Brake Pad Questions

[A4Ultrasport]

Hi All,

Just had the brake pad message appear on my dash today - I'm at 51K miles. My car is a manual, mostly driven in LA city traffic. Still, a bit surprised its time to replace already ...

Does anyone know whether I will need to replace all four at this point, or maybe just the front pads? Also, what are the odds that I'll need to replace rotors? I'm thinking I may try out a ceramic brake pad, in which case I'd have to replace all four. Do folks generally recommend the Akebono pads?

Thanks!

[yossefay]

Hi All,

Just had the brake pad message appear on my dash today - I'm at 51K miles. My car is a manual, mostly driven in LA city traffic. Still, a bit surprised its time to replace already ...

Does anyone know whether I will need to replace all four at this point, or maybe just the front pads? Also, what are the odds that I'll need to replace rotors? I'm thinking I may try out a ceramic brake pad, in which case I'd have to replace all four. Do folks generally recommend the Akebono pads?

Thanks!

I replaced all of my brake pads and the front rotors at around 43k miles. The rear pads and rotors could've stayed on as the pads were at around 50% wear (I kept oem rotors in the rear). I went with the Akebono, and will stick with them through the winter, but when the next season turns I want to try something else out. They are good if you are just casually driving in my opinion. I drove my car pretty hard down a twisty down-hill road and by the end of it the front brakes were smoking and I could feel significant mushiness/fade in the pedal. If you drive your car fairly hard, fairly often, I'd just go with the Hawk pads or something else people recommend on here. There's a couple good threads already covering this too, so definitely go and check them out.

My setup:
Front rotors: ECS Slotted and Drilled
Back rotors: OEM
Pads all around: Akebono

[yjypm]

I live in la and my first pad replacement was at ~20k miles. If you can't tell, you'd better go to a dealer or a brake shop and let them check if you need new rear pads and rotors.
Akebono is the most popular one here, you can't go wrong

[mr shickadance]

Hi All,

Just had the brake pad message appear on my dash today - I'm at 51K miles. My car is a manual, mostly driven in LA city traffic. Still, a bit surprised its time to replace already ...

Does anyone know whether I will need to replace all four at this point, or maybe just the front pads? Also, what are the odds that I'll need to replace rotors? I'm thinking I may try out a ceramic brake pad, in which case I'd have to replace all four. Do folks generally recommend the Akebono pads?

Thanks!

that's fairly reasonable for brake pad wear.

really depends what needs replacing, you need to measure rotor thickeness, and pad wear for that. for the light to come on, I would not expect much life in all 4 corners pad-wise. Rotors could be ok.

As for pads, I have ran greenstuff in my b7 a4, and akebono's in my s4. I liked the green stuff better than the akebono's due to their OEM-like feel. The akebono's were a bit too grabby for me during stop and go traffic.

The green stuff produced just as little dust as the akebono's.

[Thurston]

I replaced all of my brake pads and the front rotors at around 43k miles. The rear pads and rotors could've stayed on as the pads were at around 50% wear (I kept oem rotors in the rear). I went with the Akebono, and will stick with them through the winter, but when the next season turns I want to try something else out. They are good if you are just casually driving in my opinion. I drove my car pretty hard down a twisty down-hill road and by the end of it the front brakes were smoking and I could feel significant mushiness/fade in the pedal. If you drive your car fairly hard, fairly often, I'd just go with the Hawk pads or something else people recommend on here. There's a couple good threads already covering this too, so definitely go and check them out.

My setup:
Front rotors: ECS Slotted and Drilled
Back rotors: OEM
Pads all around: Akebono

Will not be going with akebono, thank you.

[whiped]

Akebono's are great if you want low dust.

There is a whole bunch of brake discussions here if you do some searching.

@yossefay, the brakes are a known weak point, you can pretty significantly improve cooling performance if you swap ducts and add some ventilation.



Lots of talk about that here: http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...1#post11435150

[yjypm]

that's fairly reasonable for brake pad wear.

really depends what needs replacing, you need to measure rotor thickeness, and pad wear for that. for the light to come on, I would not expect much life in all 4 corners pad-wise. Rotors could be ok.

As for pads, I have ran greenstuff in my b7 a4, and akebono's in my s4. I liked the green stuff better than the akebono's due to their OEM-like feel. The akebono's were a bit too grabby for me during stop and go traffic.

The green stuff produced just as little dust as the akebono's.

I'm running red stuff right now and love it. Very comfy, low dust, and easy to modulate.

[jimrobbington]

Akebono's are great if you want low dust.

There is a whole bunch of brake discussions here if you do some searching.

@yossefay, the brakes are a known weak point, you can pretty significantly improve cooling performance if you swap ducts and add some ventilation.



Lots of talk about that here: http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...1#post11435150

Very interesting!

OP, most if not all shops would say swap rotors too. I just replaced rotors recently, and I'm only at 47k, so....

I am and always have been a baller on a budget, best bang for the buck. I went with full set of Meyle rotors with Akebono pads for around $700 for parts. Very happy, insane how clean my wheels stay now. Be prepared to shit your pants a little first time you need to stop with these pads. Haha. Once you understand how the brake pedal needs to be applied again, they are great and I prefer the feel over stock any day.

Sent from my SM-G930VC using Tapatalk

[ENV²]

I live in la and my first pad replacement was at ~20k miles. If you can't tell, you'd better go to a dealer or a brake shop and let them check if you need new rear pads and rotors.
Akebono is the most popular one here, you can't go wrong

Will not be going with akebono, thank you.

Its not the pad giving you that fade. Its the fluid boiling and expanding the lines. You need to go higher temp fluid and stainless lines. You will not have that happen anymore.

