Brake pads Hella Pagid or Hawk Performance
I've been using Hawk 5.0 They're marketed as a "high performance street" pad. I've done track days with them and theyve held up but they're "street" enough that they don't take forever to get warm. Maybe it's my lack of experience with other pads but they are kinda dusty.
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 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.
Pagid RS29 are what I always used to run on my Cayman, and I loved them. Now I run Ferodo DS1.11 on my STI, and I'm a big fan of them too, but I'd still probably go back to Pagids if I went back to Porsche.
I only daily as well but I did a slight upgrade due to some spirited runs each year. I did Hawk ceramics and DBA T2 rotors. Theyre enjoyably different but likely overkill.
Complete ripoff. Subaru tried that years ago on my STI, I bought Hawk track pads and did it myself (as I would have done anyway). The dealer tried the ol' "These are high end calipers and the pads are much more difficult to change". I just said "Please stop lying to me, you're eroding trust between us" and left. Easiest brakes ever.
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