I would like to exchange my OEM pads on my A4 1.8TSM for pads that produce less brake dust, though I do not want to sacrafice braking performance. (I'll live with the dust before I will degrade braking distance). Has anyone experienced the Mintex or Raybestos (or any other) pads? Thank you

I agree with Jim, that you'll find lots in the archives, but here are my impressions:

I originally switched to Raybestos on the front and they definitely reduced the brake dust. The dry braking performance was about the same though the initial "bite" wasn't as sudden as the OEM pads (which is a good thing). The bad thing is the the Raybestos did not perform as well in the wet. When the rotors are wet, the initial feeling of "AHHH, NO BRAKES!" that was felt on the OEM pads was actually worse with the Raybestos. The Raybestos also had a little bit of squeal, but that's usually a crap shoot.

I recently changed to Mintex Red Box pads all around and replaced the front rotors with slotted ATE Powerdiscs and I LOVE this set up. Very little dust...what I see is mostly road grime. Dry performance is on par with the other two sets without the initial grabbiness. But, the best thing is that the wet braking issue is GONE! I can't wait to try them out at a track event next summer.

Unfortunately, I don't know if the improvements I feel are attributed more to the pads or to the Powerdiscs.

Good luck!
Dave
'97 1.8TQMS Wett<ul><li><a href="http://131.107.68.28/a4.org/registry/details.asp?car=161">My Car</a></li></ul>

I replaced all 4 wheels with Mintex Red Box. I used the old rotors that have 0.040" wear and about 0.040" left! I did not turn down the rotors as they are perfect, no runout, no pulsations, etc.

The Mintex Red Box are the exact size as the original and fit the grove in the rotor perfectly, thus no machining was required. Remember that the Mintex Red Box is the Euro-spec pad and the original pad is Mintex also, but it's the US-spec material, that's why it sucks! I used anti-squeal compound on both the inboard and outboard pads. Aslo, take a file to the leading and trailing edges of the pad material to place a chamfer of about 1/16" width. This helps with chatter/squeal.

I bedded-in the brakes by driving at 55 mph, slowed down to 25 mph using moderate pressure. I did this 12 times with 0.5 miles between applications to cool the brakes.

Results===the brakes never squealed once and brake exactly as the originals with the same initial bite.

I'm very happy and I'm a fussy person when it comes to car performance!

The wet braking issue was probably cured by the slotted rotors allowing a place for the built-up water to go, because I have the Mintex pads with the OEM rotors and still have the wet braking problem.

as it says to do on the Home page. If you would, would see I have had bad squealing on Raybestos.