Brake pads Akebono or Centric
I just replaced my brakes few weeks ago. I did TONS of research and the best combo I feel was Centric Premium rotors and Centric Posi-Quiet Ceramic pads. Get from Rockauto and google 5% off coupon. I am super happy with them and no squealing at all. Just came back from a 1500 mile road trip with no issues.
I got them installed and the hardest part was the dam clips they are so hard to compress to slide them in. I had to juggle them sideways. Anyone had this problem? I needed a second hand. They feel great! They are so much thicker than stock. I fallowed this guy's video: Yes I had to compress the Pistons.
The Centric PosiQuiet ceramics are WAY better than the OEM pads, no nasty hard-to-modulate initial bite. Rather the Centric's are quite linear in their force-to-braking ratio. I just upgraded my '18 GTI to a '19 R and have a set on order.
I went with the Centric PosiQuiet Ceramic's too and am very happy with them Akebono does not have an application for my 2018 GTI SE but the PosiQuiet's feel the same to me as the Akebono's I had on my last two Audis.
I ran Akebono pads on my ZHP coupe and they were great. Slightly less initial bite than stock, requiring a slightly firmer foot on the pedal, and also need to warm up a bit for full grip - but beyond that, clean as a whistle and they wear forever.
Centric rotors are typically good quality. A few years back I started using Akebono pads (after trying brands such as EBC & Hawk). I don’t think I’ll ever buy anything other than Akebono pads anymore, they stop amazingly well and have less dust than previously mentioned pads.
I had an issue with the inner pads sticking on my Golf (same as A3 platform), but when I took apart the caliper and cleaned/regreased all the caliper pins the problem went away. If you've already done that, I really have no idea what it could be. It's definitely not normal though. What pads/rotors are you using? I've been using the Akebono's and they are great. Very little wear and dust.
I run them on my 03 325xi. So much better on break dust. They don't have as much bite as the OEM pads, but I think they're super close.
I run them, they’re amazing to me. Good stopping power, no dust.
Like others have said, these are great if your looking for less dust, but definitely lack the bite of OE pads. They will still stop just fine, but just don’t expect that crisp initial bite you get with OE pads.
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