Daily brakes
Turbo Mini Forums

I thought I would get some thoughts from you knowledgeable chaps.

I have a a6 1.9tdi as my daily, the 1.9 a6 has a well known issue of inadequate brakes as the discs are only 288mm on the fronts, the brakes are shared with the golf and a3 at some 400+ kilos lighter.

When I bought the car I experienced some significant fade on a run so as they were past their best I replaced with a standard but good grade of mintex/brembo. The replacements made the braking better but I can still get quite a bit of brake fade if I have a country road blast.

So... I have picked up some calliper carriers from a v6 A6 (shares the same calliper so no bleeding ect) as they are 312mm and are supposedly a good upgrade, but what pads? stick with the branded OEM stuff or go for a performance pad with a higher temp range? I really do not want to loose cold braking performance.

Trouble with a perfomance pad is they won't last long in everyday use, maybe 10-12k miles. Starts getting expensive. I'd try some good quality standard compound pads first. Don't overlook the fluid too, if its been in a while flush the lot out with some good quality DOT 5.1

I know mine is the C6 model and has 316mm discs fitted. I've always used the genuine stuff on it and never had an issue with the brakes. Perhaps a better comparison would be my old A4 which again had the larger front brakes and again, always used genuine on that without cause for concern. Usually saw about 25k between changes as well.

Both cars were the big diesels so hauling up a bit of weight

Wolfe I may have a set of discs and pads for an a4/6 in the garage with mintex oem spec pads, can have a look later if you like? We're going to go on a 1.8t a4, never ended up using any of it just sat in the garage since.

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-Ford S-max Mk2 Ecoboost
-Rover 100 VVC #2 - track project

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My A6 has the 288mm on them and compared to the missus A4 which has the 312mm's on it does feel underbraked (the A4 is actually heavier being a quattro though). I say just use OEM pads as the A4 stops plenty well enough.

If something is worth doing, it's worth doing half of.

In all fairness I don't have a problem with mine. You must drive like a hooligan

If something is worth doing, it's worth doing half of.

Thanks chaps.

I will take Toms advice and bleed the brakes through with new fluid in the morning as according to the service history its been 5 years since it was done last and even posh brake fluid is less than a tenner.

I already have the full 312mm conversion and have ordered the oem brembo pads so will stick that on after the fluid change as I want to see what difference that makes first.

John the brakes stop fine in every day pottering around but I don't like the feel of them I feel disconnected if that makes sense, I carry around 150kgs of kit in the boot on occasions so that will not help with the brake fade.

Edited by wolfie on 12th Aug, 2016.

The fluid could make a massive difference tbh. I never used to bother either. These days I've got into the habit of clamping off the brake flex when changing pads and opening the nipple then push all the old cooked stuff sat in the caliper out. Then with the new pads in a few presses of the pedal to move some new stuff down the lines. Makes a noticeable difference. My BMW works it's brakes hard so needs this doing periodically.

I generally get the fluid changed every 2 years