Hi there,

I find fascinating how discussed this subject is and how little it is settled.. so the deal is that I live somewhere with rather low temps... so a lot of the great performance pads are questionable under extreme starting winter conditions ( hawks, redstuff, yellows?).. my attention has been shifting towards ATE ceramics or TRW ceramics or even like a Reysbestos Element3 (they also have the European Speciality line).. does anyone have any better suggestions or corrections to make?

I am getting new Zimmermann routers (I have a second car also - BMW 6 series.. for that going the Akebono EURO ceramics route..)

1 - low dust
2- strong initial bite in cold weather (all street use, dont care for track)
3 -def no noise

many thanks to all!

 

I am in the NW so not too cold with the winter, but I did replace my pads with TRW ceramics and so far, so good. I'm nuts for keeping my cars clean and have always had Akebono pads. However, they don't make them for my 09 CTTS. TRW was the ones I decided to try. Zero noise, very low/no dust and I'm happy with the bite and performance. Good luck!

Cheers

 

I put TRW ceramic on the back with Bosch coated rotors. I live in a northern climate.

Initial bite and stopping power are both good but they occasionally squeaked. It's possible that it was sand/gravel related from winter roads, or temperature. Powerwashing would make the squeak go away for a while but it came back occasionally. The squeak annoyed me in the spring but I haven't heard it for a few months.

 

No one seems to do any skid pad testing pre and post
So there is only butt accelerometer data

I would rather have a car that just simply stops with stock pads and am happy to live with the dusted wheels

 

what @phatz said
I had a mechanic I trust once tell me that dust is the result of braking so if you find pads that generate less dust, they probably don't stop as well.
Maybe true, maybe not but it was good enough for me

 

Akebonos are fine and def less dust. BUT are not as good overall performance wise as EBC Yellows. I switched on two cars and the results are the same. Yes, I will stay Akebono for less dust and pad life, but they are not the best if you are after performance. Neither of those cars are "fun", so I don't care.

For the CS I am sticking with the stock dusty pads because they work.