RS5 Brakes Upgrade

[rubicant5x]

Thanks to an awesome forum member, I got a great deal on a set of RS5 front calipers, 365mm scalloped rotors, 330mm rear scalloped rotors and EBC red stuff and SS brake lines all around. Front rotors, calipers and pads are used. I am also putting in the RS5 brake booster and master cylinder. Parts are getting installed on the 17th. The pictures floating around the internet with these parts do not do them justice, they are HUUUUUGE! Here are some pics to start.

[ModItNow]

That is an awesome upgrade!!


Sent from my iPhone using Audizine

[rubicant5x]

That is an awesome upgrade!!


Sent from my iPhone using Audizine

Thanks man!

[rubicant5x]

Brakes are on!







Apologies, the car and wheels are dirty AF.

First impressions, much less initial bite than the stock S4 brakes which might have something to do with the smaller master cylinder than the stock RS5. That being said, I purchased the RS5 brake booster and master cylinder but found out after that the RS5 brake booster has a different vacuum system than the S4. The RS5 master cylinder won't mate up to the stock S4 brake booster either and needs to be machined. I want to do this upgrade but not sure if there would be any issues to modification of stock parts. Any suggestions/advice is welcome, thanks!!

[PK Auto Design]

Sick work bro, they look great!!!!

[VMRWheels]

How is the overall stopping power after that initial bite?
I might be wrong but I feel like others had used some kind of kit for the complete install.

I'm probably wrong.

[superswiss]

Nice setup. The ECS rotors are great. Much better than the stock RS5 rotors. I've got them on the front of my RS5. ECS didn't have the matching rears yet when I replaced my fronts. You gonna need to upgrade your master cylinder. I thought other folks who installed BBKs have successfully done that. You have double the pistons in the front now. The RS5 calipers have 8 vs the 4 you had before, so you need more hydraulic juice. In addition you have ceramic pads, which have inherently poor initial bite, so that's a double whammy right there.

[rubicant5x]

How is the overall stopping power after that initial bite?
I might be wrong but I feel like others had used some kind of kit for the complete install.

I'm probably wrong.

This was originally a kit from ECS that I bought used. The stopping power is fantastic but it does not have the initial bite that the stock S4 calipers had. That being said, the pedal-to-pressure as far as stopping goes is completely linear now and I am starting to really love it. Since the RS5 master cylinder has a larger piston, I wanted to use that instead of the stock S4 to compensate for the larger calipers but the housings are different and how they sit inside the brake booster. That being said, I am working with HSTuning to see if we can get the RS5 master cylinder internals inside the S4 master cylinder housing. I'll update when I know more.

[rubicant5x]

Nice setup. The ECS rotors are great. Much better than the stock RS5 rotors. I've got them on the front of my RS5. ECS didn't have the matching rears yet when I replaced my fronts. You gonna need to upgrade your master cylinder. I thought other folks who installed BBKs have successfully done that. You have double the pistons in the front now. The RS5 calipers have 8 vs the 4 you had before, so you need more hydraulic juice. In addition you have ceramic pads, which have inherently poor initial bite, so that's a double whammy right there.

Yeah, see my response above. I believe the B8 S4 had the same master cylinder housing as the RS5 but smaller piston and the B8.5 S4 has a completely different housing. I am wondering if I can get a B8 brake booster so the RS5 master cylinder will mate perfectly instead of the shit-show that I have now with all these parts.

[yjypm]

How do you repaint the calipers? Do you have to sand off the old paint?
I'm trying to repaint my rs5 calipers but the sanding job is a PITA. Can I use a paint remover spray to do the job?

[rubicant5x]

How do you repaint the calipers? Do you have to sand off the old paint?
I'm trying to repaint my rs5 calipers but the sanding job is a PITA. Can I use a paint remover spray to do the job?

I didn't repaint them, I bought them that way.

[Pyromatic177]

How do you repaint the calipers? Do you have to sand off the old paint?
I'm trying to repaint my rs5 calipers but the sanding job is a PITA. Can I use a paint remover spray to do the job?

They were powder coated black. Media blasted the original coating off. According to the place that did them.

[rubicant5x]

This guy ^^^^^ sold me the brakes and gave me an awesome deal. Great to do business and overall great communication and experience!

[MS203]

nice signature, lol. But damn those look great! Love the subtle look with the black calipers.

Do you think the ECS rotors are > oem RS5 rotors? Either way, why? I ask because I have the exact same rotors as you right now for my front brakes. The only difference is I have stock calipers, aftermarket pads. I found the braking to both better and worse after the install.

Better in the sense of a firmer pedal, more linear feeling (as you described), which is awesome. Worse in the sense that I find them to be sketchy at times. For example, sometimes under super hard accident-avoiding braking they seem to "skip" (what it feels like) and just overall behave sketchily, it seems like my ABS messes up due to the rotors. I think this has to do with the drilled slots. Also, in the rain they are much worse. I assume its due to the water building up in the slots and the holes. Tapping the brakes at highway speed in wet conditions is actually pretty terrifying for me at times. The first 1-2 seconds of braking have almost zero initial bite, and its a little unpredictable. But after braking for 5+ seconds the normal brake feel returns somewhat (as the water is expunged from the slots and holes).

