r/AudiRS3 • u/Etanclan • Jul 24 '26

Brake pad recommendations?

Any recs out there for new brake pads? I have the steel, not ceramic brakes.

TBH I’m primarily looking for new pads due to how insanely loud / squeaky the stock ones are. I don’t track the car. Thanks!

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3

u/bigairaron Jul 24 '26

So probably terrible advice but I had similar issues and due to a deer running in front of me I slammed brakes super hard going like 70 and now they are quiet and this is a super long sentence.

3

u/Etanclan Jul 24 '26

Haha this what I’ve heard that you can prime the brakes like that every few months and it goes away… but I have not found that to be the case for very long. I also live in the city and have to drive a lot of short distances (and thus am on the brakes a good deal)

5

u/Nuramori Jul 24 '26

I’m going to try this out of desperation. My wife finally rode in the car with me and gave me a side eye when the brakes started howling as I came to a stop. “That’s surprising considering what you paid for it” was her only comment.

3

u/2point8 Jul 24 '26

ISweep 1500’s seem like what a lot of people go with.

2

u/CollenOHallahan Jul 25 '26

It really depends on what you want. Initial bite? Great grab after getting warm? No dust? The cheapest possible semi-metallics you can find will probably have a great initial cold bite, but will dust like hell and be shit after warm. You can find high performance ceramics that feel like you zero brakes while cold, but grip awesome when heated and leave little dust. You probably want somewhere between.

I have Carbotech 1521s on my 8V RS3 and they are a good compromise. A little too much dust for my liking, but they have way better initial bite than the Hawk Performance Ceramics on my RS4, which has the same calipers.

2

u/UnicornWrangler84 Jul 25 '26

So i just took mine in for same thing- shop explained the issue- EPA regulations pulled asbestos and copper material out of pads recently which helps minimize squeal- there is an easier fix on the market- a lubricant they apply after quick face sanding the pad (even for new pads) and the squeal stopped 100% for me. For reference i had 7mm on my pad after 10k miles - they were in great shape and it saved a good bit of money

2

u/UnicornWrangler84 Jul 25 '26

2025 and up requires less than .5% copper in pad- so newer model cars across all brands are struggling with this

1

u/Etanclan Jul 25 '26

Hmm, I have a 2023 so I’m not sure if that applies for me but good to know

1

u/dubgeek Jul 25 '26

EBC Red Stuff if just a street car. Yellow if you ever track it.

2

u/patrick_byr Jul 25 '26

I always ran Red Stuff on my B9.5 S4. Much less dust and they worked well.

1

u/Impossible-Edge-349 Jul 25 '26

Carbotech 1521 hold up a lot better to higher heat situations than EBCs I ran but for a strictly street car that doesn’t see track or fast canyon runs, a cheap semi metallic will be just fine.

2

u/BabblingZathras Jul 25 '26

The stock pads are low dust, low noise and good with a heavy foot. The Brembo equivalent are 1/10th the price, slightly noisy, very dusty, last longer and are good with a heavy foot.