RS5 - swapped pads on rotors that had 10k miles on them...now "rumble" when slowing

[chrissurfr]

Hey guys,

As we all know, Rs5 brakes are just about the most annoying thing on the planet. I recently swapped to hawk pads after my factory ones went out. Mind you, this is my third set of brakes in 22k miles. 2 were done under warranty - now I'm on my own.

Well, now after about 500 miles on the hawks, the car seems to be humming/vibrating as I come to stop....20-5 mph it makes a hum from the right. I guess this is the pad not seeding with the rotor? Any other ideas?

I'm about to just rip all that shit out, get the ECS 380mm rotor "stage 2" upgrade and start from scratch. Does anyone have this kit?

Thanks,
Chris

[Ixxe]

Sorry for a bit of side topic, but might be a future rs5 owner.

Does rs5 have problems with ceramic brakes too or just the regular ones?

[JamesRS5]

Chris, have you been doing a lot of stop start slow moving traffic? It may be worth running the bedding in process again with some high speed braking to see if it clears up.
It seems a bit shitty to replace the brakes out of your own pocket just to get them working but Audi really dropped a ball with cost cutting in development of these wave brake rotors so you aren't left with much choice. The ECS kit looks like a wise investment, they certainly look like they will perform.

Ixxe, none that I can see or have read reports on, they seem pretty reliable.

[superswiss]

You probably have uneven deposits on your rotors from the OEM pads. You should really start over with fresh rotors and pads. Your pads may be messed up now. Another option is to put on an aggressive track pad for a while that will scrape off all the deposits and then put on the Hawks.

I thought about the Stage 2 kit, but then went with the full floating wave ECS rotors. The stage 2 rotors are not full floating. They are semi floating like the OEM rotors. But, I also installed the stainless steel brake lines and upgraded the fluid.

[HamadAJ]

Hey guys,

As we all know, Rs5 brakes are just about the most annoying thing on the planet. I recently swapped to hawk pads after my factory ones went out. Mind you, this is my third set of brakes in 22k miles. 2 were done under warranty - now I'm on my own.

Well, now after about 500 miles on the hawks, the car seems to be humming/vibrating as I come to stop....20-5 mph it makes a hum from the right. I guess this is the pad not seeding with the rotor? Any other ideas?

I'm about to just rip all that shit out, get the ECS 380mm rotor "stage 2" upgrade and start from scratch. Does anyone have this kit?

Thanks,
Chris

Hey Chris,
I have ECS 380mm rotor stage 2 brake upgrade with 6000 miles on it and it works perfectly fine. I had the same issue, where the pads would get shaven so fast and alot of wobbling and shacking under braking. If you want a quick and "relatively" cheap solution, i would pull the trigger. But if it was up to me I would save some big bucks and go for the cermaic rotors that fit directly on the OEM calipers from RB performance or GMG, had I known about it earlier I would have gone for this option.
Hamad,

Here are the links to the ceramic rotors.

http://www.racingbrake.com/RB-CCM-X-...ont-p/2c81.htm

http://www.gmgracing.com/store/2013/...sport-kit.html

[chrissurfr]

thanks for the replies, gents.

What is the benefit of "true float" and why would I want that over a bigger rotor?

Hamad - would you mind posting a pic of the 380s behind your wheels?

If I have to do this AGAIN - I would at least feel better about with a little upgrade lol....

[superswiss]

What is the benefit of "true float" and why would I want that over a bigger rotor?

Tru float rotors ensure that the rotor is always centered under the caliper regardless of lateral thermal expansion or slightly off center mounting. The calipers on the RS5 are fixed, so they can't center themselves over the rotor. Instead a tru float rotor moves on the lateral axes and centers itself. This ensures even pad wear on both sides and optimum contact of the pads at all times, resulting in better and more consistent brake feel and improved stopping power. I do frequent 100+ miles canyon runs where my brakes get hot, so proper handling of thermal expansion was high on my priority list.

EDIT: I thought ECS actually had a good description of the benefits. Here they are:

Tru-Float design:

• The full float design allows independent radial and lateral thermal expansion and movement. Both of these features reduce thermal stresses on the rotor due to uneven thermal loading under hard braking.
• The full float design conducts less heat in to the bearings due to reduced contact area between the rotor and the hat, improving bearing life.
• The radial expansion allows the ring to increase in diameter without being restrained by the hat, reducing the tendency to “cone” or distort toward the outer braking surface, improving pedal feel and pad wear characteristics
• The lateral float capability allows the rotor to self-center between the pads, improving pad wear and reducing drag. It also reduces the effects of pad knock back, which is the tendency of the rotor to push the pistons back in to the calipers due to wheel bearing deflection under extreme loading, resulting in a soft pedal and inconsistent braking. Reducing or eliminating knock back by allowing the rotor to float and self-center results in a more consistent pedal feel and braking

[PEM]

Sorry for a bit of side topic, but might be a future rs5 owner.

Does rs5 have problems with ceramic brakes too or just the regular ones?

Ceramics don't have this issue.

[superswiss]

Sorry for a bit of side topic, but might be a future rs5 owner.

Does rs5 have problems with ceramic brakes too or just the regular ones?

Sorry for a bit of side topic, but might be a future rs5 owner.

Does rs5 have problems with ceramic brakes too or just the regular ones?

Much smaller sample set, though. Not as many ceramic brakes in the wild. Also, having the standard brakes doesn't automatically mean you'll have these issues. The only "issue" I had was that the OEM pads only lasted 24k miles of pretty hard driving. I'm now at ~48k miles with the ECS rotors and Hawk pads and I still have 75% pad life left, so quite a significant difference and for less money, too. At that rate the cost of the ceramic brakes is not justified, IMO, unless you really spend a lot of time on the track.

[chrissurfr]

Well....I bedded the living shit out of the brakes tonight....lets see how they feel tomorrow. Fingers crossed. If not...upgrade time.

[HamadAJ]

thanks for the replies, gents.

What is the benefit of "true float" and why would I want that over a bigger rotor?

Hamad - would you mind posting a pic of the 380s behind your wheels?

If I have to do this AGAIN - I would at least feel better about with a little upgrade lol....

Here a pic for ya, don't mind the scratched up alloygators . They look bigger than the OEM for sure.

[superswiss]

Here a pic for ya, don't mind the scratched up alloygators . They look bigger than the OEM for sure.

Tru-float rotors for comparison:

[chrissurfr]

thank you for the pics....alloygators hahaha


both look better than OEM for sure. It seems like the brake bedding helped. I'm going to do it one more time tonight to see if I can get it 100% gone...my brakes were smoking last night when I was done lol