Brake pads Bosch or Hawk Performance
Usually for pads though I go with Bosch ceramic for my cars and Bosch semi metallic for my trucks. I have never had an issues and get great life from my pads.
Always had good luck in the past with Hawk HPS pads.
Brake dust difference between stock Akebono pads on the front and Hawk Performance Ceramic on the rear. The backs would usually be about 70% as dusty as the fronts and now they're essentially clean
I've been very happy with Bosch Quietcast. I use them on all my cars. Pricier than Centrics, but never had a problem in 20 years and a dozen cars.
I've been tracking my 335i for a few years now, ive used ebc yellowstuff, and bluestuff pads. But they dont even hold a candle to the hawk ht10 pads I have in my spec e46, easily my favorite part of that car.
hawk hps 5.0 pads all around
I use Hawk HPS 5.0 pads. Definitely an improvement over stock and I haven’t had any issues with dust.
Depending on the track the factory pads may be adequate for your first day, but a more aggressive and higher temp pad would be my recommendation because nothing will up the "pucker factor" like your brake pedal going to the floor. A pad like the Hawk HPS 5.0 is what I'd consider to be minimally acceptable for street tires on an average track. I'm a big fan of GLOC pads and I can confirm their R8 compound on all 4 corners works great on the GTI/R/A3/S3 for street tires.
I replaced my brake pads front and rear today with some good quality Ceramic pads. I had just done the fronts a couple months ago but I used some Bosch pads that one of the parts suppliers gave me to try. They were supposed to be their best. They were quiet and smooth but produced crazy dust!
You will find the HP+ pads are possibly the worst pads ever. You get all the downsides of track pads and street pads. The dust from Hawks will also eat your wheels.
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