[Dr GP]

I replaced both pads and rotors @ 60K. You will most likely need rotors. I put on Stoptech Ceramics. All ceramics will have less initial bite. But if you are just using them on the street, they will be more than adequate. Any Ceramic pads will do just fine on the street.

[grovlet]

Its not the pad giving you that fade. Its the fluid boiling and expanding the lines. You need to go higher temp fluid and stainless lines. You will not have that happen anymore.

That's a great point - Fluid is supposed to be changed something like every 2 yrs / 20K miles regardless of brake part wear - and many folks forget about it....

Also to help slight there as well - Stainless Lines are another good option to help a little bit - but Fluid is the major factor.

I run ATE Type 200/Stainless Lines/Slotted Rotors/PorterField R4S Pads on my Subaru Legacy - I'll be going the same route on the S4 (New Rotors/Pads/Fluid on purchase 10K mile ago - so waiting until anything is required before swapping it all out)

For fluid options - there are some others that are a little better than ATE 200 though (536 Dry/392 Wet), but for the price it's a perfect performance option.

[Thurston]

Its not the pad giving you that fade. Its the fluid boiling and expanding the lines. You need to go higher temp fluid and stainless lines. You will not have that happen anymore.

will that then keep the pads from smoking? I drive twisty roads all the time where I am, well I use to when I had a car that could handle it ( i need to upgrade my b8's suspension asap as it is just to heavy, not nimble and i'm experiencing to much body roll currently to feel comfortable ) the review about the smoking pads is what turned me off the akebono brand not so much the fade but that too.

[SDV325]

will that then keep the pads from smoking? I drive twisty roads all the time where I am, well I use to when I had a car that could handle it ( i need to upgrade my b8's suspension asap as it is just to heavy, not nimble and i'm experiencing to much body roll currently to feel comfortable ) the review about the smoking pads is what turned me off the akebono brand not so much the fade but that too.

Extremely sporty driving down a canyon road could mimic a track experience quite easily and they best way to prevent brake fade is upgrading the fluid, stainless lines will help pedal feel but wont mean squat if the fluid inside boils.

The main draw to ceramic pads is little to no brake dust, for performance they are probably right there on the bottom (just a hunch). If anyone has track experience with the Abebono's I'm sure they can chime in. Even the OEM brakes could work for a track day, as long as the fluid is changed. I remember reading a thread where an B8 RS4 totally his car on the track due to a loss of brake power...didn't change the fluid to DOT5.

[Thurston]

I remember that rather infamous thread ^

[whiped]

Not to derail this, but at least that guy crashed his RS4 on the track.

Did you see the guy that crashed his B7 RS4 in front of a shopping center in PA?

http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...6-RS4-TT-Crash

[mr shickadance]

Its not the pad giving you that fade. Its the fluid boiling and expanding the lines. You need to go higher temp fluid and stainless lines. You will not have that happen anymore.

This is should be taken with a grain of salt. there are two big types of brake fade. Brake fade caused by fluid boiling, which is a bigger issue, and pedal feel is spongy. (if you boil your fluid, you should change it asap) and brake fade caused by excess heat, and not adequate cooling. The pedal feel is stiff, and you would notice that the harder you press the pedal, the less braking force you 'feel' compared to what you know as normal braking.

The first type is worrisome as it can lead to catastrophic failure of braking, which leads to bigger issues. this is due usually to old fluid which attracted more water, and hence lowering the boiling point of the fluid. Because of the brake fluid nature, usually it's good to get it flushed every 2 years (mileage doesn't matter). since it's cheap enough, before any track day, you ought to flush your brakes and put some new fluid in it. (don't pay more than $100)

The second type is a factor of just not being able to cool your brakes fast enough. This is factor of a lot of things, weight of the car, surface area of the rotor, pad material, air-cooling see jim's post, and driving style.

what's important is knowing the two different types of pedal feel, one is spongey, and one if very firm, but lacking the stopping power you are familiar with.

[Thurston]

Bravo ^ good answer

[Loe]

If you purchase the Akebono's, just prepare to get use to having less initial bite. They are more linear however, but there is noticeably less initial bite. I like mine for their low-dust, but I will be going with OEM or OEM-like pads as I do miss that bite in daily driving, especially if the person in front of you decides to hit their brakes with little notice to you and you only have a split second to react in stop-n-go traffic.

[4DOORFUN]

I could not stand the brake dust and switched to Akebono pads at 2500 miles. I barely notice any difference in feel, but I don't track my car. Brake dust is seriously reduced by like 95%. I could not be any more pleased with this swap. I prefer clean wheels over a tiny amount more of brake bite.

[Krusty]

Hey Dude,

Can you post a list of the products you used and where you got them? Thanks

Akebono's are great if you want low dust.

There is a whole bunch of brake discussions here if you do some searching.

@yossefay, the brakes are a known weak point, you can pretty significantly improve cooling performance if you swap ducts and add some ventilation.



Lots of talk about that here: http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...1#post11435150

[tjenne69]

I don't know what the hell the previous owner did to my car, but the sensor light came on at about 23k. Front were worn down to the sensor, but rears look almost new. Replaced fronts with Akebono. Have the rears, but have not had a chance to replace them since I didn't have the dongle. Cleaned all the wheels at that time. Got about 3k miles on them and the fronts still look clean. They definitely don't have as much initial bite as the OEM pads, but now that I've had them on a few months, I don't really notice.

[EstorilS4]

My light came on under 30k too on my CPO 2014. Aparently her 1st 10k miles from the prior owner were pretty rough...

Go ahead and do new rotors when you do the pads. YOU will be close to Audi's published minimum thickness spec anyway and some shops won't turn your rotors.

I went with EBC Slotted rotors and Redstuff pads and couldn't be happier. Great feel, great stopping power, low dust, and ZERO squeal!!!