3 Brake pads to choose from which do I buy?!

[flyguy327]

Basically Ive narrowed my decision down to 3 brake pads.
1)Carbotech Bobcats
2)Hawk HPS
3)Hawk Ceramics

I dont race or drive hard. To give you an idea i have 54,000 miles on my B7 and still have my OEM pads with no warning light. Im looking for lower dust and similar stopping characteristics to the OEM pads. Also im not planning on touching the rotors they are also OEM and are in perfect condition. If i could get some votes on those three choices and some words of wisdom i would really appreciate it!

[CX-7&A4]

Machining the rotors is a good idea to get the old pad material off.

I would skip over all of those and get these
http://www.buybrakes.com/ebc/pad-apps-Audi.html (EBC RedStuff) Truly a great pad.

DO NOT get Hawk Performance Ceramic! Nothing "performance" about them.

[Glassnpowder98]

Let me first start off by saying I do not have any experience with any of these pads... However, I would also suggest going with EBC redstuff. A lot of people on here will swear by Hawk pads. However from what I've heard from reputable friends and members on here, the Hawk pads are not all they're cracked up to be. I have only heard great things about EBC pads. I will be putting the yellowstuff pads on my car when I'm due for replacements. The yellowstuff is more of a street/track pad and has higher dust where the redstuff strictly more of a street pad.

[Papachristou]

i had hawk ceramics, no improvement in braking but no worse either..... excellent on dust. i could go 2+ weeks.. i got ferodos now and i have to wash nearly daily lol but they drag the car down like throwing a boat anchor out the back

[Hockenheim]

My brakes squeek like a mother******, what pads will squeek the least? And should I machine rotors?

[Blarg]

I have the Hawk Ceramics and love them! No noise or dust! I can't say they're better than the others you listed though. You'll want to have the rotors resurfaced before replacing the pads.

[Heratik]

Though I haven't used them on my Audi yet I was exceedingly happy with akebono ceramic pads. They had good stopping power, were absolutely quiet, and were the cleanest pads I've ever owned. I could go weeks without having to touch the chrome wheels I had at the time.

[flyguy327]

Im kinda weary of resurfacing the rotors tho. Im affrain they are gona thin them too much and im gona start to get the "shakes" when i step on the brakes. Right now they are perfect. Ill hae to admit im kinda surprised no one commented on the Bobcats those were prob the front runners for me.

[CX-7&A4]

Carbotech's are great, you can't really go wrong with those.

[Fade2Black]

Carbotech's are great, you can't really go wrong with those.

+1

I had the Bocats on my Subaru Legacy and drove the crap out of that car. The pads were still good after 40k. Theay are a little noisey, not squeky and not too bad with dust.

[artinmoTTion]

No question, these are all decent pads, but now having had multiple sets of bobcats front and rear, I wouldn't use anything else. Follow the advice of the carbotech people on the rotors.

[flyguy327]

what would the carbotech people want me to do with my rotors?

[CX-7&A4]

what would the carbotech people want me to do with my rotors?

If rotors were previously bedded using a different manufacturer’s brake pads; then it is strongly recommended that the used discs (rotors) be reconditioned/turned and meet minimum specification requirements.

..

[b7ftw]

i liked the Akebono Euro Ceramic Pads i had on my rabbit (got them from tirerack.com). There was no noise, barely any dust (huge improvement over OEM), and the braking power was like the OEM were... I also upgraded the rabbit's brakelines later on to Goodridges (also from tirerack) which suprisingly made quite a difference in peddle feel (it braked slightly harder over OEM)...

anywho, that was for my rabbit, for the B7 i dont know what to suggest as i am still running stock myself.