Facelift Ceramic Brake Pads

[alpesh26]

Has anyone used ceramic brake pads, either on an S3 or another car? Brake dust on the current OEM pads is pretty bad but I hear that ceramic pads have poor cold bite or can squeal.

I've been looking at ATE Ceramic pads:
https://www.cartech-one.co.uk/en/pr...-pad-set-w-warning-contact-front/v-59244/t-23

 

[V6_Man]

Has anyone used ceramic brake pads, either on an S3 or another car? Brake dust on the current OEM pads is pretty bad but I hear that ceramic pads have poor cold bite or can squeal.

I've been looking at ATE Ceramic pads:
https://www.cartech-one.co.uk/en/pr...-pad-set-w-warning-contact-front/v-59244/t-23

EBC Redstuff on my S4 and really happy with them. Well, actually a lot of forum members here are running them on their S4s as well as RS. Ferodo DS2500 are another great pads for street use. I wouldn't go anything above them as it is not worth it unless you are into track days and stuff.

 

[Gazwould]

DS2500 no good for OP as have no ceramic content and are OE dusty if not worse .

Ferodo DS Performance are more suited .

But in 2019 we have more low dust choice than ever from

TRW
EBC
Ferodo
ATE
Akebono
Jurid
Textar
etc

the mind boggles why anyone goes OE .

 

[AlS3BE]

If you aren’t looking for extra performance I would recommend TRW cotec pads. Low dust and performance better than oe. Had a set on my a6 and what a difference they made to my wheels not turning black/dirty from the oe pads.
Came with bolts, fitting, shims and sensors and are like half the price of the Audi pads.

 

[Gazwould]

You want DTEC over COTEC .

 

[alpesh26]

If you aren’t looking for extra performance I would recommend TRW cotec pads. Low dust and performance better than oe. Had a set on my a6 and what a difference they made to my wheels not turning black/dirty from the oe pads.
Came with bolts, fitting, shims and sensors and are like half the price of the Audi pads.

I looked into TRW pads for the S3 but it doesn’t look like they make COTEC or DTEC pads for the front axle. I emailed TRW directly but no response back from them

I’m siding towards the ATE ceramic pads, but I’m wary of their braking performance vs OEM. I’m struggling to find low dust pads for the S3 other than ATE, red stuff and Ferodo DS performance

 

[AlS3BE]

I looked into TRW pads for the S3 but it doesn’t look like they make COTEC or DTEC pads for the front axle. I emailed TRW directly but no response back from them

I’m siding towards the ATE ceramic pads, but I’m wary of their braking performance vs OEM. I’m struggling to find low dust pads for the S3 other than ATE, red stuff and Ferodo DS performance

https://www.trwaftermarket.com/ap/catalogue/product/GDB2114/
Trw cotec for s3 front.

 

[glintoz]

I looked into TRW pads for the S3 but it doesn’t look like they make COTEC or DTEC pads for the front axle. I emailed TRW directly but no response back from them

I’m siding towards the ATE ceramic pads, but I’m wary of their braking performance vs OEM. I’m struggling to find low dust pads for the S3 other than ATE, red stuff and Ferodo DS performance

I had ATE ceramics on my BMW 3 series coupe and are great in terms of low dust. Braking was equal to OE but never had a chance to push them too hard to see how they handled a spirited drive.

 

[alpesh26]

I had ATE ceramics on my BMW 3 series coupe and are great in terms of low dust. Braking was equal to OE but never had a chance to push them too hard to see how they handled a spirited drive.

What were they like on “cold bite” and were they noisy? If they perform like OEM then I think that would be enough for me

 

[msdmjb]

So to generalise, people are going away from OE due to the dust?
I find the S3 OE discs/pads good enough for road, people who replace their pads to another brand will have some bias and OK OE might be compromised under heavy use but having taken mine up and down the Pyrenees a number of times you need to be pushing on to get fade.

 

[Gazwould]

They'll all be good cold as ECE R90 .

Some have a performance advantage , some are as OE .

 

[alpesh26]

So to generalise, people are going away from OE due to the dust?
I find the S3 OE discs/pads good enough for road, people who replace their pads to another brand will have some bias and OK OE might be compromised under heavy use but having taken mine up and down the Pyrenees a number of times you need to be pushing on to get fade.

I'm moving away from OE due to the dust, the performance of the OE pads are fine. Also, OE pads aren't the best value compared to aftermarket and lets remember...Audi don't make brake pads

 

[glintoz]

What were they like on “cold bite” and were they noisy? If they perform like OEM then I think that would be enough for me

Not noisy at all and at least as good as OEM on initial bite.

 

[alpesh26]

I went with ATE Ceramic Pads and fitted them last weekend. So far so good, cold bite is the same as OEM as is braking performance. Seems to be much less dust so far and no noises. They're apparently meant to be heavy on the discs so I'll keep an eye on those

The original pads are TRW so I don't think replacing them with another set of TRW (unless they're DTEC coated) would make any difference in terms of brake dust