Hi guys,

Can anyone tell me where I might find the best deal for pad and rotors all around for a decent brand online? Any links or site are appreciated! I’m in Canada if that helps.

Also, does metallic or semi, ceramic what should I aim for? Thanks

Thanks!

 

jason, I always bought my rotors and pads on e-bay. That was where I could find the best price. As for quality, all the rotors are pretty much coming out of China these days, so, your quality is not going to vary all that much unless you go with a top end supplier like EBC. They have good stuff and will have high quality parts, but their price is going to be twice what you can find other stuff for that will be almost as good.

Here is a kit that does the fronts and rears with ceramic pads:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/17356390509...Cclp%3A2334524

A kit like this is what I would get if you are after just a basic kit that replaces like for like (ie, solid rotors with solid rotors). Now, an option you have is to go with cross drilled/slotted rotors. They supposedly have better stopping distances (like the X-Type needs better over the stock stuff). When I had my X-Type, I put them on and did notice an improvement (not dramatic, but I could easily sweep things off the seats wtih a good braking). The "downside" to the cross drilled/slotted rotors is that the first braking in the morning and an extremely hard braking is associated with a whirring sound. It is not really loud, but if you want whisper quiet brakes, this may be the deal breaker.

As for metallic vs semi vs ceramic pads. Metallics are good if you want brakes that last forever. But, the cons of this setup is the metallics tend to be a little more noisy (squeaks) and they tend to eat the rotors (so, when the pads need replaced, so will the rotors). The semi-metallic pads solved a lot of the wear and noise issues, but result in lots of brake dust. You wash the car once a month or so, not really a problem other than the rims getting dark near the time you need to wash the car. You then have the ceramic pads. They have very little dust, do not seem to eat the rotors, so, you will be able to put on multiple pads with a set of rotors. The downside I will say for ceramics is they tend to loose a bit of stopping ability when they are cold. does this make the car dangerous. By no means. But, you will notice semi-metallics will grip harder/earlier than ceramics if you have been driving on the highway and the pads are cold. But, a half second into the stopping, the pads will have had enough heat added that they will be up to full stopping ability. So, the slowness of getting up to temp and the increased stopping ability tend to offset each other. Now, in town driving, the pads remain warm, you will be able to have full stopping ability all the time.

Any more questions, just ask. Also, plan on getting a quart of brake fluid to do a fluid change at the same time. Also, check the e-brake lever on the rear calipers. If you are going to have a problem with the calipers, it will be there.

 

Yeah, I have drilled and slotted and notice a bit more noise than "normal". It's not anything that's distracting. I notice a bit more on a particular part of my monthly lottery trip. A ,6% downhill grade 4 lane highway with a speed limit of 65 m.p.h. ending at a 4 way stop. Always hoping to hit the light just right but, haven't yet ;~). Always turns red so it's pretty significant braking.

 

Totally agree with Thermo, even the "mid level" brand stuff is coming out of the same factory in China as the inexpensive stuff. Either spend a bunch for high end brakes or look for the lowest price. I like to shop at rockauto dot com because I can pick pads, rotors, kits with both, kits for 2 or 4 wheels, kits with new spring and slide hardware, kits with new caliper slide boots, etc. But that kit Thermo linked in from eBay has a fantastic price.