Just my .02. I'm sure it could be much different for you given you have a little bit different of a set up than me. Also, for some reason the RS5 oem rotors seem to have a bigger face/surface area than these ECS ones. Not sure if im right or not regarding that

[bokiboki]

...Better in the sense of a firmer pedal, more linear feeling (as you described), which is awesome. Worse in the sense that I find them to be sketchy at times. For example, sometimes under super hard accident-avoiding braking they seem to "skip" (what it feels like) and just overall behave sketchily, it seems like my ABS messes up due to the rotors. I think this has to do with the drilled slots. Also, in the rain they are much worse. I assume its due to the water building up in the slots and the holes. Tapping the brakes at highway speed in wet conditions is actually pretty terrifying for me at times. The first 1-2 seconds of braking have almost zero initial bite, and its a little unpredictable. But after braking for 5+ seconds the normal brake feel returns somewhat (as the water is expunged from the slots and holes)...

^This is the same shit I was experiencing with stock discs, Hawk HPS 5.0 brake pads and USP brake lines - it's freaking borderline scary at moments when you stomp on the brakes in the case of emergency how they skip for a bit. It doesn't feel like ABS kicking, you stomp on the brake pedal, you start braking and then the whole brake pedal just drops for an inch and then grabs again. I even spoke with TyrolSport guys about it and they told me that they saw it on a couple of S4's and didn't know what it was all about. I took off the lines and it got much better now but they still skips some times. What could that be? Did the bleeding a couple of times, used Motul DOT 5.1 brake fluid, replaced master and slave cylinders, don't know what could it be. A forum member on here - Militant-Grunt worked on my car last, did the complete brake fluid flush and bleeding and it's gotten much much better after that (if anyone needs a great mechanic and gearhead he's an awsome dude, really knows his shit, shoot him a PM). Sorry for the thread jack OP.

[superswiss]

nice signature, lol. But damn those look great! Love the subtle look with the black calipers.

Do you think the ECS rotors are > oem RS5 rotors? Either way, why? I ask because I have the exact same rotors as you right now for my front brakes. The only difference is I have stock calipers, aftermarket pads. I found the braking to both better and worse after the install.

Better in the sense of a firmer pedal, more linear feeling (as you described), which is awesome. Worse in the sense that I find them to be sketchy at times. For example, sometimes under super hard accident-avoiding braking they seem to "skip" (what it feels like) and just overall behave sketchily, it seems like my ABS messes up due to the rotors. I think this has to do with the drilled slots. Also, in the rain they are much worse. I assume its due to the water building up in the slots and the holes. Tapping the brakes at highway speed in wet conditions is actually pretty terrifying for me at times. The first 1-2 seconds of braking have almost zero initial bite, and its a little unpredictable. But after braking for 5+ seconds the normal brake feel returns somewhat (as the water is expunged from the slots and holes).

Just my .02. I'm sure it could be much different for you given you have a little bit different of a set up than me. Also, for some reason the RS5 oem rotors seem to have a bigger face/surface area than these ECS ones. Not sure if im right or not regarding that

I would say there's something else going on with your brakes. The tru-float ECS rotors are definitely better than the RS5 stock rotors. I've had them both now for about equal mileage on my RS5. Slotted and drilled rotors are supposed to be better in the wet, because the slots and holes expel water and debris and the slots clean the brake pads. The ECS rotors are properly directionally vaned and they are tru float, so they self-center between the brake pads for the best contact with the pads at all times and can expand in both directions under thermal load, so they hold up much better under repeat hard braking. I regularly go canyon carving for 100+ miles on deserted roads and the ECS rotors with SS lines and Hawk pads are quite the joy. Much better to modulate and much more linear than my stock setup was. But as said, this is on an RS5 with proper master cylinder etc.

[rubicant5x]

^This is the same shit I was experiencing with stock discs, Hawk HPS 5.0 brake pads and USP brake lines - it's freaking borderline scary at moments when you stomp on the brakes in the case of emergency how they skip for a bit. It doesn't feel like ABS kicking, you stomp on the brake pedal, you start braking and then the whole brake pedal just drops for an inch and then grabs again. I even spoke with TyrolSport guys about it and they told me that they saw it on a couple of S4's and didn't know what it was all about. I took off the lines and it got much better now but they still skips some times. What could that be? Did the bleeding a couple of times, used Motul DOT 5.1 brake fluid, replaced master and slave cylinders, don't know what could it be. A forum member on here - Militant-Grunt worked on my car last, did the complete brake fluid flush and bleeding and it's gotten much much better after that (if anyone needs a great mechanic and gearhead he's an awsome dude, really knows his shit, shoot him a PM). Sorry for the thread jack OP.

My stock calipers, rotors and pads did this when it was really raining outside on the highway, too. After a few seconds of pedal pressure, it would eventually start slowing down but definitely scary.

[bayonet14]

I dig those calipers!

[rubicant5x]

FYI!! http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...ke-Kits-Thread