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Has anyone tried the R1 Concept Pads and Rotors? It looks like they have an offering for the 3rd gen RDX. I had them on my 10 TL and they were just fine.
Just took a look at the site and watched one of their videos. Placed an order for front and back with the drilled and slotted ceramic set. $227 and some change after 30% off. Not bad! Hopefully they don’t squeal like a pig like the Acura OEM ones.
I had them on my 2010 TL and they were great. No issue with eating pads or warping rotors.. Keep in mind, the slotting and drilling is mostly cosmetic. I am sick of my OEM brakes squealing. The dealer has replaced them twice and my RDX has 13K Miles. I ordered these the other day from R1 Concepts. I went with the OEM Formula Pads based on their recommendation. Kboo74656 went with ceramic. Not sure what the difference is going to be.
Don't these kind of slotted and drilled rotors eat break pads like crazy?
Not necessarily, they chamfer the holes and slots so as not to have a sharp edge. This also helps prevent any cracking. As an example, Porsche does the same on their cars which have cross-drilled rotors.
I have been using R1 rotors and pads for many years on several cars and never had an issue. I also like their coated rotors which prevent rusting, they look great!
kboo...how did you get 30% off? "$227 and some change after 30% off. Not bad!"
It was offered as soon as I went to their site.
Also I finally finished installing the rotors and pads today! A lot of cuts from the brackets that the front pads seat in!! They are sharp as heck! A few small hiccups along the way with the screw that holds the rotor in place after you remove the caliper. I was only able to save 1, the rest had to be drilled out. The e-parking brake was a pain at first. When you remove it you have to make sure the star shaped spine is lined up with its home on the motor. If not you have to manually turn it. I used a pair of pliers gingerly and it worked to line it up. Oh yea make sure you disable the auto e-brake if you have it turned on! When you remove the motor for the parking brake use a flat edge screwdriver to separate the motor from the back of the caliper. Pry slowly where the 2 screws were removed holding it in place alternating sides so it comes off evenly. Other than that it was a Daddy/Daughter brake day today. She learned a lot and stuck with it at 14 years old!! Did some zoomies on a empty road behind the house to bed in the pads and rotors. They feel GREAT! I did hear a squeal coming from the front drivers side so tomorrow I’m gonna take it apart and see what I might have missed. First time dealing with an e-parking brake and it wasn’t as bad as others made it out to be.
That screw that hold the rotors in place is needed. Without it the rotor was slightly cocked (barely). It was enough that it would cause the rotor to rub against the clips holding the brake pads causing the squealing I was hearing yesterday and today. Took the front drivers side wheel off 4 times today and lubricated all the points of metal to metal contact and replaced the clips again before realizing the screw was the problem. Replaced the screw that I left out that holds the rotor in place on the three remaining wheels. Now she is quite and no more dam squealing!
They are doing great! Love em! Absolutely no squeaking when it’s cold and dust is minimal. Stopping power is better IMO and they look so much better than stock. Break in was easy since I have a lot of empty streets in the neighborhood due to ongoing construction of new homes. It’s been raining for the last 2 days here and they performed great in the rain. No complaints at all. This is what they look like after the zinc coating wears off. Glad I went this route instead of waiting on Acura to fix it. Saved alot by doing it myself also. I still have my old rotors and pads but I’m probably gonna toss them here soon.
After break in period with zinc coating removed. Before with zinc coating present.
Did anyone else get a new set of front rotors and pads on the front and new pads on the rear on a TSB Recall? I had mine in for another issue and they just did it for me......
Oh, and I bought a 4 wheels set that looked just like those from PowerStop for my old Mazdaspeed 3. The magnesium covered rotors never discolored at all and there was NO brake dust to speak of..... The PowerStop is the brand of the Big Brake Front Brake Kit sold by Graham Rahal Performance Group
Last edited by Padre Dave; 01-29-2021 at 09:37 PM.
i run their pads (dynamic friction actually same thing) on a porsche and theyre very good. 1000 series metallic matrix pad. id do brembo rotors with a coating if they make a spec, but i can vouch for their pads. the metallic "track" pads at least (theyre not track pads, theyre aggressive street pads...which the RDX badly needs).
rockauto sells the dynamic friction stuff. again, same company as R1 Concepts.
i cant edit my post, but wanted to add, ceramic pads may not give you enough bite with these anemic 12 inch rotors. might need some metallic in there. JMO.
I have put about 5k on my RDX since the install. No problems what so ever. It was a great move, no squealing and I think they enhance the appearance. I highly recommend if your sick of listening to the factory brakes.
My 2019 is squealing like crazy at 14k miles. From 40 mph light brake pressure to 10 mph. Dealership is telling me my car falls out of the Vin range meanwhile the TSB states "All" for 2019 models. I sent an email to corporate 2 weeks ago and still no reply. My last option might be to replace them myself with these pads and rotors. If it's an upgrade over factory I guess it'll sting less but still sucks that a new car should squeal this bad, it's downright embarrassing coming to a stop.
If you have to do this, consider the PowerStop drilled/slotted rotors and pads. I put them on my Mazdaspeed3 and they were great. The Mg++ coating on the rotors lasts and keeps them looking good and the brakes were pretty much dust free. The price was very right, so……I was gonna, but when I had the car on a rare trip to the dealer, they replaced them on the TSB without telling me until after the fact. Sorry they are hassling you!