Ceramic brake pad experience anyone?

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Originally Posted by PeDiES

i went to an ATE info night about the ceramic pads, when asked how they performed the tec (german) said to think of brakes as a pie chart, 1 third is performance, 1 third is lifetime, and other is comfort (ie, dust, noise). When you gain one you loose another, a compramis. In most ceremic pads the compromise is performace for more lifetime and less dust (or more comfort).

They aren't meant for performance, well acording to ATE anyway

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Yea we held an Ate night at our Perth hsy branch too. Thats the key issue a lot of mechanics/customers dont understand. They are not a 'performance' pad, just a low dust/long life option as a direct replacement for the normal ones.

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Originally Posted by johnw

That shouldn't bother me as long as they perform the same as factory ones.

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Ate brakes ARE the factory ones on the majority of VAG cars. VW dont make brakes, they are supplied at the factory by Ate, Pagid, Lucas etc

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Originally Posted by GOLFBALLS

Ate brakes ARE the factory ones on the majority of VAG cars. VW dont make brakes, they are supplied at the factory by Ate, Pagid, Lucas etc

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Ah sorry I understand now :-P Didnt know VW bought them, thought they where an equivalent replacement.

Posted from my idroid4 Galaxy HD 7

Reading the ATE blurb...
ATE Brakes -FAQ-Ceramic

"Does the use of ATE Ceramic brake pads have an effect on the service life of brake disks?

After ATE Ceramic brake pads have been used for a short time, a blue-gray “transfer film” consisting of very hard, wear-resistant carbides forms on the brake disk. As a consequence this transfer film, rather than the brake disk surface itself, is what does the braking. This substantially reduces wear on the disk."

ATE ceramic pads for Polo ($198.00) not in stock at my local HSY, so opted to try the Bendix General CT, which cost $116 and new ATE rotors ($284) to replace the warped one. Will get the old rotors machined for later. The warped one was worn about 1mm after 30k. Hoping to get more life out of the new rotors with the ceramic pads......

If anyone is interested, HSY could order the ATE Power Discs at about double the price and a couple of months wait. Might be easier to get someone clever to CNC machine the endless loop groove into standard rotors?

Where'd ya get the Bendix ceramics from?

A local Brisbane auto parts distributor - K&M automotive.

If anyone is interested, Repco has 20% off sale this weekend. Bendix General CT less 20% is $90.60 a set - looks like one price fits all despite way different sizes of pads. Got DB1449 rears and a spare set of DB1405 fronts for Polo.