13,000 miles warped disks - yes another one....

[klauster]

I'm on my 3rd set of discs, would say I am doing exactly what adsgreen has suggested above and it has made a difference as my current set are lasting well

[ArthurPE]

I'm on my 3rd set of discs, would say I am doing exactly what adsgreen has suggested above and it has made a difference as my current set are lasting well

how many miles per each set?
how many on this set?
what pads?

[klauster]

OEM pads, last set of disks didnt even last 5000 miles, this set have been on for well over 7k... I managed to get good will up to now, there is deffo something wrong the design.

[Dom81]

last set of disks didnt even last 5000 miles

[PetrolDave]

OEM pads, last set of disks didnt even last 5000 miles, this set have been on for well over 7k... I managed to get good will up to now, there is deffo something wrong the design.

My first set of OE pads lasted 33,000 miles, but I've been told to expect the current set to "only" last about 20,000 miles and to need new disks then.

That would make approx. 50,000 miles from a set of OE discs and an average of approx. 25,000 miles from a set of OE pads - doesn't sound like there's anything wrong with the design to me?

[bye bye]

OEM pads, last set of disks didnt even last 5000 miles, this set have been on for well over 7k... I managed to get good will up to now, there is deffo something wrong the design.

My first set of OE pads lasted 33,000 miles, but I've been told to expect the current set to "only" last about 20,000 miles and to need new disks then.

That would make approx. 50,000 miles from a set of OE discs and an average of approx. 25,000 miles from a set of OE pads - doesn't sound like there's anything wrong with the design to me?

Looks like you have been very lucky!

[RS6chris!]

All i can say is must be some heavy brakers around or a lot of track days?? I,m on 28k now on original discs (they are mint) second set of front pads with plenty left on them?

However i do engine brake alot and forward think in traffic to avoid wear and tear. I also look after discs etc by regulaly drilling out debris from holes...

[ArthurPE]

My first set of OE pads lasted 33,000 miles, but I've been told to expect the current set to "only" last about 20,000 miles and to need new disks then.

That would make approx. 50,000 miles from a set of OE discs and an average of approx. 25,000 miles from a set of OE pads - doesn't sound like there's anything wrong with the design to me?

I'm pretty much on pace for that
37k miles on the rotors (just mic'ed them at ~50%), although wear will accelerate as they get thinner...so 50k is a good guess

1st pads ~25k
2nd got ~12 on them so far

[PetrolDave]

Looks like you have been very lucky!

No, it's all down to driving technique.

I try to read the road ahead so I rarely use heavy braking, usually only when I misread the road (glancing at the map on the RNS-E screen can be very helpful) or something unexpected happens like another driver's "strange" behaviour.

Being in the right gear and being at the right speed for the road while keeping your brakes "in reserve" is how I was taught to drive, and when descending long hills or Alpine passes it makes sure you still have brakes at the bottom!

Good driving is about smoothness and anticipation, not about neck jerking acceleration and braking, your car is more stable and more planted and you get from A to B quicker and less stressed. Look at the Top Gear fast laps - the smoother they look, the quicker they are.

[klauster]

Looks like you have been very lucky!

No, it's all down to driving technique.

I try to read the road ahead so I rarely use heavy braking, usually only when I misread the road (glancing at the map on the RNS-E screen can be very helpful) or something unexpected happens like another driver's "strange" behaviour.

Being in the right gear and being at the right speed for the road while keeping your brakes "in reserve" is how I was taught to drive, and when descending long hills or Alpine passes it makes sure you still have brakes at the bottom!

Good driving is about smoothness and anticipation, not about neck jerking acceleration and braking, your car is more stable and more planted and you get from A to B quicker and less stressed. Look at the Top Gear fast laps - the smoother they look, the quicker they are.

Well having driven a few cars, this is the first car that I have had so many issues with brakes, and I don't think i'm driving any different at all.... Audi assumed that there was a manufacturing issue with my last set, hence the vibration after a short period of time, remember that it could have been that they were poorly installed in the first place....

