Brake pads Textar or OEM Volkswagen

My go to brake pad is Textar. Why? Less problems. Since I own a shop, any warranty issue is wasted time. I will not charge a client to make it right. I do not have time to do the job a second time.

I replaced my front brakes recently with Textar pads and new Zimmerman rotors (non-PP brakes). Overall I am happy with them; I think they have a little more cold bite than the original pads do but are very similar to the stock pad compound. Original pads left deep grooves/ridges in the rotor around 55k miles. I don't track/autocross the car and I'm pretty easy on brakes. I also prefer and good cold bite which you don't always get with a ceramic pad.

Brakes are too small and while not a safety issue per se, they do tend to warp due to heat. I had to replace my front brakes every 12-20k miles initially. Went to slotted/drilled rotors that got me ~40k miles. Finally "upgraded" to the 2013+ brakes which solved the problem for good.

I stick with oe (Textar). Work great for me.

I do plenty of track days and the OEM Textar pads are grippy enough, modulate well, and hold up just fine on the track. If you want something that's not loud on the street or dusty as hell, OEM is probably the best option

2017 Alltrack brake upgrade I purchased these brakes on E-Bay as an upgrade to my worn brakes. For 2015-2019 Volkswagen GTI,Golf Alltrack Front Rear Brake Rotors+Ceramic Pads ( 373144494397 ) Delivered on Aug 28, 2020 They were $199 including shipping. This item has been shipped. Add note- For 2015-2019 Volkswagen GTI,Golf Alltrack Front Rear Brake Rotors+Ceramic Pads front and back drilled and slotted with ceramic discs. Very happy with them so far.

Brakes don't squeal, but, at least when they're cold, they seem to grind/shudder/skip (not a warped rotor type of shudder) at low speeds.

It's the pad compound and v. common for VWs. Often first thing in morning when there is moisture on them and moreso in reverse. You can do new pads and use something like a ceramic compound, it's a cheap fix.

Back from a 5 day trip and my car was parked with the park brake on. ( Auto brake) The result was the pads stuck ( rusted?) onto the discs. I had to speed up to "break" them loose. Pathetic quality!

only issue I have is the brakes are undersized for this car 10,000km replace under warranty then again at 20,000km.