Best Discs and Pads for 1.8T?

[AndymacA4]

I'm generally pleased with my A4, but I think the brakes lack initial bite, and don't inspire confidence. I'm looking at some cross drilled discs and better pads. I'd ideally like Black Diamond discs on Feredo DS Performance pads, a combo I have used on other makes before with great success. However, I am interested in hearing from people with experience of good results in practise.

Which pads offer good bite and low dusting in general use with a reasonable life in usual use?

Also, would Brembo or Nitrac discs be a better bet?

Many Thanks

Andy

 

[ScottyP45]

I think the standard Sport brakes are pretty awesome andy, as you can see in my sig pic, the front discs are visible and they are nearly as big as the rims, fapping huge they are, but im needing pads soon too so I was going to try ebc greenstuff road ones, they get a cracking review wherever I look. Mad colour though!

dunno about discs but brembo certainly are a good brand eh. I'd be interested to hear what experience other lads have had with aftermarket brakes too, good thread mate.

 

[aragorn]

i wouldnt bother with fancy disks, they imo do very little. I would buy some standard disks from your local factors, and then spend some money on decent pads.

Ferodo DS2500 or Mintex 1144 get my vote for good fast road pads. I've heard a lot of bad **** about EBC Greenstuff and as such wouldnt go near them with the customary barge pole.

Depends how extreme you want to go tbh, and what problems your having with the existing brakes.

If your not tracking the car then i'd think the stock 312mm disks with some good pads like the ds2500 or 1144's will do you fine. Might be an idea to change your fluid for some DOT5.1 or better if its not been done either.

 

[AndymacA4]

I have also read good and bad press about the Green Stuff pads. Some really rave about them, some not so.

My car has whatever came as standard on a 2001 B6 1.8T SE! No idea what that might be. The service history doesn't mention the discs being changed ever, but it does mention a set of standard pads at 35K so about due now at 71K.

I haven't driven another A4, but the brakes on mine seem dull and lack initial bite.

I have used black diamond cross drilled discs on a couple of cars. They seem to be better at resisting squeal than other discs, don;t know how or why as they shouldn't make any difference.

I have also run DS2500s before and although they are great brakes they do squeal and they do need a bit of heat in them. They can a bit scary first thing in the morning!

I'm looking for a good aftermarket disc and pad combo, either stock discs and uprated pads, or cross drilled and uprated pads as they look nicer!

So, anyone got any experience of any good or bad combinations of pad and disc?

 

[Andy.B]

Mintex 1144 with stock discs would get my vote, problem with good pads is there high dust output which is a shame

But i wouldnt touch EBC Green and Redstuff pads with a very long ****** stick again! Green stuff V1 almost had my ERST into a wall and they really dont work that much better when warm.
Red stuff are ****** crap and on stock discs and so called performance discs... there is no bite at all with them.

So all in i would never touch anything EBC brake wise.

 

[aragorn]

The 1144's are probably going to be better from cold than the ds2500's as they're a more road biased pad.

I've just baught some B6 312mm disks for my B5, £33ea from my local factors to go with my TT carriers, and a set of redbox mintex pads for £20ish, The 1144's are around 60-70ish iirc though

I've gone for the Redbox pads as i hope the larger disks and new parts will be a nice improvement over whats on there just now!

 

[ScottyP45]

cheers for the info on the ebc pads, i'll look elsewhere

Found anything decent yet andy?

 

[AndymacA4]

Been looking at the options

Mintex Sport Pads Set of 4 front brake pads for A4 + Quattro A4 - MDB1741
1.8 Turbo 20V 95 and on £93.64

Audi A4 Quattro, A4 Quattro Avant (II) 1.8i, Turbo 09/01>
Ferodo DS Performance Brake Pads (Front)
ONLY £98.96 (inc VAT) per set
Delivery on this item is £6.95

These two caught my eye. I'm thinking the Ferodo ones.

However my car was registered 09/01 so how do I kow if I want the before 09/01 pads or the up to 09/01 pads? Is there any way of knowing without stripping the calipers to see the pads?

 

[AndymacA4]

These also have potential and are less cash - Plus they seem ti suggest there ws no pad model split in 2001, but in 2004!


Manufacturer : Tarox
Category : Tarox Pads - Fast Road - Front
Sub-category : Tarox 112F - Audi
Application : A4 / Avant / Quattro 1.8i Turbo 20V- 2.0 20V - 2.4i V6 30V - 2.6i V6 - 2.8 V6 30V 05/95>12/04
Product Code: TRX-0459.112
Details :

Price: £72.97 inc VAT
Delivery: £8.00

 

[ScottyP45]

they look good indeed, I think its just the rears I need as the fronts look beefy but the car beeps about brakes every start now. Its not fluid so must be pads I guess. They do feel a little less sharp than before just in initial bite cos you only had to touch the pedal with your toes to get strong braking, now the pedal is slightly less "bitey".

 

[aragorn]

I'd make sure that listing for the Mintex pads is for 1144's and not "mintex extreme"

1144's are the proper compound, the extreme pads are designed for chav boys in their saxos and fiestas and i wouldnt be using them on a serious car.

 

[aragorn]

afaik there is some cross over in the pads between the B5 and B6

MDB2231 is the pad with Wear indicators fitted to all B6 and B7 models

However there is also MBD1826 which seems to be specified for B5 and B6 cars (and looks identical from the diagram?) and has wear indicators, then the MDB1741 pad which appears to be the same as the 1826 minus the wear indicators.

I guess the similarities is why the tarox pad was listed over the whole age range.

 

[Marko]

cheers for the info on the ebc pads, i'll look elsewhere

Found anything decent yet andy?

Well I got EBC greenstuff discs and pads last year and they have been far superior to standard. I was lacking bite and decided after good reviews to get them. Now all I here is bad reviews. I would have them again as from cold they are superb. I find them great when warm also. I don't understand why people diss them... I've never driven hard with continual heavy braking on them.. never happens on the road!! Wear has been great too. That's my experience before you totally dissregard them

There is far less black dust also...

 

[aragorn]

the stories ive heard all related to them disintegrating when your using them hard, and tbh, the last thing i want to disintegrate when pushing the car is the brake pads, so i'd be a avoiding them personally.

 

[AwesomeSarah]

I must admit , we sell ALOT of the Tarox discs and pads
The discs are all hand finnished and heat treated too , cracking discs
Then rather than mix discs and pads they do a rather good fast road pad called Strada`s and we have had quite a few people have these on the track days
One that always make me think was the Octy vRS 2 that boiled the brake fluid , but discs and pads OK
Was ready for new pads though by the end of the weekend
Sarah

 

[andyccr]

Cant recommend the DS2500 / DS3000 pads enough, even on standard discs. Have run EBC before, and will NEVER run Green Stuff on large cars - there have been loads of reports of the pads breaking up. However Green Stuff on smaller hatch backs have been fine, I did loads of track days with green stuff on my Focus with no problems.
A lot of my friends run 'cheap' performance discs from Brembo from their 'max' range and have been really happy with them.
Also have quite a few friends who run Porsches and the love 'Textar' pads.

However, I just went back for standard OEM pads and discs on my cabriolet - as its not doing track days (Thats what my new little 106 Rallye is for)

Andy