New pads/rotors for the RS5

A5/S5/RS5
#1

Recently, I had the brake pad warning light flash up for like a day and it disappeared. I thought for sure it was the rear pads as they have at least 40K miles on them. I drove for another week and then noticed I’d put a groove in the center of the rotor as the pads on the driver’s side had worn down to the rivets.

I went back and forth between Girodisc and JH Motorsports and in the end, with a Black Friday sale sealing the deal, I went with the JHM rotors. The Girodiscs have the advantage of being full floating vs. semi floating but the $300 price difference covered the pads and then some. Both are approximately the same weight and both are lighter than the OEM rotors.

I had EBC Reds on the rear which were honestly great. Somewhat low dust, no noise, no complaints really. But I knew I’d be switching over to Carbotech 1521 street pads once it was time. I ordered a set of those up and even though they weren’t in stock, I had them four days later. They’re made right here in the U.S. and I’ve used them on cars in the past with great success.

I’ll be producing a video on changing the rear and front pads although there’s already one good tutorial on this forum. As long as you have a VCDS or similar, it’s a very easy procedure.

I haven’t had a chance to bed in the pads/new rotors just yet but will do so as soon as I swap in new front brake pads. I can already tell the Carbotech pads will be a nice improvement and match the bite of the CCB fronts.

The brake pad light was in fact, a coincidence where the rear brakes were concerned. It wasn’t the rears telling me they needed changing as I found the wear indicator on the rear pads had been cut/spliced together so there was no dash warning light.

I now have the brake pad warning light on full time and given the rear sensor is effectively non-functioning, I knew it was the front brakes. I measured the pads with calipers on both the driver’s and passenger’s side and they’re not down to their minimum thickness. Not taking any chances, I went about ordering new CCB pads.

I’d had my heart set on the Pagid RSC1 pads which are about as pricey as the OEM pads, around the $500 mark. While searching for the best price, I stumbled onto CCB pads made by Brembo. Hadn’t seen these before and I was able to find them for a bit over $100 for a set! I also purchased new brake pad wear sensors and with expedited shipping, the whole lot came out to a bit over $200. At the very least, if they suck, I’m out $117 and shipping for the pads.

The pads are Brembo part number P65016. They have an even less expensive set which is part number P65016N. I went with the former.

They should be here on Friday and I’ll report back when I have some feedback on them. A good low-cost alternative will be a great thing for CCB-equipped cars.

2 Likes
#2

New pads for the CCB’s came in this evening. The “Brembo” pads are made by, you guessed it, Pagid! The Pagid part number on the back is Pagid PA4668*GG on one side with 23961 (4W9) 03 on the right. Same pad used on the Cayenne Turbo S, R8, Hurrican, etc…

The pads are huge. I should weigh the box, feels like a bowling ball in weight.

1 Like
#3

So just a little update while I’m waiting for the MTF to drain out of the transmission, I did install these pads last Friday and bedded them in a few days ago. They feel pretty darn good, very similar to OEM and I’d be hard pressed to tell the difference. The initial bite wasn’t as good right after installing but it’s since equalled the old pad in that department and I feel like I have a hair more torque mid-pedal pressure than the old.

One thing…those silver “weights” at the top and on either side of each pad (four per pad), will need to be drilled out. The OEM anti-rattle/tension spring uses the hole furthest out and those weights are in the way.

Look at the last photo above, drill out a bit of the shaft on that side, just above the 03 on all four and they pull right out. If you have a drill press, it’ll be far, far easier but you can do it with a hand drill.

I’ve contacted Brembo about this and they’re hoping a tech can reply by mid January. I’m sure many of them are off. Since it’s listed as an OEM replacement, I’d expect to be able to install them without modification. Once I get a technical explanation, I’ll post it here.

#4

Pretty sure the weights are there to reduce resonant frequencies by increasing the mass so ultimately prevent the dreaded brake squeal.

#5

I thought the same. I haven’t noticed any noise over the last set of pads and I’d rather have the balance springs in there and functioning.

Still curious as to why they specify this configuration for the RS5 and R8 when it doesn’t allow for the installation of the balance springs. The guy at Brembo thought the tech department would get back to me by mid-January.

It’s a minor annoyance considering the monetary savings over the OEM pads.

#6

Cayenne Turbo Brakes
Cayenne Turbo Brakes1280×960 101 KB

Porsche started adding the weights to balance Harmonics years ago when the pads started getting bigger and bigger. Maybe that is why Brembo/Audi went with the upper & lower pads per side (keeps the pad size smaller) on the 8 Piston Brembos starting with the C5 RS6’s, B7 RS4, and B8 RS5’s (Same calipers). Pic is of the weights on my Cayenne Turbo. 6 Piston Brembo 18z calipers, 380x38 rotors, standard Turbo caliper was the 17z, 350x34 rotors.

#7

They do use the 19Z on the Cayenne Turbo (some years) so that makes sense. Not sure why they don’t need a balance spring to keep equal tension on the pads left to right. It’s not horribly difficult to remove them, more just a slight PITA and takes more time to what is a very simple procedure.