Cool Carbons v. OEM

[Stephen Williams <mannlaw@indy.net>]

	Daniel, sorry to hear of your misfortune with the brake rotors.
Not doubting what you are seeing, but I am doubting what the mechanic was
saying about OEM being superior for the street.  

	I own several Audi cars, all but one still have OEM.  IMHO, the
pad is probably okay for very average street driving.  By this I mean for
my wife to drive to the store, pick up the dog, etc.  Hard street driving
though, well, I have done it, and the pads really sucked.  The Metal
Masters have some fans on the list, but I had them on the 200w and hated
them.  I did not feel comfortable with the wet braking, at all, and if you
are really pushing the car--it just felt like the pads were not up to the
job.  After several long hard runs on some twisty roads late at night, the
brake fade was unacceptable to me.  These may be okay for the 4k, or other
cars lighter than what I have, but I would not put them back on my car if
the price was $0.

	Cool Carbons have been on the car now for a couple months?, and I
don't think I will ever use a different pad.  Outstanding wet braking,
outstanding consistent braking when hot.  On the street, I cannot get them
to fade.  I have probably 8,000 miles on these things already, rotors look
fine.  There is some squeal when the brakes are cold, but I couldn't care
less--same goes for dust.  Frankly, to get better braking than I now have,
I think you would need to go aftermarket setup, ie., bigger.  If you look
at the cost of doing that, front rotors for the car every year you own it
appears very cheap.  IMHO, though, CC pads should last 12 months+, rotors
quite a bit longer than that.  

	BTW, before you go back to OEM, call Paul Westin at Westin
Motorsports and see if he has something less abrasive than CC, although I
highly recommend the CC's.  Paul's number has been posted before, I don't
have it handy.

	Bruce