Thumbs up for Raven MS

[Brav]

Just thought I would put my $.02 in regarding my experience. Firstly, they were willing to take my heap of service parts I had already bought and do the labor for my timing belt, trans flush, PS pump replacement, etc. I had intended to do it myself, but ran out of time. Matt and Riccardo were great to deal with.. not only are the extremely reasonable in rates, especially relative to the stealership, they are quite knowledgeable and helpful. I got many email updates along the way, they graciously sent my TCU to Hoppen, and took care of several small nuisances for me while they had her under the knife.

Both Matt and Riccardo spent a lot of time going over what was done, what they saw in my car. Mostly good stuff, I was happy to hear, except for my blown DRC and control arm bushings :( It was very refreshing to hear about it from the horses mouth instead of just dropping off, picking up and leaving.

I know its been said, but I highly recommend them for So-Cal RS6/Audi service. I was also able to drive their manual-trans swap development car. It was probably 95% sorted out and still had some minor details to fix, but what a great experience. The car felt much lighter on its feet (not so much toss-ability, but throttle response wise, etc), and seemed to require less effort from the engine. Probably 80% my imagination. I was also sold on the EPL tune.. that thing pulls! Very smooth.

Anyhow, along with the full timing belt service/plugs/filters etc, I had all BND fluids added. So far so good with the trans (133k miles on the clock). I was nervous to flush it but the TC had been replaced about 40k ago, and I assumed they would have flushed it then so it wasn't untouched. Acted a little strange for the first few miles, then seems to be dead on so far. I guess the TCU had to re-learn. So far, vv=ery happy with the results, will report again on it later after more miles.

Next up.. EBC Reds + JHM Rotors. This should keep the maintenance gods off my back for a while!

Cheers to Raven! :rs6kiss: :mech: :thumb:

[hahnmgh63]

Good to hear Brav. I had a good experience with Matt as I purchased the tranny that came out of the manual RS6 car. He was great on shipping and didn't charge an extra penny, just actual costs. You don't happen to remember how many miles the developmental car had on it do you? I forgot to ask how many miles the tranny had on it. I was planning on sending it to Tozo sometime to have it rebuilt anyway.

[Brav]

I think it was around 80k if my memory serves.

[Brav]

Just thought I would update everyone since I had so much work done at once.
Major Service -
After the first 24 hours of getting my car back, I noticed a rough idle a couple times. At one point after a warm start, it was idling rough, and then after driving it lost power, and engine light was flashing. It went away and drove normal. Then it came back flashing again, and then went solid yellow. I was quite nervous and pulled over.. restarted, and was normal. It hasn't done it again, and just got one more rough idle a day later. I went to check codes, and got cyl 6, 7, 8 missfire and an O2 Sensor out of wack code. I cleared them, and all has been perfect since.... strange! I had put new plugs in, and put ACES in the fuel tank. Maybe the combination threw the ECU for a loop. For the last 3 tanks, it has ran like a top. Pulls very hard. Oh well, hopefully it doesn't come back. So far, the car seems to pull harder and smoother with ACES. (less midrange pullback). My ECU is stock for now.

MTM TCU - love it. Cold start shifting is much smoother. I paid for the part and had my TCU shipped same day. I hadn't gotten any confirmation from Hoppen, but they had it turned around same day no problem. Best mod for $ on RS6, period. I hope that with this and my BND fluids that my TC/Trans will last a long while. At least until I can set aside the funds for Raven to put in the 6 speed.

JHM Rotors/EBC Pads - They look great for one. I really like both the look and functionality of the slotted rotors over the OEM. The slots seem to be going the wrong way (should be opposite of the cooling vane direction) but I don't think its a real cause for concern. Maybe at the track, which I don't do with this car. I am getting a vibration which seems to be coming form the rear. I tried twice now to bed the pads in hard. On light braking, I get vibration. On very light braking, I dont. On very hard braking, I dont. Only light to light/medium braking, at higher speeds. It gets pretty bad sometimes. I suspect the rotors as I can feel a light pulsation in the pedal, and in the car as I come to a stop. This can only be caused by the brakes. I feel my body lightly surge forward with each full rotation of the tires.. Today I will pull it apart and see if I can find a problem. I hope its not a warped rear rotor :( Does anyone else have experience with these rotors?

Overall I am very happy to have my car back in great working order and no more brake dust/squeel/fear of timing belt grenade. Now I just have to replace all the front control arms.. I guess I should upgrade this as well. And my DRC is blown out. I will have to save up more for a full suspension upgrade as this last round of service dented the wallet pretty well.

[Chung]

I have the JHM rotors on my car but I would not say I have experience with them. I can however say that I am not experiencing the same vibrations that you are. I think I only have them on the front though.

[Brav]

Thanks for the feedback. Which pads do you have?

[Chung]

Hawk HPS pads. They are from the previous owner so I don't know much about them. Sorry I am not a lot of help.

