After 6-years and 100k, the original, faded and slightly warped rotors and pads needed to go. It being my first time changing them, wow, were there lessons learned and harder to swap than on other cars, but well worth it!

I found slotted/drilled rotors (only because I personally like the way they look), and went with standard pads, versus ceramic. Hoping they aren't terribly dusty!

Started with the back brakes and needed to remove the electronic parking brake...then needed to run and get the H-7 socket to remove the rear caliper bolts. The screws holding the rotors to the wheels were completely corroded - heat and hammering loose did not work. Ended up needing to drill out all 4 set screws. Ugh. Did not replace those...I need a compelling reason to add them back on.

Front pads and rotors weren't too much trouble and took me no time. Overall happy with the greatly improved braking and the look. Bought the set of pads and rotors from Brake Performance which included the zinc coating and only $409 with free shipping. Seems almost too good to be true. We'll see if they hold up or are junk after 20k miles...

 

I tried to remove a couple of rotor screws while rotating my wife's 2022 wheels last week. Unable to budge them, even though there is absolutely zero corrosion on them (very mild Bay Area climate, no salt on any roads, parked inside). Also tried hand impact driver, with no success. Guess I will be drilling them out when the time comes.

 

That's a good price, I bought an R1 Concepts kit with slotted and drilled rotors for around $350 or so from Autozone with a coupon.

I live in MD(So snow and salt, etc) and did brakes on the RDX this year, I was able to get 1 rotor screw out with an impact screwdriver.
I Had to drill 3 out, what a PITA.

 

Gotta see the befores!

 

Why did you choose semi metallic brake pads over carbon? The OEM RDX brake pads produce minimal dust.

 

Good question. I read on the Brake Performance website that semi-metallic pads perform better from a stopping standpoint, than the ceramic pads. Ceramics were not a good choice for um "spirited" driving or towing (I don't tow with it, but do enjoy the car on twisties or on/off ramps. A complaint I had since getting the RDX were that that the brakes felt under-powered with the OEM pads. I would really need to put my foot down to stop and the pads felt glazed and ineffective. My wife and I both noticed this.

Having driven the past couple of days with them, they do feel much more responsive and braking performance much improved...less effort to slow down and stop. I'll be watching closely and may change back at some point in the future if the performance fades and/or brake dust becomes an issue. I now know how to change them, so next time will hopefully be a breeze! Lol