03-18-2007, 01:06 PM
As some of you know I blew up my clutch at Quattrofest this February 23rd and Matrix was kind enough to put my car in their trailer and take it back to their shop.
It was great timing that Jeff started a GB for the Southbend clutches and I bought and OFE SS unit. Jeff was very helpful with co-ordinating the delivery of my OEM flywheel for resurfacing and shipping of the clutch to Matrix for installation.
While my Avant was at Matrix I decided to have a Stasis 4:1 center differential installed. They also twisted my rubber arm and convinced me last week to not go with a Stoptech BBK and install a Stasis BBK instead... front AND back.
Matrix had my car for 3 weeks to have all of the parts delivered and installed. I was going mental in that period of time as driving my 10 year olf Explorer felt like a being on a old wooden roller coaster every day.
So I at 4am Satruday morning I made a run to Portland to pick up my car. Took all of 5.5 hours and my ride was waiting for me at PIR.
I I thank everyone for their advice and I made sure I granny shifted to break the clutch in. The clutch is much stiffer than the OEM unit and it took a little while to get used to it.
So here is my review of the 3 new components after a 5 hour trip back in the rain. Yes... I cut 30 minutes off the travel time coming home with traffic!
Stasis 4:1 center differential:
I have had many long drives in the rain so I know how my car reacts and how it feels. Well the car I have now IS NOT the same car that I left at Matrix 3 weeks ago.
I am not exactly sure how the new Stasis 4:1 center differential works with how it does the torque disribution but I do know that my car has never felt so stable and solid in the rain. Before at 80mph (130kph) the car would 'float' for a split second when I drove over a small puddle or when I did a lane change in the heavy rain.
Well now the car drives in the rain as if the pavement was dry or that is how it feels anyway behind the wheel. Quattro and the new differential is unbelievable!
I was passing every car on the I-5 all the way home except for two STi's. The car never felt so solid and I never had so much confidence driving in the rain at that speed. There was no slipping, no sliding, no floating sensations, nothing. The car felt as if I was driving on a dry highway.
Southbend OFE SS clutch:
The Pedal is much stiffer than the OEM unit and I intially rode the clutch a bit to avoid stalling the car. After driving for about 20 minutes in stop and go traffic one gets used to the clutch engagement but it is still hard to engage certain gears. I assume this problem will go away once the clutch breaks in.
Once I was in gear I didn't back off as I pushed the car up to 6500rpm as I was just having too much fun passing everyone in the rain.
I didn't notice this before since I had nothing to compare it to but in 3rd gear the tiny delay from when I step on the accelerator to when the car moves forward is gone. I guess this is clutch slip with the K04 setup that I read about. With the new OFE SS unit when I touch the accelerator the car moves forward without delay.
Stasis/Alcon 328mm mono4 BBK with upgraded 308mm rear rotor:
I drive in other Audis with BBKs installed and without knowing the pedal feel some stopped well and others I almost slammed my forehead into the steering wheel on the first press of the brake pedal.
The last Alcon setup I tried was of the head slamming type and I was quite wary of that when I first tried out the brakes. To my surprise the pedal feel was almost like stock but just a bit firmer.
I read what Jeremy from Matrix posted about pedal feel, modulation, etc about the Stasis BBK setup and never really understood what it all meant, or I should say felt, compared to other BBK setups until now.
The Alcon BBK is very linear. The harder you press the more braking power you get. It is not "press the brake pad lightly and get thrown forward" feeling at all. In fact think most people wouldn't know that a BBK was installed on the car if I didn't tell them. The Stasis setup is very easy to drive and when you really want to stomp on the brakes the system react and locks up ABS nicely.
When leaving Portland it was nice and warm outside so I got a chance to test out how the BBK react when the pads ger warmed up... well they grab really well. I'll reserve judgement on how well they grab when really hot when I go to the next track session.
How do they perform in the rain? Excellent! I didn't get a chance to use them very much since I was passing everyone but when I did get to use the brake I would either try a normal deceleration or a firm press off the brake pedal to see how the brake setup reacts.
On the normal deceleration there is no delay on the initial bite with the cold rotors and pads in the rain.
On the firm press of the pedal there is no delay as well and the car slows down very quickly. The upgraded rear rotors also reduced the amount of 'nose dive' I used to have.
So if you made it this far I thank you for reading this writeup.
Thanks Jeff for the clutch and Justin, Jeremy and Jon at Matrix for putting it all together for me.
I loved driving my Avant before and now even more so! [az]
http://members.shaw.ca/myaudi4/stasis%20brakes/IMG_2203.JPG
http://members.shaw.ca/myaudi4/stasis%20brakes/IMG_2204.JPG
http://members.shaw.ca/myaudi4/stasis%20brakes/IMG_2205.JPG
I have 1/4" clearance left with the rear caliper with the new rotor installed.
http://members.shaw.ca/myaudi4/stasis%20brakes/IMG_2206.JPG
It was great timing that Jeff started a GB for the Southbend clutches and I bought and OFE SS unit. Jeff was very helpful with co-ordinating the delivery of my OEM flywheel for resurfacing and shipping of the clutch to Matrix for installation.
