Brake pad life?
 

I was wondering how long the stock pads on the sport package are lasting? I used the search but didn't find any info on it. I know everone drives differently but want to see how long on average they are lasting.

I have 14k on my car and there is still alot of pad left on the front and rear.

Anyone wear theirs out yet?

its a 2 hr job to do, nothing to worry about

I think I may go 25k. Not sure.

Last time I checked my pads was at about 18k, and they had tons of life left, looked almost new. Of course this is almost all highway mileage, and no tracking or auto-x on these pads. I suspect I'll get at least 35-40k out of them.

Mine ran out at 38K

Thanks for the info!

I'm at 30k in less than a year. Still another 5-6k before I think I'll need to change.

Any experience with the stock pads and occasional track use (like maybe one or two track days)? How often should I inspect them?

You should do a through the wheel inspection every session. You should have a wheels off inspection every track weekend and assess if the pads are going to be up to the task. Once the pads are 2/3rds worn they are no good for track days. I wouldn't recommend tracking on the stock pads anyway, they're not really up to the task. Get some Carbotech's XP10/XP8's and switch out before the track day.

Great advice! Thanks. I haven't found a dealer for Carbotech. Z1 Motorsports has the AMS Carbon-Ceramic pads which they claim make a good choice for DD and track use. Any experience with them?

I am getting a floor jack, jack stands, and impact wrench so I can switch out pads once my skill improves to the point that I can use high performance brakes. Short of switching out every time (we have weekday track afternoons here), it would be nice to have my DD brakes also perform well on the track.

My thought is that for a Tuesday afternoon track session I could use a less dusty and aggressive set of pads (like the AMS if they are good), and then for full track days, swap out to Carbotech.

Make sense?

30k!!!!!!! is this you driving 24 hours a day >>:eekdance:

22k on my stock pads and they still have 1/2 life left. My track pads are more than 1/2 gone and have about 11 20 min. sessions on them.

At 7k I immediately swapped to Stillen Metal Matrix. My reason was just not performance but I hate, I repeat, I HATE brake dust. I'll be upgrading to Hawk HPS soon. Oh and stock brakepad will die with my drilled and slotted rotors.

I agree with the previous post, the stock just are not up to the tasks, esp. on hard braking.

Don't have any info on the AMS. The Mintex Extreme is a respectable double duty pad if you aren't super hard on them, they have a nice progressive feel and reasonable heat capacity. They do dust a little bit. There is no pad that excels at both so you either go with a compromise or use 2 sets of pads so that you can have the best of both worlds. Changing pads is really easy on the sports package even if you don't have any mechanical experience.

Order directly from Carbotech, Carbotech Performance Brakes, tell them Tom sent you.

I am swapping my pads for the track tomorrow. Is there a video on how to do it, maybe I can put one together tomorrow for you if you need it

A video would be a great help. I have no mechanical experience, but I do see the sense in swapping out for the track. Thank you for doing this.

I recorded it a few hours ago. The job is truly easy. You need maybe 10 common tools to do the job. I will try to post it this week for you.

You need
a jack
jackstand
1/2 driver
21mm socket
mallet
long nose plier
big plier
cloth
torque wrench

Just curious what do you use the mallet for? What about the big pliers?

It definitely is an easy job, much easier after you do the first brake to get a hang of things. Worst part about it is that it is a dirty job (but someone's gotta do it!).

mallet to push the pins out, big plier to squeeze the pads and pistons back

I just push the pins out with the end of a phillips screw driver. I've found I can squeeze the pistons back just by hand, pushing on the pads before pulling them out. I'm a man's man.

as ultra magnus said to optimus prime, "but prime, i am just a soldier, i am not worthy"

i hate working on cars

Same here. If you don't want to get your hands dirty wear mechanics gloves or some cheap disposable Nitrile gloves.

:icon17:

Ah okay. I'm like the others, screw driver for the pins, and my hands for pulling out the pads.

Although I use gardening gloves instead of mechanics gloves, :rofl2:.

First time I pushed in on the pads against the pistons I was afraid I was going to break something, lol. I remember thinking something like "I couldn't possibly have to push this hard, do I?!".

While I can get the pistons in by hand, I had one pad change where I was cussing up a storm about a stuck piston. I make sure I have a big plier on hand before starting pad changes now.

Brake pads are like oil (opinions)..........