I'll chalk it up as more of a side effect than a "problem". EBC insists that noise shouldn't be evaluated until the 1000 mile mark though, so there's still hope yet. The squeal only appears from ~30-45mph at light-moderate pressure, and only when the brakes are cold. Those darn ducts cool em down pretty well though :-P They're not silent like my GTI's Yellows were after this many miles, but there's still time and it really doesn't bother me much.

--Matt

 

Just a little more feedback on these guys now that I have 1600 miles on these brake parts. I've found that, if I get them good and hot, they seem to leave deposits on the rotors very easily even if I never come to a complete stop with them hot. This causes some "chugging" during stopping at lower speeds after a good romp. It's not a traditional shimmy. No pulsation can be felt in the pedal, but there's a noticeable variance in stopping "smoothness" when braking lightly at lower speeds initially.

Fortunately, driving around with them cold resolves the issue after just a few stops (one benefit of having pads that are abrasive when cold eh?), but it's something to be aware of. I don't live in an area where I park my car shortly after needing to stop from high speeds without any room to slow down gradually with engine braking, but I was in one while on vacation over the last few days and found it pretty annoying. All's well now that I'm back home though By the time I got from the highway to my house (some eight or nine miles at 25-35) the issue sensation went away and hasn't returned, even after being back on the highway again. Definitely not as carefree as the stockers, but there's got to be a price to pay somewhere...right?

--Matt

 

Forgive my primitive paint drawing, but I'd just like to sort of explain the braking force/pedal feel for these yellowstuff pads for anyone interested in them. Here's a purely subjective free-hand depiction of how I interpret the pedal pressure->brake force on these pads vs the stockers.

--Matt

 

Interesting. I feel like its wasteful of me to not wait until my current pads/rotors are done to swap in my jcw's with the yellow pads, but man am I interested in trying them out.

 

I've racked up 2k miles on these badboys now and, out of nowhere, they've been quiet for the last 5 days. Happy camper!