Ceramic Brake Pads - initial impression

[pwdrskr]

Ever since picking up my '13 allroad almost two years ago I have hated all the brake dust that accumulates on the rims. I'd get the car detailed and after driving home the dust build up would already be noticeable. I finally got sick enough of it earlier this summer and picked up some Hawk ceramic pads intending to use them immediately. Well, procrastination set in and the pads sat in their box all summer. I finally got around to getting them installed at the same time I had my exhaust replaced. Had the car detailed yesterday and was curious to see if the dust issue was resolved. Much to my delight after several trips in the car I can't see any appreciable build up of brake dust.

Just thought I'd share with the community....cheers.

[djibouti99]

I had the posi-quiet ceramics on for like a month. They reduced brake dust a lot, but I found the high temp fade to be pretty bad. They were fine around town, but when I was on the highway and had to make a quick stop, it didn't instill confidence. I ended up getting the Hawk HPS 5.0 and feel more confident when braking. Maybe the posi-quiets aren't the best ceramics.

[SDF1]

I had the posi-quiet ceramics on for like a month. They reduced brake dust a lot, but I found the high temp fade to be pretty bad. They were fine around town, but when I was on the highway and had to make a quick stop, it didn't instill confidence. I ended up getting the Hawk HPS 5.0 and feel more confident when braking. Maybe the posi-quiets aren't the best ceramics.

I got the HAWK HPS and they are amazing in SUMMER. In winter when it gets below -10C (14F) they are HORRIBLE, every degree below makes it 10 times worse. When it reaches -20C (-4F) they are dangerous to drive with. If your on the highway cruising for 10-15minutes not using them, the rotors and pads cool down to ambient temperature and when you need to use them.... well they are on vacation. I can't wait to get rid of them, just dont know what to replace them with.

[zokissima]

I got the HAWK HPS and they are amazing in SUMMER. In winter when it gets below -10C (14F) they are HORRIBLE, every degree below makes it 10 times worse. When it reaches -20C (-4F) they are dangerous to drive with. If your on the highway cruising for 10-15minutes not using them, the rotors and pads cool down to ambient temperature and when you need to use them.... well they are on vacation. I can't wait to get rid of them, just dont know what to replace them with.

IIRC HPS are not a ceramic compound. I've driven on ceramics in my past vehicles for years in our city, and in our temperatures, and have never had a problem.

[SDF1]

IIRC HPS are not a ceramic compound. I've driven on ceramics in my past vehicles for years in our city, and in our temperatures, and have never had a problem.

What pads are you using?

[uberwgn]

I had the posi-quiet ceramics on for like a month.

Posi-Quiet semi-metallics seem to work real well in all normal driving situations. So well that I removed ceramic pads that simply didn't have enough initial bite and stopping power.

[TDIaholic]

ATE ceramic pads are great and also work in the winter. I had them in my previous B8 and had absolutely no complaints. Much less dust than stock and seemed to last quite a bit better than EPC Green Stuffs, for example.

[youngd]

think i must be the only person to think that stock brake pads dont give off much dust haha, i can leave wheels for a month and there will be very little dust haha

[BMWBig6]

think i must be the only person to think that stock brake pads dont give off much dust haha, i can leave wheels for a month and there will be very little dust haha

Which wheels do you have? I wonder how much difference wheel design and the aerodynamic characteristics come into play with where brake dust is ultimately deposited. I definitely notice how different wheels streak in different places when driving through the rain. Perhaps open 5 spoke wheels collect brake dust different than multi-spoke or BBS basketweave style wheels. And concave vs. convex, etc. etc.

[youngd]

Which wheels do you have? I wonder how much difference wheel design and the aerodynamic characteristics come into play with where brake dust is ultimately deposited. I definitely notice how different wheels streak in different places when driving through the rain. Perhaps open 5 spoke wheels collect brake dust different than multi-spoke or BBS basketweave style wheels. And concave vs. convex, etc. etc.

I have the standard 5 Spoke S line alloys

[toast88]

think i must be the only person to think that stock brake pads dont give off much dust haha, i can leave wheels for a month and there will be very little dust haha

No way! I have installed ceramics on my front brakes and since my rears still had some life left in them I have held off on installing the ceramics. The difference in brake dust is unbelievable. Its been maybe a month or more since I washed my car (getting it detailed this weekend) and while the rear wheels are practically a different color with brake dust, the fronts are barely even dirty.

[r6_11b8]

ceramic hawk brake pads are awesome i ran them in my 350z street or track(unless i was on the brake a lot) they didnt give me any problems....im just waiting for my stock brake pads to wear out but honestly i might just say screw it and go sooner cus other than the brake dust (which isnt too bad) i cant stand the screeching noise first few time you apply the brakes

[AOW162435]

A friend has a 2010 A4 that has black wheels within days of a cleaning. Our 2014 A4 has zero brake dust accumulation issues. It's obvious Audi made a pad change at some point during the last few years.



Andreas

[TheHeiko]

A friend has a 2010 A4 that has black wheels within days of a cleaning. Our 2014 A4 has zero brake dust accumulation issues. It's obvious Audi made a pad change at some point during the last few years.



Andreas

Yes, Audi did. My wife's 2013 Q5 produces a minimal amount of dust. My 2009 A4, like others have experienced, had black wheels within a few days but I recently switched to Akebono Euro ceramic pads. The feel has changed and like others report, the initial bite that the OEM pads had is gone but braking is still good. It just took a little getting used to. The Akebonos produce very little dust as well. I had Akebonos on the front and OEM on the rear for about a week and the rear wheels were far dirtier than the fronts.

[Red87]

A friend has a 2010 A4 that has black wheels within days of a cleaning. Our 2014 A4 has zero brake dust accumulation issues. It's obvious Audi made a pad change at some point during the last few years.

Weird. My 2014 A4 produces a ton of brake dust, so much so that I'm cleaning once a week.

[SDF1]

Hmmmm, my neighbors A5 produces Zero dust. Can someone pull up ETKA and see the part numbers.

[BettaJetta]

I have some experience with Hawk pads and ATE ceramic pads. My original Audi pads and rotors were shot so I bought the rotors and I went with HAWK Ceramics. I drove them through the winter and they still worked pretty good but the dust was not eliminated. I still had a pretty frequent cleaning of the wheels but much less than the original pads. Once the Hawks were worn, I bought ATE ceramic pads and practically, no dust. After two weeks of driving 2500 autobahn miles, a very thin layer of white dust was on parts of the wheel. The ATE ceramics cost me 150 euro($194) which is a little expensive but I will buy them again. L searched German eBay and found them cheaper.