Audi brake saga and revisions:

Previous Audi: Standard Stoptech 332 kit on my avant with stock rears and aggressive pads - this setup is a great track/street kit. I loved it on the avant and others use this tried and true combo.

Current Audi: I started with a four-wheel Stoptech kit, 332 front - 328 rear rotors; ST40 calipers front/rear. To get the balance right, Stoptech used larger front pistons since they didn't have the leverage of the 355 rotor. This reduced the pedal feel and ease of modulation. *To me and many other track-goers, a firm brake pedal makes all the difference.* Also, it sucks to have to consciously drag that left foot over to get the pedal up before every braking zone. I needed to reduce the volume required by the entire system to get a better feel for the track.

Bob and gang at Stoptech came up with a good solution: Utilize the two piston ST20 caliper from their touring car kits on my car as well as significantly reduce the front caliper's piston sizes. I lost the parking brake when going to a two piston rear caliper (custom bracket wouldn't support the universal caliper for the parking brake), but it's no biggie since the car rides a trailer anyhow.




*In the meantime my car permanently lost the ESP and ABS sysems per my request and Marc @ AMS's wiring magic.*

First Combo for the "track four wheel kit" was a 38-42 front caliper from a camaro kit I had laying around in conjunction with the ST20 rear (PFC01 pads on all four corners). The front was over biased, but the overall pedal feel was greatly improved. Since I had lost the ABS prop valve we needed to fine tune the system with piston sizing.

Second Combo for the "track kit" was to use a smaller, 36-40 front caliper. I tried this at California Speedway and the overall pedal feel was even better than the first change, but the rear of the car was biting a little too hard and I was having trouble trail braking the car into 7 in the infield section. We went from a PFC01 pad to a Hawk HPS pad in the rear and problem solved.

The combo is damn near perfect right now. Pedal feel is incredibly solid and I love the fact that I can feel out the modulation with actual leg force rather than through my tippy toes.

The next step is to replace the "dead" ABS unit with a metric prop valve. That will give me the ease in fine tuning that I'll need when I go from track to track. I know it's no balance bar, but I AM on a budget.




I haven't driven an Alcon kit, but I imagine they run into the same problems with pedal feel that I originally did with the Stoptech street kit. Except they have another pair of pistons on the front and in most cases more leverage due to larger rotors (355 and 370)

I have always thought highly of Brembo and would have considered that route for this car, but I needed a manufacturer willing to help me work out the bugs as well as the aid of folks who have already done the research and legwork needed to squeeze the most out of a four wheel kit. Research in factory brake balance and brake torque that can be translated into my track application.

I've had alcon and brembo stuff on my and my brother's camaros (both with stock master cylinders)… AP stuff on my suburban and I have driven AP and Brembo stuff on various BMWs and race cars. The feel and modulation of the stoptechs on my car rivals the best of what I have driven on the track and on the street. I'll be trying the Willwood stuff on my brother's Bush Series road race car with a Tilton Master Cylinder.

Current Front Pic:


BTW, I'm biased... STOPTECH ROCKS!