is a downside, the stock splash guards have to go and I think the rotors get wet more easily. I think the braking recovers more quickly when wet than before.

jlh28athome

Thanks for the info.

zain

last time I was there, they had a number of decent articles on things like how brake upgrades can mess with ABS, how front/rear bias changes effect things considering the hydraulic connections (LF-RR, RF-LR) and how you can head-fake yourself with impressions of initial "bite" versus actual stopping distance. Pretty friendly with e-mail questions too. Might help with some of you questions.

They are selling their product, of course. But I've not found more credible basic education info available on other kit seller's sites. (Indeed if there are other places to go, I'd love to know. )

-Z

WClark

I exchanged email with him a couple times and that proved to be enlightening - and reassuring. His take on the A8 upgrade after a a couple infor exchanges - he has not used or tested this particular setup but is very familiar with Audi braking systems - was that it should not compromise the braking, ABS or balance of the car. It is not going to deliver the level of performance of a Stoptech in track conditions either but on the street, the main differences are visual and cost.

pointby

I just purchased all the parts to do the BIRA system 2 on my A4 and hope to install it in a week. I put together an EXCEL spread sheet with every brake kit I could find as well as pricing. The BIRA option looked like the best bang for the buck. It uses Porsche 996 calipers over S4 rotors. You won't need or want new rear brakes, read what the BIRA site says about rears.
Email me if you want to look the spread sheet over.

juliem

Walter let me test his car before I did mine. Only have a couple days on the new brake setup; sure look big with my 16inch winter wheels/tires on the car.

Running the same Porterfield pads that had been on the car (switched due to a track event) and the car seems more assertive on stopping. Can't tell about dust yet...

Decent upgrade at a decent cost ... looks stock except for the size ie all parts have some VAG mark or another..