The bottom line is, I doubt any of the brakes issues RS4 drivers are having is down to driving style

[adsgreen]

The problem is the sheer size of the discs - both the RS4 (and my old VXR8) have larger than avereage discs. This gives them a huge leverage advantage over smaller ones so it only take a fraction of the contact force for them to start working. I'm convinced after my previous investigations that for day to day driving it's too easy to be to light on them and start down the road to disc wobble. Smaller disc sizes are not as prone as they need more effort to use them.
It's incredibly hard to warp modern discs through over using them - The design and construction techniques are so good that you'll be killing the brake fluid before the discs will start to overheat and fail.
I've done endurance racing on a set of OEM discs on another marque and they were fine.

That being said, you can wreck discs easily from installing them in the wrong way.

[P_G]

All i can say is must be some heavy brakers around or a lot of track days?? I,m on 28k now on original discs (they are mint) second set of front pads with plenty left on them?

However i do engine brake alot and forward think in traffic to avoid wear and tear. I also look after discs etc by regulaly drilling out debris from holes...

I'm not a heavy breaker, don't track and use engine breaking but I'm on my 4th set of front and 3rd rears, albeirt I skim mine now rather then replace for new. There is a lot to be said about the amount of brake dust that clogs the holes and generates hot spots in the discs causing high spots. Like said previously now I have EBC yellowstuffs on and the dust produced by them is less than OEM Pagid, I do not have near as many issues. Current discs ahve been on 12k miles and good. Mind some people replace fronts only to find it is the rears that have issues and if left to long I believe that the the vibration through the car from the rears will affect the fronts too. Did on mine.

The design I maintain is not the best and designed to a budget. Look at the size of the cross drilled holes on the 385mm Brembo discs, holes are at least 1mm wider on them.

[bye bye]

Looks like you have been very lucky!

No, it's all down to driving technique.

I try to read the road ahead so I rarely use heavy braking, usually only when I misread the road (glancing at the map on the RNS-E screen can be very helpful) or something unexpected happens like another driver's "strange" behaviour.

Being in the right gear and being at the right speed for the road while keeping your brakes "in reserve" is how I was taught to drive, and when descending long hills or Alpine passes it makes sure you still have brakes at the bottom!

Good driving is about smoothness and anticipation, not about neck jerking acceleration and braking, your car is more stable and more planted and you get from A to B quicker and less stressed. Look at the Top Gear fast laps - the smoother they look, the quicker they are.

RUBBISH.

Well, I had a Boxster S previously, drove like a loon and got 45k miles from the disks and 30k on the first set of pads.

13K from a set of high performance disks is not down to driving style. I drive in a very similar way to you..(although maybe not quite as well as you) ..it's my daily driver and I need to look after it.

I've driven 13k miles in 12 months which I do not think is excessive.

Your post was a tad assumptive

[bye bye]

All i can say is must be some heavy brakers around or a lot of track days?? I,m on 28k now on original discs (they are mint) second set of front pads with plenty left on them?

However i do engine brake alot and forward think in traffic to avoid wear and tear. I also look after discs etc by regulaly drilling out debris from holes...

I'm not a heavy breaker, don't track and use engine breaking but I'm on my 4th set of front and 3rd rears, albeirt I skim mine now rather then replace for new. There is a lot to be said about the amount of brake dust that clogs the holes and generates hot spots in the discs causing high spots. Like said previously now I have EBC yellowstuffs on and the dust produced by them is less than OEM Pagid, I do not have near as many issues. Current discs ahve been on 12k miles and good. Mind some people replace fronts only to find it is the rears that have issues and if left to long I believe that the the vibration through the car from the rears will affect the fronts too. Did on mine.

The design I maintain is not the best and designed to a budget. Look at the size of the cross drilled holes on the 385mm Brembo discs, holes are at least 1mm wider on them.

AGREED

[adsgreen]

The size of the holes won't cause this problem. Like it or not, Driving style can be a factor.

Seriously worth evaluating if you are being to easy on the brakes. Use them a little harder (not saying emergency stop everywhere) and it'll have marginal effect on the wear rate but could prevent such early disc failure.

Sorry - sounding like a scratched record now. It's just I spent a huge among of time researching this. Even had my discs sent off to be investigated and it was uneven pad material transfer causing the misalignment and not a warped disc.