Brake pads Bosch or R1 Concepts
They seem good so far. I'm not very handy and I was able to put them on pretty easily.
I went with Raybestos rotors and Bosch QuietCast pads. Equal if not better than OEM and much much cheaper.
So I followed their direction and jumped on the old interwebs to my retailer of choice, RockAuto, and ordered Bosch pads and rotors front and back. So I had nothing planned for the weekend figured I would do a little wrenching. Take the wheels off and start to unbolt the caliper, looked down and my rear pads still show about half life. Maybe they just meant the fronts, pop the wheel and they are showing even less wear. My question is it normal for the CX-5 to go 80000 miles on the original pads? I didn't think I drove like my grandmother but it is 70% highway/non city driving. For anyone that does your own maintenance the cost for 4 rotors and pads was less than $200 (Raybestos Element 3 rotors and Bosch Quiet Cast ceramic pads). It really a fairly easy job, and would not take more than 30 minutes per wheel.
Bosch quiet cast
I ran r1 concepts ceramic pads and rotors on my mk6 and they were awesome for all 4 for under $450 with a 20% off coupon on their website
I’ve had stock set up, powerstop rotors with Hawk LTS Truck/SUV pads, and my current set up is Bosch severe duty pads with Advics premium rotors. So far the current set up is my favorite. I really prefer the immediate “bite” of semi metallic pads.
Rotors were getting rusted decided to have them replaced with R1 Concepts Brake pads and Drilled/Slotted rotors. They perform a little better than the OEM with a quicker breaking point.
In comparison to the stock setup, the Bosch QuietCast pads and rotors aren't as touchy or responsive. They do require a little bit more pedal travel for normal stopping power. However, they do offer more precise control over how much power is applied throughout the pedal stroke. They are also incredibly quiet and smooth.
I've had mine for like 60k miles. 87k ish on the clock. Just changed everything. Yearly inspection and the shop rejected it for brakes. Brake installer said the weren't that bad. I bought an R1 Concepts kit. Front and rear rotors plus pads all around. $220 shipped on Walmart+ (also found on Amazon or Rock Auto). The shop had a brakes special: $160 installed for new pads. Since I had the parts and rotors take like 30 seconds to swap out, they charged me for two brake installs at $150 each. So all in installed was like $550 after taxes.For reference: the shop that rejected it quoted something like $500 for the front and $500 for the rear. And I don't think it was all new everything.
Rockauto carries Dynamic Friction kits. People will say "Rockauto is cheap shit" and then recommend R1 Concepts. But Dynamic Friction OWNS R1 Concepts and all of their pads and rotors are the same. Only difference is R1 does drilled and slotting while Dynamic are just blank rotors. So you really don't have to spend the extra money on R1 stuff. Also, you don't need slotted rotors for everyday driving. Heck, even some track guys still use blanks just fine. Only thing to worry about for track is pads, which I wouldn't recommend any of the R1 stuff for. Had one of their pads claiming both track and street but their pad material on one of their pads completely disintegrated on track.
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