[V8weight]

Hawk HPS pads. They are from the previous owner so I don't know much about them. Sorry I am not a lot of help.
Oh, that's right, you have PU's old car. Yeah, you have JHM rotors in the front with HPS pads. I don't think he had done anything with the rears.

[Brav]

No problem. It looks like I have a glazing or pad transfer problem.. disks are discolored a bit. Maybe JHMs don't like EBC Reds.

[V8weight]

No problem. It looks like I have a glazing or pad transfer problem.. disks are discolored a bit. Maybe JHMs don't like EBC Reds.
I know that I've had nothing but problems with glazing with the EBC reds and stock rotors. I'll be switching to something different on my next change. I'm looking into Porterfield R4S pads. We run Porterfields on alot of out PCA club cars at the shop. The EBC's seem to be melting down on the rotors creating hot spots.
http://i722.photobucket.com/albums/ww228/Pellis833/001-16.jpg
http://i722.photobucket.com/albums/ww228/Pellis833/002-20.jpg

[Brav]

Pic of the rotor after about 500 miles or so.

[Brav]

Coincidence.. looks like the same issue. As I inspected the rotors today, they l ook more like yours with the coloration. I will call someone at EBC and see if they can recommend a solution. Porterfield is 10 miles from me here in CA..

Tell DPE to send you the new style Center caps :jlol:

[V8weight]

Yep, your pads are melting down. Something has changed with the EBC's. These things are no longer proficient for our cars for some reason.

[Brav]

Maybe I went too nuts with bedding them in.. I'll try going easy on them and see what happens.

[V8weight]

Coincidence.. looks like the same issue. As I inspected the rotors today, they l ook more like yours with the coloration. I will call someone at EBC and see if they can recommend a solution. Porterfield is 10 miles from me here in CA..

Tell DPE to send you the new style Center caps :jlol:
Oh, that's right, Porterfield is right in your neck of the woods. I'd highly recommend them, like I said, we run their pads on almost everything at the shop, and they'll be the next set of pads on my car. The new crested center caps are somewhere on my grocery list, after I refinish the wheels themselves.

[ben916]

Pic of the rotor after about 500 miles or so.

I wonder if the slot rotation possibly being on the wrong sides, it might have slightly warped the rotor?
It also looks like the slot is jam packed with brake material...

[hahnmgh63]

Have you guys ever used the EBC Yellows? I use them on my track / DE car and they dust more than the Reds, at least twice as much, but they are more of a performance pad than the Reds. When I did Bob Bondurant a few years back the cars had EBC Yellows or Blues on them then. I'm ready for a Rotor/Pad change and have new OEM Rotors and Reds but I'm thinking about going to Yellows on my car, I live out in the country so it isn't unusual to find me speeding with some high speed braking.

[Brav]

I wonder if the slot rotation possibly being on the wrong sides, it might have slightly warped the rotor?
It also looks like the slot is jam packed with brake material...

Yea I really question the slot direction. I dont know how much of a factor it will be on a street car however. I called JHM and they said another RS4 customer reported the same problems I have with EBC reds with their rotors. I will go for a melt-the-rotors bed in session one last time and see what happens. I did find a way to trail brake I think a lot of the crap clogging the slots is that nasty coating that comes on the pads.

As for the rotor coloration, I was told that this was normal and necessary step for the break in process.

If I don't sort it out, I will go with Porterfield or Hawk. Right now I am deciding between KW or PSS9s, which will in turn allow me to throw on the aftermarket control arms (wont fit on stock suspension right?), which will eliminate a lot of suspension slop and vibration..

[Brav]

Have you guys ever used the EBC Yellows? I use them on my track / DE car and they dust more than the Reds, at least twice as much, but they are more of a performance pad than the Reds. When I did Bob Bondurant a few years back the cars had EBC Yellows or Blues on them then. I'm ready for a Rotor/Pad change and have new OEM Rotors and Reds but I'm thinking about going to Yellows on my car, I live out in the country so it isn't unusual to find me speeding with some high speed braking.

Im not familiar with EBC Yellows but I wouldn't use a race pad on a street car. I have done this and it can suck. Typically harder metals, wear thru rotors faster, and require hotter temps to be effective (cold braking sucks). Most any decent pad will stop you the same way, but higher quality pads will have less fade. Race pads will have very little fade after repeated stomping. I wouldn't switch to a race pad just for occasional sprints on the street.

[hahnmgh63]

Here is some info off their website. http://www.ebcbrakes.com/automotive/yellowstuff_brake_pads/yellowstuff_brake_pads_4000.shtml They are not metallic and I haven't had but an occaisonal squeal out of them on my 911. They are supposed to be a little more performance oriented than the Reds, more heat resistant, great wear resistant, with the drawback of more dust though, similar to OEM dusting. I have noticed more dust in the 911, not as much as the OEM brakes but more than the old Repco Metalmasters I was using.

[Brav]

Reading their site, it says (not specific to the reds) that I was supposed to drive SOFT for a few hundred miles, THEN do the hard bed-in process? oops. wonder what the recourse is now.. will take it easy for a few tanks and see if it gets better.