Recommendations for front brake pads and rotors
 

Hi,

I am new here, found the site looking for some info on replacing the front brake pads and rotors. I have a little more than 120k miles, I had the rear pads and rotors replaced a few months ago and was told the fronts would need it soon. So I started looking to see if this was something I can do myself. After looking at the DIYs and some videos I think its something I can accomplish.

My question though is what brand of pads and rotors would you guys recommend and where would you recommend purchasing them from? Just looking for everyday pads and rotors, not the cheapest but then not looking to spend a fortune either, just want the car to stop.

Any help would be appreciated!

Thanks!
Rick

I've been researching pads and rotors for my 03 V6 sedan. I want Centric premium rotors, and Akebono ProAct ceramic pads, but I may settle for NAPA ultra premium rotors, because I can get them locally. I don't want to order rotors over the Internet, if I don't have too, and people seem to like the NAPA rotors too. I also like the Brembo rotors, but they don't seem to come with the coating on the hats and vanes. I've read a lot of reviews, and that's what's on the top of the list right now, but I still have plenty of time.

The wagner thermoquiet are decent brake pads.

I replaced mine with Napa's and Akebono's - big mistake. Rotors never worked well, I need to remove and have them turned. However I used Zimmermann on my Volvo, they come coated - no rust - and work great. No NAPA for me anymore.

I've liked Hawk HPS pads for nice hard stopping. But they make more dust & wear the rotors faster. Price you pay for performance...

I put Wagner ThermoQuiet pads on my daughter's Civic, and they're really nice (if you don't need super high performance).

I can tell you what I put on my Acura CL Type-S, which is essentially an Accord Coupe, and is what will guide my decision when I put brakes on the Honda.

I used EBC slotted (not drilled or dimpled) sport rotors matched to their "Redstuff" pads. Almost all of my driving is done on secondary country roads in West Virginia, hills and hairpin turns are the norm for us, ice and snow more often than seems natural too. While I like the combination a lot I will be going with the less aggressive "Greenstuff" pads if and when I put these things on my Honda.

Most rotors are made of cast iron because it a great material for them, but there is a difference in the cast iron that might be used, you can read about it here:
EBC Brakes | How to bed in new rotors article

The reason I plan to move down the ladder from Redstuff to Greenstuff pads is because I never get the Redstuff pads hot enough for them to work to their full potential; I will get greater performance from lower performance pads - if that makes any sense.

Here's the thing. High performance brake pads, like the Redstuff ones from EBC, are made to work well at very high temperatues. While they work better than standard pads when they are hot they suffer a bit when they are cold and so you have to get them up to temperature to get the full performance out of them. My driving style, and the roads I drive on are such that hard braking is rare and my brakes actually cool off between uses. It is really noticable on our Acura, I can really feel the brakes getting stronger if I use them hard a couple of times in quick succession compared to when they are cold. So my thinking is that if I move down to the less agressive Greenstuff pads they will actually work a bit better when cool even if I lose a bit of braking capacity in the high temperature range - a place I never find myself.

Oh, and there is this. If your braking can activate the antil-lock feature then the only thing that can improve your ability to stop is tires/wheels because your existing brakes are already providing all of the braking force (anti-torque?) that your rubber can transmit to the road.

Thanks for the info!! I have looked at the Greenstuff and have read some good reviews on them. I don't need high performance pads. Typically I just take the car in and ask for "brakes" now that I look at doing it myself it made me realize there are different options out there.

What about the OEM rotors and pads. Is there any advantage/disadvantage of getting them?

If you are satisfied with the stock brakes then there isn't a reason on earth that you wouldn't want to use stock parts. Of course there's also no reason at all not to use a set from your local NAPA dealer or even one of the national chain products. Any name brand rotors and pads will work just fine. Don't sweat doing the job yourself either, just make sure you have some way to push the piston back into the caliper, a large C-clamp works well but you can usually do it with a pair of channel locks. Other than that its more or less child's play, not very much harder to do than changing a flat tire - doesn't take much longer either.

Just in case someone else reads this...

Don't use a C-clamp to press in the piston ON THE REAR CALIPERS. Those have the handbrake auto-adjust mechanism inside. For the rear calipers on Honda, you have to twist the pistons in - clockwise to retract the pistons into the calipers.

Hands down this is the best choice you can possibly make.

www dot brakeperformance dot com
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