Brakes: OEM vs All

[Mech_Mike412]

Hello Gents,

My A4 is just shy of 117k miles and in need of another set of pads/rotors.

I do know from talking to friends and fellow owners that the OEM pads and rotors are quite good all around equipment. They bite well even cold, they don't fade too much, and the rotors rarely warp. My own spirited driving and backroad attacks have shown this too.
I was planning on purchasing OEM pads and rotors but if I had one big complaint of the OEM pads is the horrendous brake dust which makes maintaining a clean car, quite a chore.

What I'm looking for is what other owners are running and what they reccomend for me or someone else in the same predicament. Are there any other pads out there that offer OE like performance or better with less dust?

Thanks everyone,

Mike

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[Deckster]

I can’t really comment on rotors because I bought OEM ones when I did my last break job a few years ago (old Audi). However, I’ve ran Akebono Euro pads and I like them a lot. I ran them on my old B7 on the east coast and I had no issues. I’m now running them on the west coast — still no issues. They also have little brake dust which is really nice with my TI setup! :D keep those wheels clean!

Hawk are good pads as well apparently but I can’t comment on those.

Dex


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[bellinghampster]

I second that for Akebono. They work well with super low brake dust. I've ran them on my past couple cars.

[Low and Behold]

I’ve run the maxbrakes.com elite rotors/pads and would recommend them to absolutely anyone. Never would have tried them until a few forum members recommended them


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[Audibot]

When I had bought my B7, I had to replace all 4 corners to pass MD inspection (pretty thorough here). Went with slotted discs from brakeperformance.com (apparently we also get a slight discount if you mention Audizine) and Hawk HPS pads. Hands down one of the best combinations. Not too much dusting, but when I sold them about 45k miles later, pads still had over had over half their life left and discs still had plenty of life left too.

More recently, I've been running Centric high carbon discs with their posi-quiet ceramic pads, and have had great experience with those, both in the A4 and my allroad.

[vce1232000]

Hawk HPS and stock rotors. Imo a combination. These pads will stop you when youll need them to. Low brake dust. Easy on the rotors. Imo ceramic pads are fine for everyday use. But will not very well under several hard braking cycles imo

[EvolutionArmory]

I use OEM pads and rotors. But then again I have gray wheels so the dust isn’t so bad looking 😀

OEM brake parts are great. Especially the rotors.

[canadianA4B7]

Brembo 18Z for me so I’ll just toss my 0.02 on pads. Hawk HPS+ pads I find are pretty powerful and grab well, dust i have no idea as current wheels are black, but after a weeks driving dust doesn’t seem too thick on the wheels when cleaning.

Many I’ve spoken to in euro cars seem to go with padgid pads as I believe they are oem used by Porsche and many seem to follow suit. I have not used them yet but may go with them when I switch out my rotors and ultimately am forced to do pads to mate 2 new surfaces.

[king_j]

I have ebc green pads. They are very good, but noticeable dust. Good bite.
They are paired with centric rotors.



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[KJack]

I tried non-OEM brake pads but then noticed a clicking noise whenever I used the brakes. I swapped them out with new OEM pads and the clicking went away.

[DC242]

I replaced my OE pads with Akebono not because they were worn out, but solely because of the brake dust. I got tired of cleaning my wheels every three weeks due to it. I've noticed no performance difference between the OE and Akebonos.

[wjg22]

+1 for akebono

[krewbrew]

I installed Hawk hps pads and centric rotors about 10,000 miles ago. The hawk pads have excellent stopping power, I ran them before on my A6 with great results. They also generate very little dust. I highly recommend them.

[tloft4]

+1 for akebono

same, i dont push mine hard very often but they work the same as oem did, dust is almost none compared to tons every 2 weeks. no noises, vibrations, or issues for last 8k miles on them. and po was nice enough to leave them in the trunk so cant complain

[Mech_Mike412]

Has anyone done some spirited backroad driving or autocross with the HPS or Akebono?

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[vce1232000]

Ive heated the out of mine on curvy down hill mountain 's on cruise get together's I never experienced brake fades with my Hawk HPS

[texpoops]

Akebono have been the best pad I’ve used so far, low dust takes priority for me though.


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[hemantpd1]

Akebono... Minimal dust and good price on Amazon.

[brev928]

We normally use Akebono and Pagid at the shop. I personally do not like Hawk due to dust but I cannot say for sure which compound I had as they were already on a car when I bought it. I used to be a fan of Mintex but they seem to have dropped off in quality over the years.

[doughboy17]

I simply deal with the dust. If you wash your car every week or two, using Sonax cleans the dust off easily. No scrubbing necessary -- spray it on, wait a few min., and rinse it off.

[80sGuy]

100% stock OEM Audi-branded brake pads and rotors. Will be my second replacement (third including original factory). They come packed in a Lamborghini box...hmm. Will be replacing them as the light has came on for some time, but I don't drive it as much. I've got about 1mm left on them.

