b6 uprights/brakes :)

[tangerinedream]

hi all i think the time has come to improve brakes. ive heard a few of you using b6 uprights, i was wondering what else would need to change ie bearings, cv joint/driveshaft?? and what the best brake upgrade would be ??

thanks all

 

[aragorn]

Depends what car your starting with.

 

[tangerinedream]

does help is b5 1.8t fwd pf

 

[aragorn]

Ok, so all B6's have the "large" bearing and CV, whereas your car will have the small ones.

To fit B6 uprights, you will need to change the driveshafts for those from a B5 FWD V6 model, as they use the same gearbox but have large outer CV's. Then you'll need the appropriate brake calipers.

 

[tangerinedream]

ok cool thanks mate what setup would you go for 312mm or go for s4 setup??

 

[aragorn]

if you want 312's you dont need to change the uprights, just get some TT carriers and bolt them on.

S4 brakes are ****.

The common options after that are B7 A4 320mm brakes or B6 S4 345mm brakes, both of these require an upright swap.

 

[Jason.s]

Could it be cheaper to get some custom caliper brackets made to use the standard upright but change the extra width to take the 320mm disc and bolt spacing to take the new caliper for instance? Or is it not that simple? Also guess it depends how cheap you find some uprights and driveshafts too.

I think ECS also list the discs and caliper carriers for an upgrade like this using the existing calipers. I would check again but the sites down for work currently.

 

[Broken Byzan]

if you want 312's you dont need to change the uprights, just get some TT carriers and bolt them on.

S4 brakes are ****.

The common options after that are B7 A4 320mm brakes or B6 S4 345mm brakes, both of these require an upright swap.

Or B6 uprights and 365mm RS4 brakes......

The biggest problem is that there are no adapters available for brakes on "normal " spacing bar the 312mm TT carriers.

I would get some ds2500 pads and stay with the std or 312mms unless you want to go large. The brakes are plenty good on DS2500s

 

[Jason.s]

Probably what i`ll do for the time being to be honest and then maybe next year or something look at getting some carriers made and using the b7 set up without swapping everything else.

Also wouldnt mind doing something with the rears but being a FWD causes issues as usual. Maybe carry on the thought that Kev had ages ago on a thread i found from him about using A6 rear hub/bearing one piece instead of the current fwd bearing and stub axel set up.

 

[aragorn]

The problem with "making" carriers is that they're not just lumps of metal with four holes drilled in like you find with 4 pot conversions.

The carrier wraps around the disk and holds the pad inplace. Its in effect part of the caliper. Making something like that would be mentally expensive, certainly many times more than just buying a couple of B6 uprights off ebay for £50.

 

[Jason.s]

Aye i know. My mate works for hewland engineering so he could easily knock up a CAD drawing for me and some guys in the workshop could machine me a carrier costing less than if i went elsewhere. But its atleast a year away before i`d consider looking into if i didnt already have something else sorted by then. But then looking at porsche calipers you`re always saying the piston size doesnt match up and stuff so god knows. Uprights and shafts i cant be dealing with at the minute.

 

[aragorn]

Some porsche calipers are fine, some arent. You just need to choose the correct ones!

 

[Jason.s]

Fair enough. Like not using rear ones like i`ve seen you mention before when asked lol.

 

[aragorn]

yeh, even the fronts have slightly to small pistons on some though.

EG normal 996 ones arent good, but 996 C4S/Turbo or 997 ones are fine.

 

[Jason.s]

What about Boxster calipers to retain the use of the 312mm discs? Like what W3sty has recently done on the S3. Or too small again?

ECS offers that set up as a kit and also this is the kit i said about earlier now the site is back up Audi B5 A4 FWD 1.8T > Braking > ECS Stage 1 > ES#1414 ECS Stage I Upgrade Kit - Slotted & Zinc Plated Rotors-Front - B5S1FS But that costs just over 500quid shipped but before import tax`s so probably not worth it

 

[aragorn]

afaik the boxsters are the same size as the small 996 fronts.

And if your going to the hassle of buying porsche calipers and sticking them on custom carriers, then surely you'd want to use the biggest disk possible thats available cheaply, which for us is most likely the 345mm B6 disk.

 

[Jason.s]

Well like the reason he did it, its a vast improvement on standard set up and its cheap to replace the discs. Looking at the cost of the S4 discs ok thats 30quid nearly per discs if you were to get genuine so nothing earth shattering but every little helps especially if you were using say DS2500`s like he is at roughly £120 a set. Keeping the costs down but yet having a good set up is the key really.

Otherwise you say spend almost 900 getting everything. Can get the Ksport kit with 8 pots on a 330mm disc for 750 with pads.

Plus i never plan to get 18" wheels so 330mm being the biggest (just) i could probably go under 17s it limits me.

 

[aragorn]

The B6 S4 345mm setup fits under the 17" S4 wheels, but needs a spacer for boleros.

And dont expect a huge improvement tbh?

You've got the same piston area, and the same disk size, so the torque applied per lb of pedal force is exactly the same.

The 4pot is more rigid, so you'll gain improved feel, and you might get a bit more fade resistance if the pad is larger.