It didnt stop

[sean red i]

hi all, twice now this has happened, doing about 70mph and gentle braking for say 10 seconds and suddenly needing to stop quicker (say coming to a roundabout). pressing the brake more and not slowing good enough. the peddle goes half way down hardly slowing. over shot and ended up just missing cars (that quattro is good). pads ok fluid level ok fluid changed 4 months ago. foot hard on peddle no skid or anti lock brakes. is this whats called brake fade?. do i need to replace discs etc with drilled pattern. are the brakes on this model not good enough (quattro weight). any help appreciated.
cheers sean
not interested in just drive slower as both times not speeding

[Dozz]

Peddle goes half way down? hmmm mine is solid with only a little bit of travel. Your saying you can't press the peddle hard enough to bring the abs in? or is this only in exreme conditions? You can try changing the pads When were they last changed? they may of become glazed over from to much gentle braking but this thing about the brake peddle points to maybe a master cylinder fault or you may have air in the system from when it was bleed. As for brakes not being up to the job Mine were smoking the otherday after a hard braking session and they were still up to the job. Mind you I do have some uprated disc and pads waiting to go on for my first track day!!!!!!!!!

[sean red i]

normal driving the car stops ok, hardly any play in the peddle 2 inches and thats enough. seems when i need extreme braking higher speeds it struggles.shows how hard i had to stand on peddle it went half way down and still ran out of road, no skidding or abs felt. do drive it quite hard (to often) so glazed? front pads havent been done for 18 months they are about half worn. any one recommend replacements (audi ones in there at the moment). discs seem good, hardly a lip on em.
cheers sean

[Huweth]

Could be a vacuum issue in the master cylinder?

[Dozz]

Well I will be using EBC performance pads. They come in several different compounds green being for sporty driving, red for errrrr even more sporty driving and yellow which are for competition use. I've gone for red with a set of ebc performance disks. We use to use these on a tarmac rally car and they worked really well. I remember once having to use green ones as they ****'d are order up they too worked without fade etc but we mullered two sets in 60 stage miles

[Dozz]

look at www.brakes4u.co.uk they are well priced and I've always had fast delivery

[sean red i]

tested car out today. when the brakes are cold all is well stops very quick with anti lock brakes. then took it on a work run, worst case lots of fast stretches with heavy braking for lots of roundabouts. if i pushed it the further i drove the worse the fade became. then took a mates 3.0 quattro a4 on same test. it was slightly better but had definite fade the further we went and pushed it. his pads are 1 month old. it may be extreme but im talking 70mph down hill then hard braking for several roundabouts. im going to look at new pads anyway and put drilled discs on to help. any other ideas welcome.i will look at sites recommended
thanks sean.

[nickynibbles]

You must be driving it pretty hard cos when I nail my 3.0 Quattro Sport on the twisty's the brakes keep trying to put me through the windscreen time after time. Have had the car for a year now and not changed the brakes, not sure when the previous owner changed them but know they're in good nick still & expect they're Audi OEM. The 2004 1.8T Quattro aparently had an 8mm larger diameter front disc over previous models, including the earlier 3.0 like mine! The rear discs are smaller though so that will make a little difference. My advice, re-bleed the system & make sure your not using DOT5 brake fluid, this is for competition use and fades with time, it also wont absorb any water moisture so you could get water pockets in the system causing reduced brake performance. If that dosent work then go for the uprated brake set up, if thats still not enough then you need a big brake conversion!

[sean red i]

fluid was done by dealer.first time i noticed it was before fluid was changed, thought it might improve it but no joy. the pads are due a change in next few months so ive decided to do em early. ordered a set of EBC reds £69. out of curiosity phoned dealer for price £60 for genuine. all places i spoke to about green/red pads said the green were not classed as an upgrade for 1.8t q 190bhp. the red were the next step up from standard for this vehicle. will fit next week let you no how they go.
yes the mate who was in the test and using his car said im pushing bit hard but thought it should stop quicker even if the brakes are very hot.
cheers sean.
ps discs look to good to change aswell

[nickynibbles]

Yeah, red's are an upgrade with green's more of a direct replacement. Only thing to watch out is the low temp performance. Had some red's on an Vectra a few cars ago & they were shocking when stone cold, took a few presses on the pedal to get them working ok. Nearly hit a granny in a car park once because of them lol!!!