Is Brake Dust a Problem?

Every other VAG product that I've owned has been notorious for brake dust. Is the Cayman bad in that respect, and if so, is anyone having luck with aftermarket pucks? Thanks!

What's a VAG product? The Cayman seems to me average on brake dust; not nearly as bad as our BMW . The latter had pads from Pep Boys installed when not in our control and these pads are incredibly dust-free! They make a slight rubbing noise when applied and probably eat rotors, but zero dust. Not recommending, just reporting. Elsewhere someone has posted that German law requires some graphite content in pads and thus the dust. Again, just reporting. I have the standard 18" wheels and enjoy washing/waxing them. Some other designs, not so much, I expect.

is brake dust a problem? only if you inhale it vag = volkswagen aktiengesellschaft ("inc.")

Sometimes the brake dust gets sooo bad that I wish I had K'man S's wheels with the black on the inside/ sides of the 5 spokes

The aftermarket pads that I've used on the wife's A4 and my Touareg have helped the situation immensely, and haven't been bad with the rotors, 60K on the A4 and 50K on the Touareg, and I know that I'm going to have to do something with the Cayman if it's too dirty. I enjoy keeping the car clean, but just not that much. I picked up the pucks for my other two cars from Tirerack . I can't remember the manufacturer, but for the Audi they came in a fluorescent green that actually looks quite good peeking out of the calipers. Not quite as flashy on the Touareg, but at least they're keeping the dust down!

I've owned Audis, Mercedes, BMWs and Porsches. My Audis seemed to generate the least brake dust. My Mercedes and Porsches seem to generate the most. I've just learned to live with it. That said, try WheelWax! (Do a search. You will see many threads on WheelWax.) I waxed the inside of my wheels and now the dust is much easier to remove. _________ Porsche Cayman 2.7 Mercedes E320 Bluetec Ducati Paul Smart LE BMW R1200GS

ebc greenstuff ?

Well I'll probably be switching to Hawk HPS pads eventually. I had them on my last car and they widthstood temperature far better than oem and produced far less dust. Official pad of the SCCA if I remember the propaganda correctly.

I have the Hawk HPS. Lot less dust than OEM.

Brake Dust? I once saw a tiny bit after track day.

Gfspencer: Thanks for the tip on wheelwax. I'll definitely be looking into that. Porcupine: ebc greenstuff! You're right. I'll have to see how things go, but changing pads is probably the least expensive maintenance item that can be done to a car. It ain't that I'm lazy, it's just that I got better things to do than wash the car just because the wheels are dirty!

May be a good thing, may be a bad thing, but I don't have better things to do than wash the car just because the wheels are dirty. That said (as they say), have often washed the wheels only. Must be the kind of driving I do, the dust tightnes of my garage, the dirt tolerance of speed yellow, but sometimes a light dusting takes care of the body when the wheels do need a wash.

You must have ceramics right? Do the ceramic brakes emit less brake dust than the stock brakes?

Brake dust is the only thing that drives me nuts with the CS. My other car has upgraded ceramics and I a rarely need to wash the rims as much as I have to do on the CS.

If the ceramic brakes are much less dusty, at >$8,000 they're almost a bargain- especially if you have the Sport Design wheels with their 15 spokes. Added performance is just a bonus!

Isisllc, I get a fair amount of dusting on the front wheels. However, the dust comes off easy when washing (I have not waxed my wheels yet!). I think this is a small price to pay for what I consider to be fenomenal breaks. Porcupine, I thought VAG = VW- Audi Group ?

Heck, with the 19" Carrera Classics ' I can get my whole hand and wash mitt inside the rims - easiest rims I have EVER had to clean. And besides that, the dust on the CS is WAY less than on my A4q.

Cayman has fabulous brakes The fantastic brake feel and modulation that you get on the Cayman is a combination of brake calipers / piston sizes, master cylinder AND brake pads. These pads give fantastic feel and control, but they do dust. (Hawk HPS are ****. Sorry - IMHO.) Ceramic brakes sure sound great, but there is a simple alternative. Ceramic pads. Ceramic pads do still dust, but their dust is much finer and beige in color. It also comes off wheels easier - does not stick to them. I do not know which ceramic pad would work best on the Cayman, you will definitely give up some brake feel. But I would be willing to try the Hawk ceramics, or preferably something from Pagid or Ferodo or Porterfield. I have no clue if any of these guys know what pad Porsche uses, and what its coefficient of friction is. But unless you are changing pads on all four corners - this is something that you should really know. By installing different pads, like Hawk HPS on the front of the car only you are likey creating a dangerous condition where the rear has much more brake bias. (Hawk HPS have a low c.o.f.) This basically means that under heavy braking your rear will be all over the place, and you will need to catch it or release the brakes a bit. Running different compounds on front and rear without knowing what you are doing is like running winter tire only one one axle. So in summary: live with the dust, or find a ceramic base pad and swap all four corners and pray that it works well (at least you will be able to report back to use how it does).

Are the HPS "High Performance Street" - ie never for use at the track? What do you folks think of me carrying the HPS as the street pad replacement pad?

I had great success with Axxis Ultimates for teh street. Kind on the rotors but way more bite than stock with less dusting too. This was fro my M3s. I wonder if they make a porsche size. Same company as Mintex I think.

I put the Axxis Delux on all 4 wheels. Not for the track but great for the street. I wanted a quiet and very low dust pad. So far so good. 500 miles and dust is very minimal with NO noise.