Brake pads Akebono or OEM Volkswagen

I have Akebono ProACT in front and OE at the back. All good.

In my opinion, the best stock replacement brakes you can get are Akebono Pro ACT ceramic pads and Advics rotors.

I can vouch for the polo. It\u2019s been 5 years and some modifications. Other than brake pads and tyres it runs as good as it did the day I got it(actually better, because of the mods.)

I went with the akebono pads with Zimmerman coated rotors (semi floating) from FCP on my 17’ 340i with msport/ track handling package. so far so good with the pads. Very little dusting compared to the original ones. Only issue I ran into is the coated rotors and the bed in on the pads. I had to get them resurfaced at an auto shop since they had some extra runout.

I never had an Audi but I have a 2009 VW Jetta that's still running, it's my grocery getter. The breaks have lasted since 2012 as insane as that is, there's still a 3/4th of carbon on the pads. I changed the oil all the time, grew up with a car dad. But if VW's are anything like Audi's just maintain it and it'll run for the next decade.

The OEM brakes have more bite, but there's so much brake dust. The Akebono definitely do not bite as much, but they perform well under heavy braking (mountain driving), have little to no noticeable brake dust, and lasted longer.

Brake pads I went with Akebono ceramic pads. I don’t even see the brake dust from these. Brake pads squeal once on reverse on cold days but no noise after that but this is pretty common. Great bite when braking hard. If I had to replace again I would go with these again.

I'm very happy with the Akebono pads that I put on all four corners of my FA5 a few months ago. No noise, low dust, and good bite for daily driving.

I'm in the "Akebono are not better" camp and I have done some extensive testing.For a ceramic pad, yes, the Akebono are better than ceramic competitors. However, they do not have as much bite as the semi-metallic pads. This is something that can't be debated, they can't bite as hard as the semi-metallic compound.I too hate brake dust and tried the Akebono pads on my wife's VW and I immediately noticed that they didn't bite as hard as the OE pads. That same week, I ordered the OE pads and it fixed the problem.I've also tried the Akebono on an E350 and I came to the same conclusion. I actually think the EBC Red ceramics may bite a little more (when new) than the Akebono. However, the EBC reds always left this weird deposit on rotors that would make it feel like they were warped and they would need to be turned down.

Secondly, defective Rear Disk Brake Pads that wore out on a majority of 22` Taos which was a covered rear Brake replacement if it was under 2ydears and 24 months. I just missed the cut-off and was$700 poorer.