when you say, "I use my pads with tar, and my brake works great" ofcourse your brake is going to work regardless of pads, i once ran koolstops with tar they held better than cousts/heatsinks/koxx and so on, so i think its pointless posting a comment about your pads if you use them in conjuction with tar. sorry for any offence oh yeah. my favourite pads so far are cousts on cnc backing. best brake ive ever had!