Have a 2005 Saab 92x with 70,000 mile. Located in the Northeast. City and highway driver. In the city drive conservatively for fuel economy reasons. Drive fast on highway.
My Saab is currently equipped with OEM brake pads and rotors. Will soon replace pads. Have been looking at pads on Tire Rack website. Any opinions on what type and or brand to get or stay away from?
In regards to rotors should I go ahead and replace along with the pads at this point? An
Currently rides on 16" ultra high performance all season Bridgestone Potenza RE960. Live in Northeast. Considering replacing with Continental ExtremeContact DWS or Michelin Pilot Sport A/S Plus. Any opinions?
Stick with OEM. They should be ceramic pads. And, I’d definitely replacing the rotors. The pads and rotors do wear together and rotors today have no capacity for turning. You got almost 5 years and 70,000 miles out of the original OEM set. The next OEM set should repeat that. Your doing much, much better than average. Why gamble on aftermarket parts?
As far as tires, the three you mentioned are all good tires. What are you looking for with other tires that these Bridgestone’s didn’t provide?
You’ll not go wrong replacing the rotors, but why incur the expense of throwing away perfectly good rotors? The normal procedure, when replacing brake pads, is to simply resurface your current rotors. This service is always included in the price for routine brake service, and you will still be charged for resurfacing even if you insist on replacement. The mechanic will let you know if your rotors are too damaged for resurfacing.
the answer you seek will also depend on the type of spirited driving you do. your rotors are probably ready for replacement. you could go thru Tire Rack and get the Centrics rotors, they are the parent company of Cryo Stop. unless you auto-X you don’t need Brembos, etc. you could also go to Auto Zone, Napa, etc and get straight replacement rotors and get Hawk HPS pads. the Subaru/Saab OEM pads will cost you dearly! New rotors can be purchased for about the same price as resurfacing.
Look at Falkens or Yokohomas for your next tires, do you really need a $250+ tire?
Replace pads/rotors. Forget OEM and buy anything aftermarket.
Conti tires are better buy compared to Michelin’s. However Mich tires are really good. Conti’s are an unproven wild card. My next tires on my turbo Subaru’s is likely the Conti’s but data will exists by then.
I own the RE960’s which I love except in winter conditions on my similar 2004 WRX.
I can only speak to my own experience, but I had very bed luck with Contis on my pickup truck. Those thing simply would not ride smoothly, even after replacing the two (of 4) defective ones. I won’t buy Contis again.
Thank you for your opinions.
Bought all parts from Tire Rack and saved money by doing so. Went with Brembo rotors, ATE brake pads, and a new set of RE960’s. Mechanic showed me old pads, rotors, and tires. Either the pads needed to be changed or were close to it. Went with new rotors instead of resurfacing old ones. Mainly because if you resurface the thinner the rotor becomes thus more likely to warp then damage the new pads. New tires were mounted and then balanced with a Hunter Road Force balancer. Car drives great can tell a difference in brake and driving feel.