rexflexall

Went for my 1st free oil change (2 years for FREE) at the Acura dealership and of course they give me a doozy. Turns out I need front brake pads. Rear ones are still good but close to changing as well. Cost? LOL, like over $500 with just front brake pads & labor since they are special 'Brembo' pads. LOL I said nevermind I'll get them done myself.


Took the TL to my buddy at his independent shop and yep, brake pads in the red for front, ok in the rear. But...front rotors are a bit below recommended of 23 mm. Rear rotors are fine.


Buddy says it kinds makes no sense to put on new front brake pads without changing out the front rotors as well. Said I got a month or 2 before I may hear some squealing from brakes. Gotta love this guy, he's not a fear inducer like the Acura dealership.


So the predicament I'm in is, at first I just wanted to replace the front brake pads & rotors with OEM Acura - Brembo parts. Problem? Just these parts alone for the FRONT will run me over $325 easy, plus like $70 for my buddy's labor. Eventually I'll have to do the rear as well.


Been looking around, anyone have some excellent alternatives for brake pads & rotors? I'm fairly certain I may just stick with the Brembo route but the constant brake dust does drive me NUTS. For not much more I think I can replace front & rear pads & rotors with decent stuff and not worry about them again for a while.


I see XLR8 has a sale going on now with free ship, I can score a full set of blank rotors & pads for like $315. Anyone got thoughts on this pad & rotor kit? Have it installed on their ride? Stopping just as good as the Brembos?


Shoot any suggestions my way please! Thanks!

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

A big part of the Brembo bite are the 4 piston calipers you still have...
That said, I went with autozone cmax gold...lifetime warranty including wear (i've used it before!, they hand you a new box!)...dust a lot less than the brembo pads.

Rotors, I had the cheap brakemotive ones...they warped...I swapped for some other brand slotted because pretty and they also wobbled...I'm back on my original blank brembo rotors and she brakes like a dream.

If you don't track, you probably don't need the bite and dust of the oem pad...swap over to the cmax for like $100...and then whatever some brembo blanks run you.

If you have dough pouring out of uranus...then get one of the legit upgrades like the racing brake or something but expect $450-600...

Heeltoe has brembo blanks (if I'm reading it right) for
https://www.heeltoeauto.com/brembo-f...251s0x003.html

quanaman

iTrader: (4)

Centric Premium e-coated are the bomb diggity. I think i will get the slotted ones which are upgraded alloy for about $75 for the front (each). I'm getting those with Wagner thermoquiet ceramic pads or as Rockstar suggested, the Autozone Cmax gold. Should cost be around $200 for the front, unless my brembo calipers become stripped, in which case I'll replace or rebuild them completely.


Check out rockauto for the parts.

rexflexall

If I'm reading the site's catalog right, Centric brand rotors are actually renamed Stoptech rotors and sold by XLR8? Since Centric doesn't sell directly to consumers.

quanaman

iTrader: (4)

Exactly. The higher end Centric ones (premium e-coated, something upgraded alloy) are basically the stoptech ones before stoptech buys and rebrands them.

If you buy from rockauto you're likely getting the best deal. The centric come blank, slotted, and slotted & drilled i believe. I would go with slotted or blank.

Jon D

I just put pads and rotors on my car for $139 with parts from Autozone. FWIW, I have tracked cars for years using blank rotors from Autozone paired with good pads and higher dot brake fluid.

To each his own, but If your car is daily driven I just don't see any reason to not go the cheapest route possible.

The price for replacement parts from Acura is ridiculous IMHO. Best of luck sourcing your parts.

dj5

I went with the Brembo slotted rotors and Centric Posi Quiet Ceramic Pads from Tirerack.

Stops just as good as OEM and no brake dust.

Jon D

What did that option cost?

sockr1

iTrader: (5)

i just did all 4 rotors and pads myself this past sunday and i got the parts for 445 shipped, and i got quality parts. i previously had stoptech pads which were good and had less dusting then OEM but still too much dust for me.

this included stoptech slotted rotors all around and akebono performance ceramic brake pads all around (rotors were 300 and pads were 145). the akebono pads have almost no dust which is what i wanted and stop very well.

stoptech is the performance side of centric. i ordered my rotors and pads from ebay and they were drop shipped directly from centric (again...centric and stoptech are the same company) so i got them in 1 day!


as a point of reference...this was the first time changing the rear pads since i bought the car new in 2008. i am now on my 3rd set of pads and rotors for the front, but both front and rear could have gone much longer...but i wanted less dust for my new rims so i changed the pads/rotors haha

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

I still say stick with the brembo blanks...they won't warp.

dj5

$345 for the front rotors & pads (installation not included)

csmeance

racingbrake is totally worth the upgrade. I've put close to 140K on the rotors on my TL and about 80K on the MDX and they are still good on spec! Their metallurgy makes them last longer and they have an improved vane structure to prevent warping along with the 2 piece design.

There's a set being sold in the blackmarket right now for $300ish...

tonto340

I like the slotted and dimpled rotors from brakeperformance.com/

ExcelerateRep

Unfortunately our free shipping doesn't extend to our brake packages, but I can cut you a good shipping deal. Send me a PM with your zip code and I'll shoot you back a quick quote.

In terms of performance, yes our Stoptech packages will stop just as good if not better than the OE brembo setup. As Sockr1 mentioned, you'll have less dust than the brembo pads as well. That being said, these Stoptech pads are performance oriented and will produce more dust than a regular ceramic pad.

If you don't mind a little dust, the Stoptech package is perfect for you. If you want a 0 dust option that's not performance oriented, I can swap out the Street pads with a Centric Posi-Quiet option.

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

Sounds like a win win...
I liked the look of the slots/drilled but was unfortunate that I went cheap to get the look.

Morrissey25

iTrader: (4)

I went with one of the Excelerate packages a few year ago and I have been very happy with the stoptech products. The pads are super easy to change out... The rotors took about 1.5 hours and a little patience for me to change out.

I say, stick with one of your vendors for the parts

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

DMZ

Wagner MX1049 pads, $25 from Rockauto with Centric e-coated rotors.

Adequate stopping power without all the insane dusting. That's what I use.

My 2¢
.
.

E39

Anyone have any experience with power stop brand? Are they any good?