Brake pads Akebono or Bendix

Made a few sensible tweaks to this car immediately, at like 300 miles (nothing heavy), one of which was Akebono pads. Third VW I've had these on; they're great -- about as close to zero dust as I think you can get, seem to work a bit better and last a bit longer than the OEM pieces.

I replaced REAR pads and rotors myself at the end of June of 2017 when I was at 54,000 miles. I used Bendix Ceramic Pads / D1348: https://www.carid.com/bendix/cq-ceramic-rear-disc-brake-pads-mpn-d1348.html These should fit your CC as well (they fit 2.0T and VR6 )They run very clean - like no dust, like the original factory pads did (maybe cleaner). I also opted for oem style rear rotors. Nothing fancy, no slots or drilled holes. The originals didn't have these features and I found them totally serviceable without them. If you buy aftermarket standard style rotors, just be sure that they match the specs of the original factory ones. For my car, the VR6 has rear vented rotors (the 2.0T has solid unvented). I confirmed the vane count and the rotor thickness matched the originals when they were new and then made a decision. I think the rotors I got online were duralast? I can't quite recall. Anyhow, I'm sure I'll be shamed for not going to the VW parts counter for VAG branded parts. But with that said, I have over 2500 miles on since then and the car stops beautifully with zero pedal pulsation. All-in, with a tube of compatible brake grease, I think I was at about $115 in parts and 2.5 hours of my labor.

The setup i bought is coming with Akebono Im going to try those out.

I put some Bendix organic/ceramic pads on my S-10 way back in the day, and the dust was much more manageable. The dust is a lighter color so it's not nearly as obvious. My current car (G35 Coupe) has ceramic pads, and I can tell a big difference compared to my friends' cars. Brake dust always come back slower on my car.

I know they aren't anything special but I personally like the Akebono Euro-Ceramics. Inexpensive, little to no dust, and no squealing. Great pedal travel/feel but verging on squishy, however the bite is there. My one issue is that if you do any sort of repetitive hard stops they immediately show that they do not like it. For DD stuff, they're great.

My fronts were still new but decided to ditch them for the Akebonos because I was tired of the break dust.

my solution to the braking challenge was replacing both front & rear with Slotted / cross drilled performance rotors from ECS. I used Akebono Pads and i now have excellent brake response...

Have always used Centric Premium rotors with Akebono ProAct ceramic brake pads to good effect. Good brake bite, low dust, low noise, and longevity.

My stock rear brakes never made any noise. Recently replaced rotors and pads - went with Akebono Euro Ceramic - and now have the same "clunk" you describe. Usually only first thing in the morning when I back out of my driveway and then roll forward and brake.

I put in some new rear brake pads today. The frist brakes I had were Autozone brand. Well, they went on fine on the driver side. On the passenger side It was near impossible to push the piston back far enough to get the pads on. I still needed about another 1/16th of an inch. I even bled brakes a little to make room for the piston compression. Still no luck. So I went back and bought some Bendix that were about 1/16th less in thickness. So, I put them on the passanger side. I had to wrestle with the piston again - that mofo would not budge. Finally I got it. So, I go for a drive with Albany brakes on one side and Bendix on the other. A horrible scaping erupts from the driver's side. The side that went on much easier. Visual inspection looked ok. So I took them off and they were all scraped to heck. Strange, as that was the easy side. So, I put the Bendix pads on that side and everything is fine.