I need new brakes

The number of disk brakes and pads for sale are many.
The problem is everyones personal opinion counter acts the next persons.
My car has solid disk front and back. Have worked very well all these years.
Holes drilled seem to be taboo and can cause stress cracks. Cooling grooves seem to be popular but reduces the total area of braking surface.
I read that if my car has solid disk brakes,going to vented disk is a no-no.
Then there are the pads. Semi-metallic,metallic and ceramic,
Braking force needed,noise and dust seem to start arguments all over the web.
Were the parts are made is another factor that is hotly debated.
Finding a simple answer is a problem.
I do not rally my car. 90% of my driving is at 75 MPH. City is the other 1o%.
I do pull a 1,000 pound trailer several times a month.
What say you?

It seems you have your mind made up, but you're asking for opinions…

Your car should have vented rotors in the front. I'm not even sure VW made 10.1" solid, front rotors.

-Todd

They definitely did make solid 10.1 rotors, I have em on my B3.

There is nothing wrong with switching to vented rotors, it's just not as simple as slapping the rotor on and calling it a day. Vented rotors are thicker than solid. I BELIEVE the caliper P/N is the same, but you need the correct thinner pads. As mentioned your car should have vented rotors already so installing a set seems like a no-brainer.

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Yeah, IDK why VW chinzed out on solid rotors on a car as large as the B3/4 but they did on the small petrol engine and diesel versions. On the 16v B3 cars imported to the US they all got vented rotors and I don't recommend anything but vented rotors. You do need thinner pads but those are readily available.

I wasn't aware that any B4 coming to the US got solid rotors, your car must not be originally imported to the US or someone mistakenly fitted solid rotors to it.

Steve

I special ordered my car from Wolfsburg Germany in late 1995. It took three months to be delivered to the US.
How would I order the "thinner" pads to be able to use vented disk?

Interesting that solid 10.1" blanks were offered for the front, when VW replaced the solid 9.4" blanks with vented, in earlier years... seems like they were going backwards.

Personally, I wouldn't think it would matter if your car was ordered from Wolfsburg. All B4s were produced overseas. Does your car have a funky German vin?

I have a feeling most vendors will only carry parts for the US destined cars, meaning "vented" parts will be what's available.

-Todd

Yup, just order rotors and pads for a typical US car. It should all fit.

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Order for US cars you'll get exactly what you need, what Todd and Vanbc said is correct.

Steve

I got the vented front disk and solid rears and ceramic pads. They really made a big diff in stopping. Thanks guys for your inputs and suggestions.