I really feel like I'm annoying with so many questions lately. Here the latest one. My 2001 A6 Avant is FINALLY coming due for a brake job after 3 years of me owning it. So with that said do I just replace the pads or do both rotors and pads together and should I do all four corners or can I get away with just the rears since those are the most worn. Also I do a lot of 65+ mph driving on a daily basis so should I go for slotted or drilled or slotted/drilled rotors or should i just get a standard set. I'd like to know so that way I can budget what I'm going to spend (not cash strapped just being thrifty with my money in case I run into issues I.E. in case i need a tool or something)

2001 Audi A6 Avant 2.8 quattro 178,800 miles
Daily driver driven at 65+ mph speeds on back roads

Thanks

 

Front brakes do most of the work. So if the fronts are fine, then I wouldn't really worry for awhile unless the rears are getting really close down to the metal. FYI, the fronts have sensors, and will trigger a warning when needed.

As for the rotor and pads vs just pads, that depends on the thickness of the rotors. Blank rotors are pretty inexpensive. A pair of 312mm rotors will run you around $100. Worth it in my opinion. As for the rear, they are non-vented and you can get a decent pair for about $50. FYI, there are 3 different rotor hat depths and the only way to confirm is to check your car. See ECStuning website for information. Also you need to turn and press in the rear brake piston.

If you are asking about the slotted/drilled vs blanks, then my take is blanks. If you want the look, then go for the others. You will pay premium for the looks though.

 

see the reason I ask about the rotors is because my braking is not smooth at all so I'm taking a guess that my rotors need work since I have NEVER touched them and I've had the car for three years now and I really don't know how long before I got the car the previous owner drove on these rotors. Second called Audi and they gave me all the measurements using my vin number

 

I went with drilled and slotted rotors(on the front, stock rear) and high performance pads and they made a huge difference in braking from high speed, especially when you do it more than once. If you are thinking of doing any track days or just drive aggressively on the highways you may like them.

 

Drilled rotors are known to develop cracks at the sites of the holes under heavy use. The concept of slots is to help bleed away gasses produced during heavy braking. Some believe this, some say it is an old wives tale. You can find arguments on both sides. My opnion is that OEM rotors and pads must be quite good because in Germany these crs are regularly driven, and stopped from speeds approaching 150 mph. I am sure the Audi engineers used some serious brain cells on the braking components. I like to stick with OEM but I must admit I hade the brak dust from the Audi pads.

 

o no way they crack? How often does that happen? I really really appreciate everyone's input I'm goin to go ahead and stick with blank rotors all around for now because I also have other maintenance to take care of. One more question i have is I've been reading on other threads of other people running into problems screwing the piston back into the rear caliper because its seized or something. How often does that happen and what are the chances I might run into that issue. I'm gonna admit that's the only thing that scares me doing this job.

 

One thing I forgot to ask also where do I get the stuff at? I was looking at ecs tuning but their shipping is ridiculous at $63! The blauparts offers free shipping but I don't know bout Blau since I've never ordered from them and I've heard some negative stuff bout them. Help?

 

Blauparts is good. Rockauto is really great on price. As for the rear caliper, you can probably rent a tool from local O'riley or something.

 

I'm gonna go the Blau way on this cant beat free shipping right? I took a peak at rock auto and idk it didn't really tickle my fancy too much. I'm goin to check out my local auto zone pep boys and O'Riley's to see who has the cheaper rental rates