Honeymoon is over

[Inrev]

As much as I love this car I can't get over the feeling that Audi has cut corners while designing it.

I'm really disappointed in the brakes. Sure the car brakes very well but it's having a hard time dissipating heat. If you look at it carefully you'll notice that Audi is using the same discs on both side and that therefore one side is mounted backwards. This seems to provide inadequate cooling on the right side. Audi has NO EXCUSES for doing this except to lower costs. Now that's understandable for a family sedan but for a performance vehicle such as the R8? Unacceptable.

Now after my fifth DE I'll be on my 3rd set of rotors.

The other thing that really bothers me is when hard braking coming up a hill, the ABS system goes crazy, making the pedal really hard and making it hard to brake well. It's happened to me often enough to notice that'S where the problem area is.

Finally watch the keyfob, I hit mine with my knee and shut down the whole car right before a sharp turn. That was scary to say the least.

Bottom line is I'm disappointed with this so-called performance car. As much as I'd love to track it more I will relegate it to road trips and driving around town.

[harrison]

I thought I noticed more brake dust buildup on right side.My imagination, or do the baxkwards rotors/heat cause this. I'm still enjoying .Need to do a track to really scare myself. This car is too safe for the streets. will start to leave esp off for a change. Cuz i'm pretty sure the car cannot be taken OUT of all wheel drive. Our cars were built at the start of this great depression. Savvy Audi management forsaw this bleak situation...Thus cutting,cutting,cutting.

[Dan1]

As much as I love this car I can't get over the feeling that Audi has cut corners while designing it.

I'm really disappointed in the brakes. Sure the car brakes very well but it's having a hard time dissipating heat. If you look at it carefully you'll notice that Audi is using the same discs on both side and that therefore one side is mounted backwards. This seems to provide inadequate cooling on the right side. Audi has NO EXCUSES for doing this except to lower costs. Now that's understandable for a family sedan but for a performance vehicle such as the R8? Unacceptable.

Now after my fifth DE I'll be on my 3rd set of rotors.

.

Could you let us know what kind of use it is that is requiring you to replace the discs??

Are you replacing left and right?

Why do you not replace them with the Carbon/ceramic rotors??

[HovyR8]

Inrev,

How did it go at the track at Mont-Tremblant?

[HovyR8]

As much as I love this car

On my end, I am finding the R8 more and more less practical for everyday. I realized I am spending more time driving the Cayenne than the R8. I think the type of comfort I want has to do something with it. Don't get me wrong, it's a very comfy car, especially for a sport car. The R-Tronic is also becoming a bit of a burden to me as well.

I thin I lost my racer gene. Am I becoming an old man?

I have a SL63 on the way and I think I will sell the R8 eventually.

ps: don't throw rocks at me, the R8 is a fantastic car

[MotherTucker]

Yes, I have also noticed the ABS kicking in when braking hard when going sharply uphill. I experienced it last weekend at VIR. It was not a big problem, but it was noticeable. Once my Hoosiers heated up, it seemed to not happen as easily.

I agree it's kind of strange on a car that is of such high quality otherwise to save a few bucks by running the rotors backwards on one side, although my pyrometer didn't measure a significant temperature difference left to right.

3 sets of rotors in 5 DEs is a lot, I got about 6 DEs in on my first set, and I'm well into the 2nd. Some news here is that I just sent one of the used front rotors to a 3rd party rotor manufacturer who is going to use it to get the specs for producing slotted aftermarket rotors for the R8, with the vanes running in the proper direction on both sides. Hopefully they will come thru as they plan. I'll let you know.

Never heard of anyone turning the car off by accident by hitting the key fob with their knee, that sounds nasty!

But otherwise, my opinion is that the R8 is such a tremendous track car that it's well worth tracking. I've found it's right around as fast as a Porsche GT3. I love tracking it, and people love seeing it there. It's so incredibly well balanced, and so smooth and flat (especially with the H&R sport springs) and with the aftermarket exhaust the sound is so awesome. It literally attracts crowds there in the paddock.

Dan1, you can't just pop on a ceramic rotor. The ceramic rotors use different calipers and also different brakelines and master cylinders. And the failure mode of the steel rotors is hairline cracks coming off of the drilled holes. When that happens, it's not long until the entire rotor cracks in 2 or more pieces.

mt

[MotherTucker]

If you're interested, here's an in-car video of the R8 running some pretty fast laps at VIR. It was the Grand East course, 4.2 miles, 34 turns, about a 3 minute lap time. It was a blast, and the R8 performed superbly.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnQGolQnunw[/ame]

It looks best if you view it over on the YouTube website (not here), and then switch to HQ and then run it full screen. You can then read the speedometer the whole time.

MT

[darkmatter]

whiners. ;^)

[desperado]

... video of the R8 running some pretty fast laps at VIR. MT

Looks like VIR is a very fast track, lots of high speed segments. Very nice!

[bz888]

But otherwise, my opinion is that the R8 is such a tremendous track car that it's well worth tracking. I've found it's right around as fast as a Porsche GT3. I love tracking it, and people love seeing it there. It's so incredibly well balanced, and so smooth and flat (especially with the H&R sport springs) and with the aftermarket exhaust the sound is so awesome. It literally attracts crowds there in the paddock.


mt

I fully AGREE! Tracking the R8 with Mag Ride, H&R Springs, Pagid Yellows, Dedicated Track Rotors, Castrol SRF and some HOOSIERS is INCREDIBLE!!

I'm hanging with GT3s and some RSs!!! No problems with brakes or grip or anything else...it freaking ROCKS!!!
The R8 is a track weapon with some small mods...

Something must be going on with your setup...