07RS4phantblk

so i have 13k on my 07 phantom blk RS4 and as a friend of mine and myself were headed to dinner at like 9 30pm on oct 26th 07 we were coming down a long hill and the brakes failed to work .. rears grabbed a little but not enough causing us to not be able to navigate the bend at the middle of the hill even after a low gear downshift, it was raining so ebrake was not an option.. i had the car in at two seperate audi dealers, incl. fred baker audi where i bought it, and stoddard audi they did nothing... no lights came on so we continued to drive it, well, we hit a guardrail and went through it but we were deflected back onto the road by a utility pole behind the rail, then we struck another rail before going off a small cliff on the opposite side of the road taking out 3 trees on the way down it. when medics found us down the cliff the car was laying on its side still on, i have a fractured T-3 vertabre and many other nerve and muscle problems, my friend has a contusion on his frontal right lobe of his brain from hitting the wheel with his head,.. even while wearing his belt... i struck my head on the B-pillar multiple times blacking out each time now i get nose bleeds and headaches nonstop. the medics had to cut my belt as it wouldnt unlatch, it wasjammed from forces on it.. the front and side passengers rear of the car and rim are very damaged however even crashing at 40mph no airbag deployment occured, is this common having brake failure on these RS4s?, and no airbags deploying?.. i have seen two other audi a4 bodystyle crashes, that were severe with no airbags blown! incl. a side impact with a F-250 also a friend of mine was in his 04 A4 hit a tree at 60 with no airbags blown... please lemme know if others have had brake problems early on the RS4's and if anyone knows of crashes where airbags likely would have helped protect greater, such as in situations like mine...please contact me.. PS my rs4 is likely totaled the driver door springs open and upward.. and door frame doesnt touch the car, also i lost a perfectly good europlate and a great K-40 radar laser system. darn.. i shoulda kept my M5 v10 smg.... oh well... and im glad nobody was coming up the hill as we coming down it out of control with no brakes on my 4 month old car...

sykotoy

**** thats bad dude, lucky to be alive....go buy a lotto ticket

superswiss

Look several posts down. There are a few people, who have come to find that the break wear sensors on the RS4 don't work. The pads wear down to about 5mm and then start tearing up the rotors right about around your current mileage w/o any warning. You may have grounds to go after Audi for negligence on their part. This could be the beginning of another fiasco for Audi.

BlkJet

So sorry to hear that! You are lucky to be alive my friend.

Jet Jockey/A4 Pilot

I don't know what happened to your brakes but from what you said it sure seems like a major failure of the brake system. Can you be more specific on exactly how it happened and what you felt through the pedal and what the car's reaction was under braking at that moment?

I don't think premature wear is a problem here because you said you took your car in to two different dealers with a "suspicion of brake problems" and they found nothing wrong. I would think that in the very least both those dealers would have seen a "low pad wear situation" and recommend you take action.

In any case I can't believe they would have let you take the car out of the shop if the pads were in a critical state because they would be liable because this is a safety issue. Assuming the brake system looked and was "normal" and no driver error was involved here, then it as to be a "system failure" which someone will have to prove. Maybe it was the ABS system not working properly. Maybe a hydraulic line broke and let the brake fluid out and ran out at a critical moment.

Unfortunately this would almost have to be a "single case" type of problem with all the RS4s on the streets and many being tracked surly something would have shown up already. The RS4s brakes are pretty darn good even on the track (I have tested them) and cannot fault its braking ability so again it as to be a system failure. <b>Of course this is all speculation on my part.</b> You would need a specialist to figure out the real cause of the problem and maybe you should hire an independent investigator in car accidents to resolve the problem in case you have to go after Audi.

As for the airbags, again this is weird that <b>none</b> of the bags went off. I don't know what to say except that the computer for the air bag system takes inputs from various sensors around the car and decides which one to fire and at what time to deploy them. Again someone with a specialty in car crash investigation would be better placed to answer all your questions.

If wish you and your friend a speedy and complete recovery with no permanent after affects and I do hope you keep us informed on the progress of this situation because who knows if it happened once perhaps it can happen again and if there is a problem with the RS4's brakes it would be good for all concerned to know about it.

Best wishes.

POS4

My airbags did not deploy when I t-boned a lady who ran a red light. I was traveling about 30 MPH, had a split second to brake (probably half a second), then made impact. Car had about $25K in damage with bent frame rails. I was surprised the bags did not deploy but on the other hand I was glad too as I really did not need them. Hope you have a speedy and complete recovery!

tihsyloh

but Idid walk away with a mild case of whiplash.

Sorry to hear about your ordeal. That really sucks. You'll heal up though. It just might take a few months (a few months longer if you're in your 30's or higher).

McGyver

That's awful. Hope that you heal quickly.

McQueen993

Glad you're ok. Get back in the saddle soon.

Just curious as to what was wrong with the car that made you bring it to the dealers you mentioned.

Bob W.

I call BS.