Owner reviews for brake pads

I always recommend OEM pads, but the Toyota pads are going for $80 now for your Corolla. If you're on a tight budget, I'd go with Akebono for $57 at Rock Auto. Buying cheap brake pads isn't advisable.

I changed my break pads themselves since the rotors can last a good while, PowerStop Z26. HIGHLY recommend. Great breaking and no break dust/squeal like the Brembos. I kept the Brembos for track days but for some spirited driving and daily, PoweersStops.

There’s a rotor and pad combo I’ve used on our allroad 6MT, Escalade ESV & 07 Beetle Vert 3x White. Through trial & error we discovered the only way to keep the under braked 3T Escalade rotors from warping due to pad material buildup was to go countersunk gas slotted & x drilled rotors. They were added to the other vehicles because we found Bosch ceramic pads and the hot galvanized rotors will NOT rust. The Beetle has been running the same pads and rotors since ‘14. They’re silent, don’t leave dust and have amazing pedal feel when cold or hot. They also look new because they don’t rust. The last and unexpected benefit of these rotors is that they don’t fade from heat or water saturation.

brakes have been fantastic, albeit dusty, so might look into some different pads.

My favorite autocross pad is Hawk HP+, but they dust like crazy and some sets are extremely squeaky for some reason. But they are mad consistent in all temps (except track where they fade at high speeds like any street pad) and the bite is absolutely fantastic and easy to modulate.

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.

I’ve run ebc red stuffs on autocross and spirited mountain cruises. They held up great, never over heated, and kept less dust. Key being LESS, not none. However, this was on a 200hp mini so I can’t speak to how they’ll hold up on higher power applications. Bedding them in properly goes a long way towards long life. I put about 6 autox, 15k mi, and 2 track days on a set and they were about 40% left.

That's probably the kit I'd go with for my GLI. Again, as a daily driver... it meets the needs. The semi-metallic pads work good in many different temp ranges. However, semi-metallic pads also produce more brake dust, so you'll get more debris on your rotors faster. One of the other downsides is that they're more aggressive on the braking rotor because they're metallic, so you'll need to check your rotors more often for thinning.

Ok, so, at a particular location I worked at we used Wagner Thermoquiets. Decent pads, but this particular location seemed to get the worst quality pads ever. The only way we could keep the customer from coming back was to make sure everything was well lubricated, and we also used some sort of orange goop to stick the brake pads to the calipers. Then we took it out for a break-in session, I believe it was 5 stops from 30mph, gently using the brakes, then another 5 with moderate brake pressure. And if the customer was too hard on the brakes it might still come back.

The brakes started squealing and grinding (like they needed to be replaced) it took me about 2 months to finally get an answer at the dealership. They determined it was a defective brake pad - and the parts are out of stock until Nov. They replaced them with after market parts until the replacement parts came in. They also started making the same noise. It's now December and i still don't have the parts and my car makes noise every day! it's so annoying.. This is my first and last VW that I will ever own.