So I recently ordered rotex gold brakes (finally) for both the front and rear. I ordered the fronts from Ebay and the rears from Brakeworld. Both came extremely quick and I can't complain there. However aside from the packaging the pad material seems to be different. The ones from brakeworld actually appear gold where as the ebay ones (front) seem to be gray. So am I victim of a bad purchase from ebay or are they legit? Why the difference in color?

Which leads me to my next question... I bought these in anticipation of a 2-day autocross class I'm going to next week, as I assumed my pads (2004, <30k) could probably use replacing prior to hitting the track. Should I keep the stocks ones on and replace afterwards or try to swap them out before track day?

Any insights would be greatly appreciated!

See attached images below...