Brake Dust: spacers VS new pads ?

[rollerton]

so, thought I'd ask for a few opinions. Currently running B7 special edition Y-spoke wheels on my 01' Avant, but shit the S4 brakes make so much dust I'm constantly cleaning them. The wheels fit with the typical sub-atomic clearance at the caliper, so I won't be able to try new pads without spacers anyway (unless I grind the pad down).
But, if anyone has bothered to notice or has an opinion, what would cut brake sediment down more: spacing the wheels 15mm out or is there a preferred brand of pad that you've found to yield less dust?
Sick of cleaning the wheels so much that I'm close to going back to the Avus's.
These are the wheels, pics installed later maybe:

[Corrado]

Get some new ceramic pads. 15mm further away isn't going to do diddly to prevent dusting.

Get some Akebono Euro Ceramic pads. You could go for 2 months before you have to wash the wheels. And what dust there is is very off-white/light gray...not that carbon black crap that usually gets everywhere after driving for 10 miles.

[The_Auto_Tech]

For sure, you need ceramic pads. The dust from ceramics is tan/orange so it hides on wheels MUCH better. My girlfriend's S4 has semi-metallics and it turns the wheels almost black after a few weeks. My car with ceramics doesn't even look dirty after the same time.

[rollerton]

Awesome, I've heard of Akebono pads, but never had a reason to spend the money...they're not cheap huh?
Best price I can find is @ $100. Worth it I guess....even though my brakes now aren't too old.
Hopefully I won't have to shave the pads down....

[The_Auto_Tech]

IMO Ceramics are the best pad type out there unless you're doing hardcore racing. They don't quite have the initial bite that kevlar or semi-metallic do but they resist fade much more. Also, they're quieter and last longer as well. I would say even besides all that the brake dust is enough reason to run them.

[julex]

Akebonos +1

I run these for 1.5y now and wear is very very low, they last.
But the kicker is virtually no dust, and I mean it. The wheels are super clean, any dust accumulating between washes is practically invisible whereas any previous pads I had would make wheels dirty as hell and most of times I would wash the car only to clean the wheels. Now it is the other way around, I wash the car because it is dirty while the wheels are pretty clean baring any rain/crap picked from the road.

Get them, you absolutely won't regret it.

[Alipor]

Akebonos +1

I run these for 1.5y now and wear is very very low, they last.
But the kicker is virtually no dust, and I mean it. The wheels are super clean, any dust accumulating between washes is practically invisible whereas any previous pads I had would make wheels dirty as hell and most of times I would wash the car only to clean the wheels. Now it is the other way around, I wash the car because it is dirty while the wheels are pretty clean baring any rain/crap picked from the road.

Get them, you absolutely won't regret it.

How are they for stopping the car tho? Is pedal feel better with them? I need to do my rears on my allroad, but while i'm at it I need something with better bite in the front also. It seems that slowing this tank with stock brakes isn't the best. So I'm hoping pads and lines will suffice until I can get a BBK on it.

[rollerton]

I'm no expert, but from what I know you a decent ceramic pad will need to heat to develop the grab that the OEM pad has.
Once they heat up their as good or better than normal, but shouldn't have the same fade so hold up better? I ran ceramics on my old GTI, but the brakes were tiny so dust was never something I noticed anyway. I imagine ceramics would be OK on a C5 for most people, but if you drive hard you might lose some initial bite? That's a heavy car.
I ordered some Akebono's off eBay, $95 shipped...the S4 is my wife's DD and she hardly ever touches the gas, so the dust factor is what I want to address.

[Capt. Obvious]

Akebono Euro Ceramic pads.

These!

Great daily driving pads, decent performance if you occasionally go to the track.

[julex]

How are they for stopping the car tho? Is pedal feel better with them? I need to do my rears on my allroad, but while i'm at it I need something with better bite in the front also. It seems that slowing this tank with stock brakes isn't the best. So I'm hoping pads and lines will suffice until I can get a BBK on it.

Don't get too concerned about "the bite". I also have these on AR and I have no problem locking front wheel (ABS kicking in) without any heating up of the pad prior or whatnot. Whoever says that about ceramic pads probably never drove a car with decent pad (like akebono) and is only repeating some hear say since it sounds so cool to just put his 0.02 in.

As far as I can tell they are the same as OEM in that department. These pads are heads and shoulders above OEM junk without material deposits on rotor (which breaks rotors with time), dust and short service life OEM pads "enjoy" (so the dealer can sell more).

[mikekehler]

I have no experience with other ceramic pads so can't compare to Akebono, but I had same problem and installed Carbotech Bobcat 1521 pads. Beautiful things and were made to order by Carbotech. Really nice finished product and I highly recommend these pads. It took a few weeks to start biting well when cold, but once fully bedded in these are great for daily / spirited driving use.

http://www.ctbrakes.com/brake-compounds.asp