Ur Quattro UFO Brakes - How good are they really?

[93URS4Avant]

Greetings Festive Lunatics.

I run UFO brakes on my 93 100 S4 Avant and have to say that I have only ever been pleased with the performance. Whether this is related to the fact I have not yet been able to fully unleash the maximum power of my car or not (recent bottom end failure - requiring new top and bottom of a healthy AAN engine...... anyone....), I wanted to throw the question of 'UFO Performance' out there because I constantly read and hear about big brake conversions, Porsche brake conversions etc, and although I would certianly not take anything away from the stopping power of larger brakes and the obvious Prosche upgrades, but I would like to understand more about the brake setup I have as I use them, and have some comparison between the differing setups.

Anyone out there want to step up to the plate?

[gedu]

Well.... First of, Ur Quattro isn't anywhere near your car, you have UrS4

UFO brakes are fine for normal driving, but not much else. They overheat quite easily and are only 1piston calipers. Rebuilding UFO brakes costs almost as much as decent 4piston caliper brake kit.

What really is behind "bad" braking performance is whole chassis, which likes to nosedive like no tomorrow, and resulting in 2 wheel stopping power, as rear brakes don't get enough pressure. On non snowy roads you can tinker a bit with brake balance, as there is pressure regulator connected to one rear suspension arm. Pressure regulator is attached to body, and connect by spring to suspension arm, there is some amount you can get preload to that spring as there is an adjustment on arm side to make things "stock" for normal C4 suspension height. This will give back brakes more pressure, but mind you I take no responsibility if you lose control of your vehicle because of "wrong" brake bias.

[93URS4Avant]

Interesting.......

[K7ERG]

Basically the same as above. Under hardish braking the UFO's suffer from heat. Normal driving that seem to cope ok. I had a A6 2.5tdi with had the newer caliper design with the smaller disc (288mm) and i found the braking was far better. I owned both cars at the sametime and used it on the same roads, similar speeds and braking. I know what setup i would trust more.

Cost is the other factor.

Also not the easiest to get replacements and work on.

I am putting Porsche Cayenne 6 pots on my URS4 with hopefully 365mm discs. If i get around to making the brackets.

Craig