First post since getting my RS5 cabriolet 1 year ago; nice to be a member. Some advice, please.
I took the RS5 cabriolet to Road America in mid October, thought I would post my experience.
I took it bone stock to Autobahn Country Club track in Joliet, IL in July, a track I have run for 50 or 60 track days, hundreds of laps. It was wet for the first session, and I enjoyed blowing off vettes and vipers that had to cool it in the slippery stuff. I kept the nannies on for the early laps then dialed back to the competition mode, but did not turn them off. Then the sun came out. 40 min total and the front pads were done. I headed home.
After reading up on others’ experinces I ordered a set of Carbotech XP 12s in the front, and a set of ECS rotors, which only come slotted and drilled but seemed to be a reasonable, less costly alternative to the stock rotors. I had a set of XP8s installed in the rears, with the idea that I could leave the XP8s on in the rear and do the quick-change for the fronts with 1521 street pads and have a setup with an easy change for track duty. The fluid was Endless DOT4, which is the new factory fill for GT3s. The pads came pre-bed from Carbotech.
I took the car to Road America with that setup for the last track weekend of my season. It was cold in the AM (36 degrees and windows down required…), and overall the car did well for the first few sessions, 30 minutes each. The handling was confidence-inspiring, but the car felt as nimble as one might expect from a 4,400 pounder. As the day wore on, there was some extra pedal travel at the end of the sessions, and I was sure to do some extra cooling off on the street between sessions.
After 1.5 hours on track, the front pads were noticeably worn but I had enough for one more session. Spider webs cracks had already begun to form on the rotors. At the end of that session, the setup was done:
Outboard pads were at the backing plate, and the dust boots had deformed:
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a348/vette_ruminator/IMG_2700.jpg
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a348/vette_ruminator/IMG_2710.png
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a348/vette_ruminator/IMG_2711.png
and the rotors looked like they had way more than just 2 hours/4 30 min sessions on them:
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a348/vette_ruminator/IMG_2736.jpg
The tires were the stock PZeros, and I tried to keep the pressures in the upper 40s hot/40 cold. The rear pads had plenty left.
I’m sure there were factors related to extra wear: I started the sessions with the nannies on until I knew what the track surface was like. The very cold temps meant large temp swings on the rotors and cracks may have been accelerated from this, etc.
That being said, one of the instructors happened to bring his wife’s RS5 cabriolet and they had spoken with Carbotech before the event. Based on the abuse the car would take, Carbotech suggested XP24s in the front, XP12s in the rear for the 2 day event. At the end of day one, when my setup was done, they had nowhere near the same wear, he felt that setup was good for maybe 3 days. He was on the stock rotors.
For comparison, a buddy of mine brought his unicorn to Road America: a blue Cadillac CTS-V wagon with 550 hp and 4,600 lbs. His stock rotors are blanks, and he used Hawk DTC 70 front, DTC 60 rear. After 2 days, he still had plenty of pad left. Food for thought.
At this point, I need to take the XP8s off the rears because the noise when they warm up is driving me nutty.
I need to have the dust boots replaced, and I wonder if anyone on the forum has had this issue. I have been to a few highly regarded local shops and they say they will get back to me re whether they can get the boots or a rebuild kit, but they don’t seem to have any answers. I may have to suck it up and go to the dealer and pray for a warranty repair with the thought that the part should not have failed, but I’m not hopeful. The 1521s are on at this point and the pistons are therefore pushed back and not exposed. There are no leaks and the pedal pressure etc is normal.
Any advice re the dust boot issue??
Thanks