ninjamonkey

I'm in need of new brake pads. I know how much of a contested topic this is: Mintex vs. Pagid vs. EBC vs. cheese vs. feet vs. etc.

OEM's are tried and true and dusty as a range horses ****. I'm thinking of just trying the EBC's Green Stuff on standard discs (probably will cut 'em for good measure), despite outcries of warping and material deposits. I'm actually tempted to try the Red Stuff, but wonder if I'd actually get to appreciate them with normal street driving. The longer wear would be nicee... but will it be worth the extra bucks? Hmm...

Anyhow, for the '99 A8, are the right Green Stuff pads part#DP2836(front) and #DP2370(rear)? I don't want to disassemble my brakes to find out the new pads are the wrong size. Also, did the rear set of Green Stuff come with the self-locking bolt replacements (they come with OEMs), or do you have to get those at the dealer?

Tirerack.com has the Green Stuff in a 4pads/caliper set -- did any stock '99 A8's come with 4pads/caliper? Are these pads the same size as the 2pads/caliper set pads? If so, can I buy the 4pads/caliper set and use 2 now and use the extra 2 later? Are the wear sensors on 1 or 2 pads of the 4pads/caliper set?

Also, out of curiousity, do cross-drilled rotors make any difference in the rear? I mean, other than looking bad-***.

greenie

Of course its Green! LOL

skiracer

will eat through the green ones like a moth through a cheap wool suit. They also squeal like stuck pigs, even after proper seating (guess how I know this....). I think that the '99 A8 came with both single piston and dual piston front brakes, and you need to look at yours to see which you have. The single piston brakes use two pads per wheel, and the dual piston uses 4 pads per wheel. The pads are NOT the same size. I believe that the two oiston brakes are on the later VIN cars, but I could (easily) be wrong. As for cross drilling, it is cosmetic and actually makes the rotor weaker. Slotted rotors are far better. I would get brake pad recommendations from ryoung- he's the master on that subject.

bpower1

i may be the only one... i had great luck w/green stuff pads on my 93 100csQ. no sqeaks

ninjamonkey

It's RED? What kind of rotors are you running?

ninjamonkey

How often are you running through them on your 100cs?

bpower1

i put about 15k on them before selling the car, and they had plenty left

ryoung

you really don't want either drilled or slotted rotors. They can help keep a pad free of glazing (and one possible source of squealing), but the additional biting edges of either holes or slots wears the pads a bit faster, ... which just makes more dust.

I never tried EBC pads, but harder and longer wearing Red Stuff pads may come at the expense of rotor wear, and rusting cast iron dust is probably the most difficult "brake dust" to remove.

If the EBC rear pads don't come with new bolts, you can order M8x1.25x20 bolts from ARP. I'm using their "Stainless 300" 12-point fasteners, which are much stronger than SAE Grade 8 and approximately equilavent to DIN 12.9 fasteners, plus a drop of blue Loctite. Metric fasteners are new for ARP, click on the 2004 New Products Bulletin at the bottom of the <A HREF="http://www.arp-bolts.com/">ARP Home Page</a>.

ninjamonkey

Called BrakesRUs to check on prices for the EBC Reds, and they told me that the "new" Greens have updated compounds to be just as durable and last just as long as the old Reds. He suggests that the old Reds will probably be phased out as it is updated for the new ceramic EBC "Reds" coming soon.

Is this bait-and-switch, or has anyone else heard of this new development?

skiracer

I'm running the ATE Power disk orbital slotted rotors- They're OK, not great.