While my Avant was at Matrix I decided to have a Stasis 4:1 center differential installed. They also twisted my rubber arm and convinced me last week to not go with a Stoptech BBK and install a Stasis BBK instead... front AND back.
Matrix had my car for 3 weeks to have all of the parts delivered and installed. I was going mental in that period of time as driving my 10 year olf Explorer felt like a being on a old wooden roller coaster every day.
So I at 4am Satruday morning I made a run to Portland to pick up my car. Took all of 5.5 hours and my ride was waiting for me at PIR.
I I thank everyone for their advice and I made sure I granny shifted to break the clutch in. The clutch is much stiffer than the OEM unit and it took a little while to get used to it.
So here is my review of the 3 new components after a 5 hour trip back in the rain. Yes... I cut 30 minutes off the travel time coming home with traffic!
Stasis 4:1 center differential:
I have had many long drives in the rain so I know how my car reacts and how it feels. Well the car I have now IS NOT the same car that I left at Matrix 3 weeks ago.
I am not exactly sure how the new Stasis 4:1 center differential works with how it does the torque disribution but I do know that my car has never felt so stable and solid in the rain. Before at 80mph (130kph) the car would 'float' for a split second when I drove over a small puddle or when I did a lane change in the heavy rain.
Well now the car drives in the rain as if the pavement was dry or that is how it feels anyway behind the wheel. Quattro and the new differential is unbelievable!
I was passing every car on the I-5 all the way home except for two STi's. The car never felt so solid and I never had so much confidence driving in the rain at that speed. There was no slipping, no sliding, no floating sensations, nothing. The car felt as if I was driving on a dry highway.
Southbend OFE SS clutch:
The Pedal is much stiffer than the OEM unit and I intially rode the clutch a bit to avoid stalling the car. After driving for about 20 minutes in stop and go traffic one gets used to the clutch engagement but it is still hard to engage certain gears. I assume this problem will go away once the clutch breaks in.
Once I was in gear I didn't back off as I pushed the car up to 6500rpm as I was just having too much fun passing everyone in the rain.
I didn't notice this before since I had nothing to compare it to but in 3rd gear the tiny delay from when I step on the accelerator to when the car moves forward is gone. I guess this is clutch slip with the K04 setup that I read about. With the new OFE SS unit when I touch the accelerator the car moves forward without delay.
Stasis/Alcon 328mm mono4 BBK with upgraded 308mm rear rotor:
I drive in other Audis with BBKs installed and without knowing the pedal feel some stopped well and others I almost slammed my forehead into the steering wheel on the first press of the brake pedal.
The last Alcon setup I tried was of the head slamming type and I was quite wary of that when I first tried out the brakes. To my surprise the pedal feel was almost like stock but just a bit firmer.
I read what Jeremy from Matrix posted about pedal feel, modulation, etc about the Stasis BBK setup and never really understood what it all meant, or I should say felt, compared to other BBK setups until now.
The Alcon BBK is very linear. The harder you press the more braking power you get. It is not "press the brake pad lightly and get thrown forward" feeling at all. In fact think most people wouldn't know that a BBK was installed on the car if I didn't tell them. The Stasis setup is very easy to drive and when you really want to stomp on the brakes the system react and locks up ABS nicely.
When leaving Portland it was nice and warm outside so I got a chance to test out how the BBK react when the pads ger warmed up... well they grab really well. I'll reserve judgement on how well they grab when really hot when I go to the next track session.
How do they perform in the rain? Excellent! I didn't get a chance to use them very much since I was passing everyone but when I did get to use the brake I would either try a normal deceleration or a firm press off the brake pedal to see how the brake setup reacts.
On the normal deceleration there is no delay on the initial bite with the cold rotors and pads in the rain.
On the firm press of the pedal there is no delay as well and the car slows down very quickly. The upgraded rear rotors also reduced the amount of 'nose dive' I used to have.
So if you made it this far I thank you for reading this writeup.
Thanks Jeff for the clutch and Justin, Jeremy and Jon at Matrix for putting it all together for me.
I loved driving my Avant before and now even more so! [az]
http://members.shaw.ca/myaudi4/stasis%20brakes/IMG_2203.JPG
http://members.shaw.ca/myaudi4/stasis%20brakes/IMG_2204.JPG
http://members.shaw.ca/myaudi4/stasis%20brakes/IMG_2205.JPG
I have 1/4" clearance left with the rear caliper with the new rotor installed.
http://members.shaw.ca/myaudi4/stasis%20brakes/IMG_2206.JPG