Can anyone tell me what is a good brand and type of brakes and rotars for a 2001 A6? The mechanic told me that if I buy it online instead of the one they sell, it won't last as long. If anyone has a website that could be useful, I'd really appreciate it.

 

well i have a 2000 A6 with EBC slotted and dimpled rotors with EBC red stuff pads... it made a huge difference in the short 60 to zero braking but from 110 i get fairly bad brake shutter... i would recomend you go with a BBK if you can afford it or grab the stage 2 stoptech system it comes with rotors, pads, high temp brake fluid and stainless steel brake lines

 

Or, go to autopartswarehouse dot com and get regular rotors and EBC green pads. True, they won't last as long (80,000 miles instead of 100,000 miles) but they will stop much better.

Bob

 

he just wants the profit from selling parts... ask him what brands he is using?

best brands for stock rotors:
brembo
zimmerman

Pads:
hawk
PBR
Mintex

plenty more... a great shop to order online is PureMS.com they only carry the top brands for our cars.

 

Yea, I'm looking for new brakes too! Any one a pro on this? I really want slotted, but I still have the stock 16inch rims.

 

For everyday spirited driving, I like Brembo blank rotors and Hawk HPS pads. That combo gives me very linear braking at all speeds. Keep in mind though... Hawk HPS pads generate a lot of dust. If you prefer less dust pad, then go with a ceramic pad.

I buy my brake components from buybrakes.com. Always had good experience with them.

As for your mechanic's comment about online rotors and pads being inferior, I blow the BS horn on that one. As long as you get a reputable brand (not cheapo no-name ebay parts) they are the same as what you buy from your mechanic. Just cheaper...

Be sure to properly bed/break-in your new pads and rotors though...

 

Are there any other disadvantages to ceramic disk pads besides price?

 

please explain, maybe im over thinking this one...

 

^^ just don't go racing around (hard braking) becuase the pads need to be broken in... warmed up so to speak. takes maybe 500mi of driving to get them to optimal performance.

I use Zimmerman cross drilled rotors with PBR Ultimate ceramic pads... I bought them from purems.com ~ it's a very good setup imo (also have Stoptech SS brake lines, they didn't make much difference though)

 

Actually, you want to make several strong stops from about 60 mph to 5 mph as hard as you can. If you go to the stoptech.com they have a really good instruction and explaination, but I will give you a quicky.

Modern brakes don't work by rubbing brake pads with the metal rotors. In reality, what does the braking is the brake pad compound which gets embedded into the metal rotor and the brake pads in friction generate braking force. So once you have a brand new rotor, which is bare metal, you want to embed the pad material onto the rotors as quick as possible. Way to do that is to find an empty stretch of the road. Accelerate to about 60, and SLAM on the brake until down to 5 mph. Accelerate again and repeat the process for about 6 to 10 times. What this does is that it heats up the pad material, burns off all manufacturing residue, and embeds the material onto the rotors. Once finished with the last cycle, you need to drive it slow for about 10 minutes, while minimize using the brake to cool off the rotors. If you park the car while the rotors are hot, then you will create material deposit on rotor, and create pulsating pedal problem.

Also, FYI, you should never use race pads for street use. Race pads only provide stopping force on high heat, and it will provide less braking power than the conventional pad on street application.