Front Brake Suggestions - 2016 Passat

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BTLew81

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All,
I put a lot of miles on my car (job and personal) and need to replace the front brakes. I have a few options for your review, but would also be open to suggestions

Kit containing Meyle rotors and Akebono pads (ceramic)
AAP Wearever Platinum rotors and pads (ceramic)


Thoughts? Other suggestions? AAP looks like a good deal with coupon...
 
It looks like they are coated. ECS Tuning has a package that looks nice and a decent deal
 
Originally Posted By: BTLew81
It looks like they are coated. ECS Tuning has a package that looks nice and a decent deal

ECS is a solid vendor. If Blauparts doesn't have a kit available, then I usually go with ECS.

The kits make everything convenient!
 
I wouldn't bother to dump oe rotors on a vehicle that new unless they have a problem. I would just replace the pads.

With all the complaints on this board about brake vibration and "warped rotors" if your car brakes smoothly now it might be worth the money for oe vw pads if you like them.
 
Genuine VW pads from the dealer and either Zimmerman coated or Genuine VW rotors.

Euro cars tend to have brake performance issues (drivers complain about pedal feel/responsiveness) when using compounds other than what came on the car. Using material from the same vendor is not good enough; you need to use the exact same one.
 
Of those two, I'd choose the Akebonos. They've never let me down.

I gave AAP two chances with their Platinum pads and neither set fit right (two different vehicles). They were in stock and available, which is why I gave them a shot. Anecdotal, but that's my experience with them.
 
I have had Pagids pads from Blauparts corrode come apart twice on fronts and rears on my 2005 A4.

However - This was a car that went on mostly short trips and had only 8K mi per year.
 
Originally Posted By: BTLew81
All,
I put a lot of miles on my car (job and personal) and need to replace the front brakes. I have a few options for your review, but would also be open to suggestions

Kit containing Meyle rotors and Akebono pads (ceramic)
AAP Wearever Platinum rotors and pads (ceramic)


Thoughts? Other suggestions? AAP looks like a good deal with coupon...


I would go with Akebono ceramic pads no matter what rotors you choose.

Do you even need to do the rotors?

Spend your money on high quality pads and decent but not top of the line rotors if needed.
 
ATE, Textar, Mintex and Pagid (Pagid is part of the Textar/Mintex group) are all very good, ATE is probably OE. I never liked Akebono, they never seemed to have the bite as these and a few others have and the ones that do tend to be noisy when cold from my experience.
For rotors I would only go OE from the dealer, they are not that expensive for this car. The Pagid from FCP is a good buy, FCP is a stand up company.

https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/vw-disc-brake-pad-set-pagid-5n0698151
 
Originally Posted By: JamesBond
I wouldn't bother to dump oe rotors on a vehicle that new unless they have a problem. I would just replace the pads.

With all the complaints on this board about brake vibration and "warped rotors" if your car brakes smoothly now it might be worth the money for oe vw pads if you like them.


If you are switching to ceramic from organic, replacing the rotors at the same time is highly recommended. If you don't switch pad chemistry you can keep the old rotors.
 
Eh, I'd just do a pad slap.

But I still can't understand how a 2016 car could need new brakes.

I had a 2004 VW that I sold a little over a year ago and it still had the original front brakes at 175k miles. Still had at least 1/2-2/3 pad left.
 
Originally Posted By: Nick1994
Eh, I'd just do a pad slap.

But I still can't understand how a 2016 car could need new brakes.

I had a 2004 VW that I sold a little over a year ago and it still had the original front brakes at 175k miles. Still had at least 1/2-2/3 pad left.

Years are irrelevant, miles and driving habits are important. Maybe he's at 50k+ miles already. Maybe he's at 30k and is hard on his brakes.

OP, take a wheel off and measure your rotor thickness. If you are through a set of pads, I guarantee you're within spitting distance of minimum thickness on your rotors and should replace them, regardless of how many people on the internet think you shouldn't have to.
 
I'm not sure you would want ceramic brake pads on a VW. Many German cars use semi-metallic pads from the factory, and ceramic brake pads just don't feel the same.

As for needing rotors, the thickness should be measured before you can put new brake pads on. With nearly every German car I have worked on, the rotors were below the minimum thickness by the time new brake pads were required.
 
Akebono are for people who are first and foremost interested in longevity and less dust. Performance wise, they are biggest POS you can find on the market.
ATE or TRW are OE pad on VW. I would look for ATE or Textar. Pagid is now part of TMD (Textar) however it is one step below since it meets FE requirements and not FF like ATE or Textar.
If you want to improve feel on pedal, go with EBC Red Stuff.
As for rotors, ATE or Brembo!
 
Originally Posted By: BTLew81
All,
I put a lot of miles on my car (job and personal) and need to replace the front brakes. I have a few options for your review, but would also be open to suggestions

Kit containing Meyle rotors and Akebono pads (ceramic)
AAP Wearever Platinum rotors and pads (ceramic)


Thoughts? Other suggestions? AAP looks like a good deal with coupon...


Akebono's are great for less dust, lots of initial bite, but not much linearity in feel.
check out www.ecstuning.com for brake packages.

If you want, try Centric High Carbon rotors (from Rock Auto) with EBC Redstuff (which is considered to be a ceramic pad by EBC) or Hawk HPS pads.

EBC's will be extremely grabby during the BRAKE-IN period (feels like Akebono), then becomes less grabby and more linear when the BRAKE-IN coating wears out.
 
Originally Posted By: Nick1994
Eh, I'd just do a pad slap.

But I still can't understand how a 2016 car could need new brakes.

I had a 2004 VW that I sold a little over a year ago and it still had the original front brakes at 175k miles. Still had at least 1/2-2/3 pad left.


If you do lots of stop & go driving, it's harder on the brakes than someone that racks up the miles on free-flowing highway.
 
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