Brake Pads & Rotors for Daily Driving

[Florence_NC]

I am rolling over 40k this weekend, and the OEM brakes are toast, especially on the front. I need to figure out what I want to use to replace all of the parts, so I did some searches on this forum. There is a lot of information on the subject, but it is scattered, and a lot of it is mixed in with discussions about cars seeing track use. So I figured I would start a new thread to gather the information together, and be more focused on daily cars.

So what is everyone's experience with brake pads and rotors? I have never had my car on track, not even autocross, so track use is of no concern in my choices. Less dust would be nice, but I doubt I would give up any performance for less dust, just not the kind of trade-off that interests me. I absolutely need front and rear pads, and I really should the front rotors. So let's hear some real-world feedback.

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[fatherpain]

This may be overkill but I recently switched to gyrodisc slotted front rotors and their SS pads for the front.

I am using their “magic” pads for the rear (they are cheaper than the SS pads. I would have went SS pads for the rears also but they were not available at the time.

Still on OEM rear rotors. Will switch to Girodisc also at some point.

Really like the new brake set up so far. Smooth with good stopping power and minimal dust compared to OEM. No brake squeal so far and they look good.

Con’s are they are pricey. Gyrodisc front rotors are $800 for the set. Rear rotors are also $800.

Btw 40k miles is impressive. My rears were completely shot at 23k

 

[Florence_NC]

This may be overkill but I recently switched to gyrodisc slotted front rotors and their SS pads for the front.

I am using their “magic” pads for the rear (they are cheaper than the SS pads. I would have went SS pads for the rears also but they were not available at the time.

Still on OEM rear rotors. Will switch to Girodisc also at some point.

Really like the new brake set up so far. Smooth with good stopping power and minimal dust compared to OEM. No brake squeal so far and they look good.

Con’s are they are pricey. Gyrodisc front rotors are $800 for the set. Rear rotors are also $800.

Btw 40k miles is impressive. My rears were completely shot at 23k

Do you drive in R+ mode much of the time?

 

[fatherpain]

Yes that’s the only mode I use, heh. That said, I’m not overly aggressive on the brakes doing my Daily Drive

Do you drive in R+ mode much of the time?

 

[Florence_NC]

Yes that’s the only mode I use, heh. That said, I’m not overly aggressive on the brakes doing my Daily Drive

If you run R+ but don't do the long push on VSA, that is why you go through rear brakes so fast. The torque vectoring in R+ is way more aggressive, some of the autocross guys talk about their rear brakes smoking after a run in R+ with VSA on.

I run R+ almost exclusively when I am on the highway, but always VSA fully off. That is why I don't kill the rears.

 

[Florence_NC]

This may be overkill but I recently switched to gyrodisc slotted front rotors and their SS pads for the front.

I am using their “magic” pads for the rear (they are cheaper than the SS pads. I would have went SS pads for the rears also but they were not available at the time.

Still on OEM rear rotors. Will switch to Girodisc also at some point.

Really like the new brake set up so far. Smooth with good stopping power and minimal dust compared to OEM. No brake squeal so far and they look good.

Con’s are they are pricey. Gyrodisc front rotors are $800 for the set. Rear rotors are also $800.

Btw 40k miles is impressive. My rears were completely shot at 23k

Yeah, Girodiscs might be more than I want to spend on a DD car. How much are replacement iron discs fir them, have you checked?

 

[fatherpain]

Hmm I’ll have to check if VSA is on or off. I remember turning something off but I forget what it was heh. It might have been that..

I imagine your OEM front rotors are grooved and some dude at the the Honda service department “claimed” rotors need to be replaced with the pads.

I do not believe this to be true as long as the thickness is still there and no cracks on the rotor. You may have some life remaining on the rotors. Worth checking.

My buddies at work laughed when they heard I switched rotors this soon. Pretty sure the OEMs still had some time left. Which reminds me I need to get a digital caliper.

If you run R+ but don't do the long push on VSA, that is why you go through rear brakes so fast. The torque vectoring in R+ is way more aggressive, some of the autocross guys talk about their rear brakes smoking after a run in R+ with VSA on.

I run R+ almost exclusively when I am on the highway, but always VSA fully off. That is why I don't kill the rears.

 

[fatherpain]

Unfortunately the replacement discs are $600 for a set. Front or rear.

The upside is Girodisc claims rotors will last a long, long time as long as I keep an eye on the pads.

Have you checked the remaining thickness on your rotors?

Yeah, Girodiscs might be more than I want to spend on a DD car. How much are replacement iron discs fir them, have you checked?

 

[Florence_NC]

Hmm I’ll have to check if VSA is on or off. I remember turning something off but I forget what it was heh. It might have been that..

I imagine your OEM front rotors are grooved and some dude at the the Honda service department “claimed” rotors need to be replaced with the pads.

I do not believe this to be true as long as the thickness is still there and no cracks on the rotor. You may have some life remaining on the rotors. Worth checking.

My buddies at work laughed when they heard I switched rotors this soon. Pretty sure the OEMs still had some time left. Which reminds me I need to get a digital caliper.

You have to do the long push every time you go to R+. If you drop out of R+, it turns off automatically, as long push only works in R+. If you leave R+, then go back, you have to long push again to turn it back on. Annoying, really.

 

[Florence_NC]

Hmm I’ll have to check if VSA is on or off. I remember turning something off but I forget what it was heh. It might have been that..

I imagine your OEM front rotors are grooved and some dude at the the Honda service department “claimed” rotors need to be replaced with the pads.

I do not believe this to be true as long as the thickness is still there and no cracks on the rotor. You may have some life remaining on the rotors. Worth checking.

My buddies at work laughed when they heard I switched rotors this soon. Pretty sure the OEMs still had some time left. Which reminds me I need to get a digital caliper.

They are pretty chewed up, but I have not measured them. A nice groove at the pad edges, and lots of uneven grooving patterned with the cross holes.

The Honda service people have been telling me since about 20k everything needed to be replaced, but I don't listen to them anyway. I do most of my own work, especially something like this.

 

[spyder57]

Do you drive in R+ mode much of the time?

Yeah I'm going to have to say that spending $800 for girodiscs for DD is a complete waste of money. Yes they are great rotors and will last forever. But for DD, just about anything will last a long time.

 

[RacingManiac]

I need to do rotors this winter I think(30k miles so far, lots of autoX), I'll probably end up getting OEM fronts but probably if I can find the right one, Centric rears, and just keep running OEM pads....

 

[RacingManiac]

If you are stuck in SCCA autocross classing land I need to replace drilled rotors with drilled rotors....

 

[Florence_NC]

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=Ebc+usr2028&_sacat=0&_sop=15

eBay slotted instead of drilled rotors, RockAuto iron on the rear, and your favorite street pad. I'll do G-LOC GS-1s with the eBay slotteds.

I'll need to burn through 3 of these slotted sets before one set of Girodiscs pays for themselves, which, frankly, isn't happening.

These EBC rotors are also $800 a set. How is that saving money vs. the Girodiscs?

 

[Florence_NC]

$370 shipped from the UK for a pair, that's what I'm looking at.

Yeah, I don't get these prices. I find the kit #PD13KF715 which has the Yellowstuff pads and the GD2028 rotors on the UK EBC site. The price for the whole kit is 361GBP, which is $500ish. But looking at US sites, and just the rotors are over $900. Makes no sense.

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