Brake pads Carbotech or OEM Volkswagen

No, no scan tool is needed at all for the fronts. They are basically the same as any other brake job. I actually found them easier than my other vehicles

I’m on 108000kms in my 2017 GLI and it runs like the day I bought it. I do the maintenance on time when needed and it is trouble free. So far all I’ve had to do is the brakes.

Since we had good luck with OE, went OE for replacements. So far, a few hundred miles in, all good.

The xp12s are beasts. I pulled brake bias 1-click from full rear to get them balanced on level braking. This gives me one click for more rear, which was really enough for the track. I love late braking, and I can hammer these on a 20min session with NO change in performance.

I sometimes daily drive on Carbotech XP10 front XP8 rear, and they’re totally fine but they dust and squeak like mad. First braking when cold isn’t super grabby but totally doable for a daily driver pad. They’re grabby once warmed up on the street but nothing to be worried about. I’ve gotten ~10,000 miles of driving and two TNIA track nights on a 450hp 3500lb car, and i suspect they can last a lot longer than that based on the pad wear I’m seeing.

I've done an almost complete overhaul on my bought-from-OG-owner low-k '07 B6 3.6 wagon. DSG from an R36, completely rebuilt suspension front to back on airbags, brakes, wrap, interior, sound system (the list goes on and on) for less than the purchase price of a used-by-who R36.

its just the pad compound VW is using because everyone get emotional about excessive brake dust..

Stock pads are terrible for longevity. They have to do too many different things from factory, buy a set of aftermarket to your needs. I had a set of Carbotech which lasted 50k in the front and over 60k in the rear, with aggressive driving.

The Atlas oem pads sound like dying squealing pigs well after break in, only fix is to install aftermarket pads

I used Carbotech brake pads, but they dust and squeal like crazy, so other options may be better.