Hello all,
Can anyone suggest really good ceramic brake pads and rotors for my 2013 Honda Accord LX? I use my car for everyday driving in the city and highway and was hoping to find something that works well in all weather conditions including snow. Thanks in advance for your help!
In snow the tires are the thing you need to pay attention to. I hope someone did not tell you that you need high powered brakes to stop on snow. Unless you are doing track days original equipment pads and rotors are just fine.
+1 to Volvo’s post… with emphasis on good tires being the most important factor. Winter tires in really bad regions, and AT LEAST all season tires in areas that have only occasional snow… and moderate temperatures so the snow falls on warm pavement and melts away fast.
An NO tire worn beyond 60% can be considered good on snowy roads.
I use all season tires, but when I commuted here in NH (over 60 miles both ways) I always started the winter with brand new tires. I always felt it was cheap insurance. IMHO a brand new decent all season tire is better than a 50% worn out winter tire.
If you want to stay on the subject of brakes, always purchase brake components that meets or exceeds the vehicle’s manufacturer’s specifications.
Vehicle manufacturer’s don’t make their own brakes. They’re purchased from a vendor/supplier.
This could be from Bendix, Wagner, etc…
Tester
Hi thanks for the responses… live in an area with mild-moderate snow (none so far this year :neutral: ) but yes will also be buying a good pair of all-season grand touring tires FIRST. Since Im replacing the tires I thought might as well replace the brake pads as I was told at my last oil change that they have worn out a lot and will need replacing in the next year (car has about 36000 miles of mainly city driving). For tires will either get the Continental TrueContact or the Michelin Premier A/S.
It’s recommended you have snow tires on all 4 wheels. The most important functions of snow tires are stopping and cornering in the snow, and for those you need all four.
If you use all-season tires, put them on all 4 corners.
I put Centric Premium rotors (they come in two grades) and Centric ceramic pads on my Accords and have gotten good wear from them. AC Delco premium rotors with AC Delco ceramic pads have also worked well. I recently put a set of funky looking (drilled and slotted) rotors from StopTech on my Sienna minivan along with their high end ceramic pad and, 10,000 miles later, they seem to be good. If they give me another 20,000 trouble free miles I will likely try them again.
Do they seem to improve stopping power at all?
Here’s my recommendation . . .
Buy rotors and pads from the Honda dealer
I’m a professional, and I can tell you with absolute certainty, that your best chance for good braking, acceptable life, and no noise, is to use the factory pads and rotors
Some may disagree vehemently with me, but I can only offer recommendations based on what I’ve experienced
Because I’m a pro, my sample size is huge. Please bear that in mind
Yes, they are more expensive, but I’ve seen far too many complaints resulting from the use of aftermarket brake parts . . . including good and expensive aftermarket parts. I’ve seen many cases where the mechanic did everything right . . . machined the rotors as needed, cleaned and lubed everything correctly, etc. . . . and the brakes were noisey, and sometimes even chewed up the rotors. And the problems did not go away until he installed factory brakes. It can happen
The most expensive brake job is when you cheap out, it doesn’t work, and then you buy the factory brakes to fix the problem for good. It’s expensive because it would have been cheaper to just buy the factory brakes once and be done with it, versus also buying those aftermarket brakes which didn’t really work
+1 to db4690’s comment.
In my experience, almost everyone who placed aftermarket brake pads and rotors on a Japanese car complained of brake noise afterward. I don’t know exactly why this seems to be the result of using aftermarket parts, but because of what I have observed, I would not put aftermarket brake parts on a Japanese-make vehicle.
Then you people must be doing something wrong when it comes to brake jobs.
For over thirty years, every vehicle that has come into my shop for a brake job has had the rotors and pads replaced with CarQuest brake parts. And I have never had a come-back for brake noise or performance.
I wonder what the garages in small towns do when a dealer could be over a hundred miles away, but the NAPA/CarQuest is just around the corner?
Another urban myth.
Tester
Trapped rotor!
That should be incentive enough to do the brake job the right way the first time.
Tester
We’re talking about replacement parts.
Not who’s doing the work.
Can you stay on subject?
Tester
@db4690 I have aftermarket Brembos on my Mustang, and they are no noisier that the stock brakes, I use ceramic pads though. Metallic pads tend to be noisy.
With all due respect, I am still on subject
And I have extensive experience with metallic pads
I do not feel that FACTORY metallic brake pads “tend to be noisy”
Perhaps the key word here is factory, versus metallic . . .
“Then you people must be doing something wrong when it comes to brake jobs.”
“We’re talking about replacement parts.”
“Not who’s doing the work.”
With all due respect, it seems like you were talking about who’s doing the work and/or the methods used to do the work :neutral:
This is certainly an interesting situation
OP asked for advice
And the people giving advice are . . . in some regards . . . contradicting each other
OP will just have to decide “who’s right” and “who’s wrong”
It’s safe to say neither side(s) will give and OP will have to weigh pros and cons and make their own informed decision(s)
:trollface:
Fart!
Tester
