Hey, i recently bought a 2001 a4, it has a custom magnaflow exhaust, koni coilovers, 18" flik wasps, pirelli p zero nero tires, rs4 font bumper, and a few others. i need some brakes and would like some feedback, i was thinking about an a8 upgrade but i dont know whats the best, i only have around $500 for parts and i dont want to buy the wrong parts, thanks

 

Go to www.ecstuning.com and check the brakes link once you've specified your car. The A8 upgrade looks like a nice one, especially from a price standpoint. I'm going to be doing that once my front rotors are down a little more and it makes sense to change them. For $350 you can get the drilled/slotted upgraded rotors in the kit with the TT carriers. It's a one-inch greater diameter, not a huge gain, but even that extra half-inch of rotor radius can have a positive effect on the braking torque. And when you price out OEM replacements, it's not going to cost a huge amount more to get the A8 gear - seems like a no-brainer to me. StopTech and Alcon brakes look sexy as hell, but unless you're tracking the car hard, it seems hard to justify that much money for brakes for street use (not to mention, if you do use them to full potential on the street to avoid an accident, chances are you'll just get rear-ended by the car behind you, since odds are his car won't stop as fast as yours). Keep in mind replacement costs down the line too - those big brake kits aren't going to be cheap when the rotors do wear out - replacement rotors for those kits cost a pretty penny...

 

Thanks for the reply, can i find everything at ecs? i am having a hard time finding the TT part, any information will help, i think i am going to go with the a8 upgrade, i dont see any reason not to.

 

It's all sold as a kit through them - you just specify if you want the vented rotor kit (for $285 or so) or the vented/drilled/slotted kit (for $350). It includes the TT carriers as well as the rotors - one stop shopping. Just go to the brake parts section and scroll most of the way down - you'll see it.

 

Awesome, i dont know how i didnt see that earlier, which kind of rotors should i go with, zinc or cadmium, i dont know the difference. and what kind of pads should i get, theres so many and i dont really have clue.

 

I just noticed you had a air intake, what kind is it and where did you get it, i have been looking for one for a while

 

The main difference in the rotor coatings (if I remember correctly) is that the zinc plated rotors are a goldish color, and the cadmium plated ones look silver (it may be the reverse though). Both coatings are protective to keep the rotors from corroding and looking crappy over time. As for pads, don't be tempted to get an all-out hardcore performance pad, as it may be a track compound that is designed to work at high temperatures (which you won't maintain in street driving, and will thus suffer in braking). Also, many aggressive track pads are very hard on rotors and will chew them up. Get a combination street/strip pad (I used to run Axxis Metal Master pads on my 300ZX, and am considering the Hawk EBC Green Stuff pads for my next pad replacement) - both are good streetable pads with low noise, aggressive initial bite, and far less dust than OEM pads (on the Z, I also saw higher pad life as well). As for my intake, eBay special lol, although I have a genuine K&N cone on the way for it. An intake pipe is an intake pipe, so it doesn't matter who makes it. And many have said that the intake doesn't really do much for our cars - I have a 30V 2.8 so I didn't expect that anyway. But to me using a cotton-gauze, oiled filter over a paper OEM filter makes sense for two reasons - better filtration, and the fact that I don't have to ever replace the filter. Spend the money once on an intake and you're done buying air filters, so over time you save yourself some money.