I'm pretty sure that's the only difference between the MkIII and MkIV but we've NEVER had trouble with the brakes on the MKIII, even in enduros. We'll do the VIR 13 on one set of Blues on the front, and still have pad left for several sprint race weekends. In fact, I've thrown away partially used fronts because I got tired of moving them.

The tie breaker for me at THIS point - III vs IV - would be rust. The Golf III is a notorious rust bucket. the IV might be inherently better(?) and is now old enough that donors are getting cheap enough to make sense.

K