I trust companies like Brembo or mintex to make decent, quality parts more than I trust Volvo to supply some. Volvo themselves don't make brake components. On my 240 for example the front brakes are Girling and the rears are ATE.
Owner reviews for brake pads
I have never put on a set of OEM pads & have had 0 issues. My S80 came with them and honestly I think the akebonos I replaced them with are better. The only bad thing about the cheap (duralast, I'm looking at you) pads is that they screech a lot if you don't coat the back in DBQ.
I upgraded the pads and rotors to drilled Zimmerman discs that I painted black except for swept area and Mintex pads from Autotech.
I just bought a set of them and put them on my R32. However I havent had a chance to try them yet as im still Flinstone status.
Car drives great-- the new brake / pad combination gives it a firmer pedal feel than the stock setup (which I found pretty soft/grabby in comparison). It's not Porsche-firm but its world's better than the stock setup-- for comparison it's much lighter than the pedal in something like a Porsche 993, but quite a bit firmer / less grabby than the stock setup on recent BMWs. I greatly prefer the firmer feel to the stock setup, as I find it more confidence-inspiring and it makes for much easier heel/toe downshifting.
I bought a VR6 4Motion wagon for my mom 4 years ago, and it's still running great. The brakes are a bit overboosted, and are very grabby, but once you get used to it, it's actually not bad at all.
After 217k on my 93 Eurovan I am still on my original rotors. I do change pads every 35-40k usually Bendix
i just put on new pads and rotors, front and rear...i bought Bosch Quiet cast and 100 miles in i like them. Shims are molded to the pad and no noise at all. Stop a little better than what ever i had on there before.
Brake pads were replaced abt 2,000 miles ago, and the rotors; apparently can last till i have to replace the pads again.
Might I share an experience with my Mercedes Warranty Service: It was my last "scheduled" maintenace on my Benz before my warranty expired in a month... This is what my service rep told me behind closed doors...."We better schedule in as many repairs as possible" 4 new break pads and 2 new rotars for the front (even though they still had a few more thousand mile on them), replacement wood trims for 2 of the door panels, new wiper blades and arm, a whole new radio system b/c the tape player broke (even though I've put probably only 2 tapes into the bay for the 4 years I owned the car); a brand new driver seat b/c one of the heating element on the car seat would not power on (I live in Florida, rarely ever used it).....
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