ceramic or semi metallic brake pads?

Hey folks,

I have to do the front brakes on my 2013 jetta sportwagen. What is the recommended type of brake lining? Ceramic or semi metallic? And what type/brand of rotors work best?

Thanks for any helpful advice!

I like the akebono brake pads. I have them on my A3 and A5 and love the lower dust. The rotors have been worn very evenly and shows very little wear.

I'm still on my original rotors with 76k miles so I haven't looked into new ones. That said, I got AC Delco Professional rotors for my sister's camry and it's got great reviews both online and from my sister.

I have also used Autozone's Duralast Gold series rotors/pads on many cars over 20+ years without any problems. The pads have lifetime warranty, so you just buy once and take it back for a free replacement once they're worn out.

For more VW/Audi specific parts, I buy from FCP Euro. They also have a lifetime replacement. So you can buy Akebono's from them once and never have to pay for another set again. You do have to ship the old ones back to them though.

I opted for Brembo rotors and ceramic pads when I did the brakes. Low dust comes at a penalty of occasional squeaky stops. I don't drive the #farmenwagen like a HOONIGAN but they are adequate for slowing down from a rapid pace. I'd like to add some caliper bushings and stainless lines to firm things up some more.

Depends on how you drive and if you want the tradeoffs of ceramic pads like increased rotor wear and or heat checking on o.e. rotors, cost, noise but mostly will you even benifit with your type of driving? Organic may acually be better under normal use.

JELLOWSUBMARINE said:

Depends on how you drive and if you want the tradeoffs of ceramic pads like increased rotor wear and or heat checking on o.e. rotors, cost, noise but mostly will you even benifit with your type of driving? Organic may acually be better under normal use.

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Those are all good points. Driving style has a lot to do with those negatives actually making an impact.

Engine braking will help a lot with rotor wear, even more so if someone has a significant highway commute like I do. And heat checking (pad hot spots on rotors?), if I understand correctly, is easily avoided by slowing down then rolling to a stop when coming to an intersection.

Organic comes at the penalty of brake dust, but is quieter and often cheaper.

JELLOWSUBMARINE said:

Depends on how you drive and if you want the tradeoffs of ceramic pads like increased rotor wear and or heat checking on o.e. rotors, cost, noise but mostly will you even benifit with your type of driving? Organic may acually be better under normal use.

Click to expand...

PRY4SNO said:

Those are all good points. Driving style has a lot to do with those negatives actually making an impact.

Engine braking will help a lot with rotor wear, even more so if someone has a significant highway commute like I do. And heat checking (pad hot spots on rotors?), if I understand correctly, is easily avoided by slowing down then rolling to a stop when coming to an intersection.

Organic comes at the penalty of brake dust, but is quieter and often cheaper.

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Your right and you being in Co. (hills?) I imagine you can benefit with engine braking. My old 225k commuter, I stuck with mid grade Autozone lifetime organic pads. The advantage of metallic pads was zero for the no heat braking. Actually organics will often outperform metallic because metallic really function better as they heat. I replaced them for free wear out warranty many times with only a good scuffing of the o.e. rotors to seat the the new pads. Im just a cheapo I guess!?

edit
oops sorry Canada

My experience with ceramic pads on my other cars and my Jetta is reduced braking performance until they warm up (initial bite poor). Akebonos were the worst but negligible rotor wear and clean rims (pt cruiser).

Semi-metallics have been the best performing and hold up better to fade but the dusting is horrible. I kept the ceramics on the Jetta to keep the wheels clean but would much rather run the semi-metallic.

03TDICommuter said:

My experience with ceramic pads on my other cars and my Jetta is reduced braking performance until they warm up (initial bite poor). Akebonos were the worst but negligible rotor wear and clean rims (pt cruiser).

Semi-metallics have been the best performing and hold up better to fade but the dusting is horrible. I kept the ceramics on the Jetta to keep the wheels clean but would much rather run the semi-metallic.

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I concur with this - I had the Akebono pads at all 4 corners on my '06 Jetta 2.5 and the lack of dust was amazing but like you said the initial bite was pretty poor.