[Der Konig]

Hawk HPS and stock rotors. Imo a combination. These pads will stop you when youll need them to. Low brake dust. Easy on the rotors. Imo ceramic pads are fine for everyday use. But will not very well under several hard braking cycles imo

That surprising, I managed to fade HPS on an Autocross course which is just ridiculous. Coming down the back straight at PIR at around 110mph the pedal is almost at the floor at around 40mph. And I do run motul rbf600.

Just saying, dont take that stuff to a track expecting to have a good time.

[vce1232000]

That surprising, I managed to fade HPS on an Autocross course which is just ridiculous. Coming down the back straight at PIR at around 110mph the pedal is almost at the floor at around 40mph. And I do run motul rbf600.

Just saying, dont take that stuff to a track expecting to have a good time.

I never tracked my car. Only spirited on twisted mountain roads

[Audibot]

If you run street pads on a track, you're probably not going to have a good time. At least not as good as if you got dedicated track pads.

[Der Konig]

I never tracked my car. Only spirited on twisted mountain roads

Yeah I read that, just seems with a ko4 avant on those roads you would fade those pretty quickly!

[Charles.waite]

Another happy Akebono customer here.

Eventually going to upgrade to some 17/18zs and S4 rears but not any time soon.

[vce1232000]

Yeah I read that, just seems with a ko4 avant on those roads you would fade those pretty quickly!

Im not really hard on the brakes like that on curve's ing downhill. I just drag the out of the transmission

[Seal1968]

I run Zimmerman coated rotors and pads here since we have snow...no issues ever. My car has the sport package with the bigger calipers, etc. It's nice to do an inspection and have zero rust on them.

+1 on Pagid blues...ran them on my Porsche and they are really good

[Charles.waite]

Sport package had the same brakes, unless it’s a weird Canadian package which I’ve never heard of.

[ctooley]

I did an S4 upgrade on my B7. Got slotted rotors all around from ECS. Front caliper carriers are from ECS as well. I picked up some rear calipers from the classifides on here. And as for pads, I’m running stock audi pads from a 2008 S4. I think all in I spent about $1000 and couldn’t be happier. From what I understand the S4 upgrade stops just as quick as brembo upgrades and has better overall balance.

[Flygman]

Sport package had the same brakes, unless it’s a weird Canadian package which I’ve never heard of.

2.0TS has S4 calipers.

[Charles.waite]

In Canada maybe. Because all US B7 A4s have the exact same 320mm rotors and calipers. The S4 has the 345mm ones.

Regardless, the larger rotors are definitely better so having the S4 carrier/caliper combo is a bonus.

[Flygman]

In Canada maybe. Because all US B7 A4s have the exact same 320mm rotors and calipers. The S4 has the 345mm ones.

Regardless, the larger rotors are definitely better so having the S4 carrier/caliper combo is a bonus.

In Europe too. Only difference between TS and S4 brakes are the carriers and rotor size. Calipers are the same. Normal A4's (or maybe just the first couple of model years) have smaller front brakes in EU.

[Seal1968]

Yes, my wife's 05 has smaller calipers and you can really tell the difference. Mine are the big red ones - a real difference in stopping power. I probably should look at my option sticker in the trunk to see what they are. lol

[4rings5stars]

I'll throw another on the pile for Akebonos. Gettting ready to do them again and we'll be going the same route.

[Mech_Mike412]

So quick question, I replaced all 4 rotors(OEM), all pads(akebono), installed new caliper guide pins, caliper bushings, and installed ECS Tuning SS braided brake lines, now my pedal is mushy and lacks bite. Plus there is a considerable more pedal travel until the brakes actually grab. I had the car at the dealer to bleed the brakes and after I bled them at home, no difference. I'm upset as this as ruined all my confidence in my braking abilities.

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[Charles.waite]

Akebono pads feel very “dead” until you get used to them. Just get used to them.

I prefer their deliberate lack of bite. Others don’t. To me it makes the brake pedal easier to modulate and less jerky on light application.

[vce1232000]

Has anyone done some spirited backroad driving or autocross with the HPS or Akebono?

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So quick question, I replaced all 4 rotors(OEM), all pads(akebono), installed new caliper guide pins, caliper bushings, and installed ECS Tuning SS braided brake lines, now my pedal is mushy and lacks bite. Plus there is a considerable more pedal travel until the brakes actually grab. I had the car at the dealer to bleed the brakes and after I bled them at home, no difference. I'm upset as this as ruined all my confidence in my braking abilities.

I told you the hawk HPS ROCK . But on a more serious note. Did you bed the brake according to Akebono brake in instruction . Also the pads will achieve its prime qualities in about 1000 miles of normal ing also .

[Mech_Mike412]

I told you the hawk HPS ROCK . But on a more serious note. Did you bed the brake according to Akebono brake in instruction . Also the pads will achieve its prime qualities in about 1000 miles of normal ing also .

Do they have a particular bedding procedure? I did a bunch of hard brakes from about 50 mph down to about 5-10mph.

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[vce1232000]

Do they have a particular bedding procedure? I did a bunch of hard brakes from about 50 mph down to about 5-10mph.

Different manufacturers varies bedding procedures. I bedded mine in from 50 mph down to 30 mph several times then another set at 30 mph to dead stop if i remember correctly . The Akebono should have had directions in the box .