I've seen a number of threads on here about the crummy wear of the stock brake pads on the 07 TL Type-S, well chock me up in that camp now. I'm on my third set with the fourth on the way at 97K miles. I'm tired of paying the dealer over $900 bucks for pads and rotors every year (I'm a Real Estate agent and put 30,000 miles a year on my car). Fortunately one of my clients is an Acura mechanic and said he'd only charge me $100 bucks to do the job.

But I need to know what parts to buy . . . I've seen all kinds of threads on here mentioning this and that, but here's what I'm considering:

Rotors: Brembo drilled and slotted part #35836
Pads: Hawk HPS Ceramic Pads 0.570 Thickness Front Part #HB530Z.570

Are these the correct parts for my car?

And if so, anyone know where to pick up the Hawk pads? When I go to Tire Rack (which seems to be what everyone recommends) I only see "Rear fitament" pads for the rear brakes.

Sorry, I'm totally clueless on car stuff. I just like to get in and drive.

Thanks in advance for any help and sorry if this is an old and beat up subject.

John

 

I think that the dealer is taking advantage of you not knowing what is going on with your car. IMO, you should not be having to replace your pads and rotors every year (unless you are driving like a maniac).

Personally, (although they look real nice) for a DD I don't think that there is a need for the drilled and slotted rotors because I believe that they will cause your pads to wear a bit quicker. Please correct me if I am wrong...

I changed my pads to the ceramic pads and I love them. They are much cleaner and they still have the stopping power that I need for my DD.

 

The drilled and slotted look soo much cooler though! :-)

I've also been looking around on PepBoys and O'Reilly Auto parts and they also have off-brand Ceramic pads for about 1/2 the cost of the Hawks.

And honestly, I do drive 30,000 miles per year and every thread I've read says about 20 - 25K is normal with the Acura pads, so I don't think they're taking advantage of me. Especially since I went to my local Les Schwab Tire center to have my tires rotated and they did a courtesy brake check and also noted it was "about time" for new front brakes. I guess the good news is the rear brakes have almost 100K on them and haven't needed to be replaced yet. Just the fancy Italian jobbies . . .

Plus, even paying $300 in parts for the Hawk Ceramics and Brembo drilled and slotted rotors AND paying my client $100 to install them is still less than half what Acura would charge me for factory stuff. So I think I'm coming out ahead, but may just go with the standard rotors anyway . . .

 

i have quite a bit of miles on my tl-s also. up to 75k. i use the rotora drilled and slotted rotors with those hawk hps ceramic pads.
i dont see why you don't just get rotora or stoptech rotors. theyre cheaper and imo the performance is just as good and you can get the drilled/slotted.

 

Awesome advice Skrew . . . I'll look into them!

 

Cross drilled and slotted rotors are the way to go. I have them with ceramic pads. They last MUCH longer than the stock setup and DO NOT WARP! I have 40,000 miles or so on my pads and rotors and still have 6MM left on my pads. They should last almost 80,000 before I have to replace my pads. Well worth the extra money! Tire rack is a good place for big name pads and rotors. I just have the ebay ones but so far they have been nothing but excellent compared to my crappy stock setup.

 

I'd highly recommend this brake package; it includes all 4 rotors and pads and the parts offer better performance and longevity than the stock components.

http://store.excelerateperformance.c.../i-304786.aspx

 

No & No.

Brembo rotors will cost more and may not have been properly drilled from blanks (depending where you get them).

Hawk pads have got a bad wrap in general. Although in fairness a lot of that is on the HP+.


Do the Rotora or StopTech as mentioned or do Racing Brake. Contact our site vendors Exelerate and Mr HeelToe for pricing and options.

The reason your costs were so high is mostly dealer parts mark ups and MASSIVE over-charge on labor. $100 is a very fair price for outside labor.

 

that is a sweet deal. i woulda looked into that back when i got the front rotors/pads from excelerate but i wanted to use up my rear brakes of course and i would think most people would want to. the rotoras up front have been awesome. now that my rears are about done, i think im gonna go with stoptech for the rears since theyre a bit cheaper than rotora... and this is just the rears we're talking about anyway.