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After boosting my cars power, general hooning around, VMax & Sporting Bears Dream rides, it was obvious that though very good, my standard brakes were not up to the job on my S4. Also, as more power will be arriving soon it became an essential upgrade.

Quick email to Doug @ MRC regarding upgrading the brakes & after a little discussion it was decided to go for the RS5 upgrade kit. The kit fits with no adaptions so is straight forward to do needing 3hrs labour max.

They were fitted last Friday, a day ahead of giving Dream Rides (http://sportingbears.co.uk/index.php/) at The Supercar Seige at Leeds Castle. Not ideal as the brakes needed to be bedded in. So a very early morning bedding in session on a quiet road I know near Guildford was called for to give the brakes some chance of getting bedded in properly. Once completed I drove over to Leatherhead to meet up with Steve (Mr Ultimate Detail)& a friend of his who was in a very nice new M3, to drive the rest of the way to the Castle.

The brakes performed well & it makes you wonder why Audi don't put such brakes on the cars in the first place!! They have got better over the last few days since the weekend & are feeling good & looking good. I can certainly recommend the upgrade.

Doug took a few before & after pictures which are also on Facebook.

Can I ask about the cost? PM me if you prefer.

I think the brakes on the S4 are, quite frankly, <beep>. Love just about everything else but the brakes are IMO rubbish (along with the steering feel on occasion).

I find the breaks feel a bit spongy, if that makes sense. My Octavia VRS had a better feel when on the brakes, maybe they weren't as good but they just felt more responsive.

Maybe just some better pads might help?

The cost was £2511.36.

The brakes I thought were good until I did Vmax. After probably 2 runs they were past their best after slowing down from 170mph ish. Then later I was properly outbraked by the RS5 that was there which showed how bad they are. Considering the performance of both standard cars is not that far apart, it doesn't make sense to have brakes that are so very far apart on performance.

Nickyboy wrote:I find the breaks feel a bit spongy, if that makes sense. My Octavia VRS had a better feel when on the brakes, maybe they weren't as good but they just felt more responsive.

Maybe just some better pads might help?

Upgrading the pads, I have been told does make a difference to brake fade. I don't know enough about it to recommend anything but there will be someone who can if you post the question.

If you look at the pictures of my standard brakes against the upgrade, you can see the differences. Better power, better cooling, larger braking area. They are so much better now.

Whats standard, a sinlge / double pot sliding caliper?

Ian_C wrote:Whats standard, a sinlge / double pot sliding caliper?

From the first photo they look like 4 pot calipers.

The outside of the caliper looks too thin though to house any pistons? It looks like its a sliding caliper like the B6 and B7 S4, albeit with two pistons on the inside now instead of just the one

Hmmm, I see your point. Certainly looks too thin in the 1st and 3rd shots but hard to tell in the 2nd.

MikeFish wrote:Hmmm, I see your point.

Pull your zip up Ian.

Nice upgrade OP. Audi won't put these brakes on as standard, makes no sense to them at all if the standard are fit for purpose.

chunky79 wrote:

MikeFish wrote:Hmmm, I see your point.

Pull your zip up Ian.

Hahaha it took me 15 seconds to get that.

Ian_C wrote:

chunky79 wrote:

MikeFish wrote:Hmmm, I see your point.

Pull your zip up Ian.

Hahaha it took me 15 seconds to get that.

Should have left half the next sentance in too:

MikeFish wrote:Hmmm, I see your point. Certainly looks too thin

Major fail on my behalf.

Never noticed that my brakes are lacking, but mainly doing the school run and commuting to work. For regular road work them seem fine.

550superfast wrote:Never noticed that my brakes are lacking, but mainly doing the school run and commuting to work. For regular road work them seem fine.

I thought they were fine for normal road use as well. It was only when I started, shall we say heavier use, that with continual heavy braking over a fast run that you begin to notice the fade.

VMax is obviously not like everyday use but it is a good gauge of what your car can do over a certain distance on a track. I found that after 4 times, with spaces between the runs, of slowing down from around 170mph I was having trouble stopping.

Overall, with the type of driving I like doing I felt I needed to have the brakes upgraded. Most tuners will do it for the B8 cars so that tells you something. It also didn't make sense why the RS5 should have so much better brakes that the S cars. The performance of the standard cars is not that different after all.