Anyone fitted better brakes?

[dmaudi]

I have plans to improve the braking of mine,

I have a set of these that I can take off my other car that I'm thinking I might fit to the S4,

RS6 390mm discs and calipers

anyone know if its been done, not a problem really, as no one had fitted them to the insignia before I did,

but always good to get the experience of others, or what has anyone else done to improve their ability to stop?

?

 

[Scotty]

I can activate ABS if I brake hard enough. i.e. I'm at the limit of the tyres tracton. Changing the brakes won't change that.

Big brakes look nice and will keep braking at optimum performance for longer before fading if you're doing trackdays etc

What are you trying to achieve?

 

[wolfie138]

don't think i need better brakes, TBH, the Dynamik tends to smack your head off the windscreen if you stand on the brakes as it is.

 

[Scotty]

Are the Dynamik brakes any different to other A4's?

 

[dmaudi]

I can activate ABS if I brake hard enough. i.e. I'm at the limit of the tyres tracton. Changing the brakes won't change that.

Big brakes look nice and will keep braking at optimum performance for longer before fading if you're doing trackdays etc

What are you trying to achieve?

increased stopping power from high speed, fade resistance for road and track days and later braking potential is what I'm trying to achieve, also will have a set spare and rather than try to sell them it makes sense to me to fit them

the S4 has better brakes already than the other A4 models, but I have already found them to be less than perfect now the car is getting faster, coming back on the autobahn last month it was noticeable that after a few 3 figure decelerations the pedal was softening

 

[Zafi]

Try changing your brake fluid to Motul RBF660, eliminated brake fade when I used to race.

 

[wolfie138]

Are the Dynamik brakes any different to other A4's?

honestly don't know, bud - it might just be my perception, going from a small Chevy to a cracking sports car. all i know is if you stamp on the brake pedal it's like snagging an arrester cable, specially if the 255s are on good dry tarmac.

 

[TripleD]

doubt the brakes are any different, but they do feel sharp, but from a chevy anything is gonna brake better, you had to chuck and anchor out the window to stop it!

 

[wolfie138]

lol, not far off.
when i took the Dynamik for a test i almost cacced myself pulling out of the dealership - had to stop at the road to let traffic clear and i stepped on the brakes like i did in the Chevy. fkr just slammed to a deadstop : i was 100% sure i'd hit the wall/kerb or something. i was immediately formulating plans to park at the furthest end of the carpark when i got back and do a runner saying i didn't like the car :-D

 

[razza1]

No idea, but out of interest and unrelated, how was the insignia for a car, assuming it was the vxr...?

 

[dmaudi]

yes its a VXR, compared to the S4 its quite different,

while they are suggested in the press to be comparable cars, they really are not, i didn't have it standard for very long but its a very capable car and has great presence on the road

the Insignia is a lot bigger, and at nearly 2000kg it can show, but it really moves and runs up to autobahn speeds pretty easily, and is really stable at speed, almost too easy to drive it fast.

it is not as well made, but what is? but is a great car to cover big mileage in, but also with the torque vectoring it handles the power really well and is easy to hustle along,

I still have it, right now its the most modified and probably most powerful Insignia VXR in the UK as it has been modified with a big Garrett GT30 turbo and a whole lot more, I have used it on quite a few track days too where it really moves despite its weight, right now it is off the road waiting a rebuild with a strengthened bottom end in the drive to get it beyond 500bhp

probably sell it this year now I've got the S4, I'm looking for a more specialist track toy instead

 

[razza1]

Sounds like a good example, but for general road use and fun, what's your opinion on the best one considering handling, acceleration and not forgetting cost.. .(standard wise, not modded, or not extreme anyway)

 

[dmaudi]

Sounds like a good example, but for general road use and fun, what's your opinion on the best one considering handling, acceleration and not forgetting cost.. .(standard wise, not modded, or not extreme anyway)

Sounds like a good example, but for general road use and fun, what's your opinion on the best one considering handling, acceleration and not forgetting cost.. .(standard wise, not modded, or not extreme anyway)

OK to answer for Standard car vs Standard car

Handling, stay with me here.....I would say the Insignia has the edge in standard form, it has a very advanced chassis, including adaptive damping, torque vectoring and depending on mode, up to 85% rear power transfer

....now most of those the S4 can do too, but not as a standard car without some pretty pricey factory extras.

spec up an S4 with those features and there is nothing in it, but being lighter and smaller I would say on winding or country roads the S4 would be better, although the damping and ride of the insignia even on 20" wheels is better.

acceleration - the S4, probably half to a full second quicker everywhere

cost, mmmm
Insurance and Tax almost identical
mpg - around the same for me 19mpg ish on my normal mix of driving

cost of ownership
Insignia new -34K, I got mine for £25k NEW after 2 years now it is probably worth £15k, so from list price that is pretty damn scary, but as nobody pays list for a Vauxhall £5k per year depreciation is pretty good,

road presence though, not much comes close to the VXR, gets a lot of positive reaction, whereas the S4 slips by unnoticed, even in sprint blue, maybe the A4 shape is a bit safer or familar, and certainly less visually aggressive than the VXR


when it comes to modifying though, the S4 has a much better range of options, there has been a lot of great work done all round the world now to develop this car, and it is a better base for tuning, and being better built and lighter more capable of responding to that

the Insignia, one map existed when I got it, and everything on mine has been developed on mine, so its been a pretty testing 2 years of ownership, a few other companies have done things to the Insignia, but its pretty much mid level tuning only.

overall,

car I most want to own though, the Audi, only had it since december but as said above, the VXR despite all I've done to it, will be sold this year and the S4 will be kept for at least another 12-18 months,

 

[razza1]

Very interesting,thanks for the insight.