Evil Buddha

once and never happened again. I am assuming that the drying feature malfunctioned as it had just started to rain. The wheel would turn and I got a loud high pitched squeal from it. I just thought I would mention it incase it happens to anyone else even though it seems to be a non event.

daveak05

you mean the rain sensing brake wipe feature? We were talking about ESP interefering a few threads ago, what about the brake wiping feature? I like that idea even less.

Evil Buddha

The brake wiping feature is what I think caused it. At least that is at the top of my list.

Evil Buddha

I have other cars to drive that I'm less concerned with keeping clean. I got caught in the rain that day so in reality I guess it's hard to say if it is an ongoing problem.(Ok, now I'm waiting for all the BS about not driving on a day it will rain.)

daveak05

the brake wiping feature works in conjunction with the windshield wipers, IIRC. How crazy is that?

All disc brake pads are in constant contact with the rotors, as you can tell by spinning your wheel when the car is jacked up. The brake wiping feature takes it a step further and applies a very light amount of force, so as to wipe the rotors clean of water. I don't like this idea. To me, it's just another techno device to go wrong and affect driving experience in a negative way.

Evil Buddha

the trend with all things mechanical. It might be a great marketing idea to come out with a new mass produced car that is back to basics. Something designed around proven 50 year old technology. How would you like to see a car that you could work on with free space under the hood? Something you could buy for your kid and not need a manual to deal with.

Gorobei

Many of us who owned a B5 lamented the fact that if you had to brake suddenly in the rain there was a definite delay before you got a good bite. That's a big problem here in Seattle.

Two great things they have done on the B7, from my understanding, are the brake wiping (which I understand to be a periodic wiping, not a constant but static increase in pressure) and the pretensioning of the brakes during a sudden throttle lift. I know the RS4 has completely different braking hardware from my car, but I assume the electronics have some similarity where safety features are concerned.

Anyway, I really dig those types of features.

s4for5_TTfor2

That little B5 quirk always made my stomach flip in the rain after a long run at speed

daveak05

in wet was a design flaw rather than something cured by B7 brake wiping. That's my understanding anyway. Many cars, including the B6, don't have a grab issue just because it's raining. If you drive thru water deep enough to reach rotors, well, yeh.

Like many new tech items, the brake wiping feature may sound good, but it can be invasive, a la ESP.

daveak05

the next thing: throttle modulating based on whther it's raining outside or < 32 degrees. Don't think so? It would be a logical progression on the ESP and brake wiping technical intrusions.

Personally, I don't like some electronic servo doing the braking for me, under any conditions. Or throttle control, which I believe is one of the elements of ESP, along with the braking at one or more wheel.

ABS is fine because it's non invasive. Not so for some of this other stuff creeping into these cars.

Agree or disagree?