Lordy, those brakes
06-27-2017, 03:03 AM
#1
AudiWorld Member
Thread Starter
Lordy, those brakes
TL;DR [In Boston accent] "These brakes are wicked awwwsome."
From Automobilemag S4 Review last month:
The brakes are an exercise in overkill. With 13.8-inch rotors and six-piston calipers on the front axle, they offer enormous stopping power even for a car that weighs 3,858 pounds. When I ask Audi product manager Anthony Garbis what the story is, he shrugs. “When you need to come down from well into the triple-digits on the autobahn, it’s a good thing to have,” he says.
As I found out yesterday, yes, they are a "good thing to have."
I feel fortunate to have the opportunity be a driver in Germany the last couple years (one year left before return to the States). The autobahn is a pure joy that I will sorely miss. It is not something to take for granted, however. German drivers, in general, are skilled and disciplined well above what I would call the "average" American driver (I will note that this is not you, so feel free to nod your head and say "yeah, so many sucky drivers!")
Many parts of the autobahn have a speed limit, and only some sections do not. Some of those sections also have only two lanes. This creates the somewhat stressful situation of traveling at high speed past cars in the right lane that are 'not.'
While in an unrestricted three lane section yesterday, I was feeling spirited to push the car (quite easily) up to the limiter, which seems to drift around a bit in the 155-160mph range. The lanes dropped down to two, which is normal even for an unrestricted speed section. Whether there are three lanes or two doesn't matter much, because there will always be cars in the lane to the immediate right of the far left lane.
I was passing cars that were going around 120kph (~75mph), when one of them decided to pass another without: A) checking far enough in the distance behind him, and B) signaling for more than half a second before changing lanes.
This is the very situation I stay alert as possible for, on edge even, which in a way detracts from the joy of such speed since it is also rather stressful.
I would estimate a forward gap of approximately 300 feet when this occurred. If you do the math, 155mph (250kph) equals 227.3 feet per second. Meaning, if I hadn't been alert and anticipating something like this, in a little over one second I would have closed that distance. The math problem continues, however, since the other car at 120kph equates to 110 feet per second. So in reality, with a rate of closure of 117 feet per second (227-110), adding in half a second reaction time to foot stomping the pedal, I had two full seconds to decelerate to his speed of 110 feet per second, before resulting in two volumes of mass attempting to occupy the same space (also known as a collision).
Thankfully, I can report that the six-piston calipers grabbed those 13.8-inch rotors with aplomb and held beautifully, while the car remained absolutely composed (my own rear end meanwhile could have compressed coal into a diamond).
In earlier driving I did notice the brakes felt quite nice, but it wasn't until this moment of 'ad hoc' testing that I discovered how fantastic they truly are. I don't imagine this level of braking power is exactly necessary for anyplace in the USA except a long-ratio-gear race track (unless you feel like taking chances). But it is nice to know that level of performance is there. Thank you, Audi engineers and product manager Anthony Garbis.
From Automobilemag S4 Review last month:
The brakes are an exercise in overkill. With 13.8-inch rotors and six-piston calipers on the front axle, they offer enormous stopping power even for a car that weighs 3,858 pounds. When I ask Audi product manager Anthony Garbis what the story is, he shrugs. “When you need to come down from well into the triple-digits on the autobahn, it’s a good thing to have,” he says.
As I found out yesterday, yes, they are a "good thing to have."
I feel fortunate to have the opportunity be a driver in Germany the last couple years (one year left before return to the States). The autobahn is a pure joy that I will sorely miss. It is not something to take for granted, however. German drivers, in general, are skilled and disciplined well above what I would call the "average" American driver (I will note that this is not you, so feel free to nod your head and say "yeah, so many sucky drivers!")
Many parts of the autobahn have a speed limit, and only some sections do not. Some of those sections also have only two lanes. This creates the somewhat stressful situation of traveling at high speed past cars in the right lane that are 'not.'
While in an unrestricted three lane section yesterday, I was feeling spirited to push the car (quite easily) up to the limiter, which seems to drift around a bit in the 155-160mph range. The lanes dropped down to two, which is normal even for an unrestricted speed section. Whether there are three lanes or two doesn't matter much, because there will always be cars in the lane to the immediate right of the far left lane.
I was passing cars that were going around 120kph (~75mph), when one of them decided to pass another without: A) checking far enough in the distance behind him, and B) signaling for more than half a second before changing lanes.
This is the very situation I stay alert as possible for, on edge even, which in a way detracts from the joy of such speed since it is also rather stressful.
I would estimate a forward gap of approximately 300 feet when this occurred. If you do the math, 155mph (250kph) equals 227.3 feet per second. Meaning, if I hadn't been alert and anticipating something like this, in a little over one second I would have closed that distance. The math problem continues, however, since the other car at 120kph equates to 110 feet per second. So in reality, with a rate of closure of 117 feet per second (227-110), adding in half a second reaction time to foot stomping the pedal, I had two full seconds to decelerate to his speed of 110 feet per second, before resulting in two volumes of mass attempting to occupy the same space (also known as a collision).
Thankfully, I can report that the six-piston calipers grabbed those 13.8-inch rotors with aplomb and held beautifully, while the car remained absolutely composed (my own rear end meanwhile could have compressed coal into a diamond).
In earlier driving I did notice the brakes felt quite nice, but it wasn't until this moment of 'ad hoc' testing that I discovered how fantastic they truly are. I don't imagine this level of braking power is exactly necessary for anyplace in the USA except a long-ratio-gear race track (unless you feel like taking chances). But it is nice to know that level of performance is there. Thank you, Audi engineers and product manager Anthony Garbis.
06-27-2017, 06:36 AM
#3
AudiWorld Senior Member
I have some secret backroads near me that I decided to let my S4 explore for the first time last night, as I am finally approaching the key break-in mileage interval of 600 freedom units where (if you believe the owner's manual gospel) Audi says it's finally okay to "gradually start increasing the rpm and speed."
...Well don't mind mind if I do, Audi.
A fox crossed the road ahead while I was traveling at completely legitimate, totally legal, by no means out of control and not at all unreasonable speed.
Let's just say the fox liked those brakes too.
That brake dust though...
...Well don't mind mind if I do, Audi.
A fox crossed the road ahead while I was traveling at completely legitimate, totally legal, by no means out of control and not at all unreasonable speed.
Let's just say the fox liked those brakes too.
That brake dust though...
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