LeadToRome

...the stock ones appear to be made completely of dust.

(the search function is worthless on this Q., sorry)

Barry in Utah

I installed Hawk Ceramic pads front and rear yesterday. I installed them on my previous car, a 2006 Audi A4 and was impressed with their quietness, LOW amount of white dust production, pad and rotor longevity, and stopping performance and feel. I bedded the new pads in after the installation and tne rotors look great except for a few areas where the pads aren't toucning yet. I will bed them in again as the pad/rotor wear to a perfect match.

LeadToRome

Thanks Barry. Any other votes out there?

Rhytid

Did you do this yourself? Is it hard to do? Any special tools required?

I would like to change the pads out as the OEMs are definitely super dusty.

Waxxon

I installed EBC Redstuff pads as my first mod (dust was killing me). I'd say I saw a ~70% reduction in dust. Performance is on par with OEM as best I can tell.

Barry in Utah

Yes, I did it myself. I have worked on brakes many times before, The only special tool required is a VagCom cable as you must retract the electic parking brake fully to replace the rear pads. Apparently, using a mechanical tool to rotate the rear caliper piston while retracting it can damage the mechanism. The other interesting thing I found out is that the front outboard pads are adhesively bonded to the caliper. There are two small slots in the edge of the caliper where a small straight blade screwdriver can be inserted and tapped with a hammer to seperate the pad from the caliper. I resurfaced the rotors to remove the OEM pad mateial using an oscillating electric sander with 120 grit sandpaper. Worke great.

Rhytid

Hey, thanks for the quick reply. Are there wear sensor wires on the OEM pads and if so, do the replacement pads have them as well?

Barry in Utah

There is one wear sensor on the inboard left front pad. The sensor is removable and can then be attached to the replacement pad. Be careful as there is a small spring which holds it in place which can easily be lost when removing the sensor. To disconnect the sensor wire, the connector must be removed from the support bracket. This is done be lifting the tab on the connecter with a small screwdriver and then rotating the connector 90 degrees to allow it to be pulled from the slot in the bracket. Once free it can be disconnected.

By the way, I purchased the rear pads from Tire Rack and the fronts from Hawk Pads Direct. I used two vendors as Hawk Pads Direct had free shipping but no rear pads in stock. The part numbers where:

HB641Z.696 Fronts
HB642Z.658 Rears

Rhytid

Cool. Thanks for the info.

I will need the Vag Com cable.....

LeadToRome

Barry are those Hawks ceramic? On the Hawks direct site they put them in the "performance" category but not the "ceramic" category. Just wondering.