Good brake pads?

[oldtrlrnr]

I'm getting ready to replace the front pads on our '03 Pilot, as I'm hearing the wear warnings (rotors are OK). I normally buy good quality semi-metallic pads from a local auto parts store, but it's been a while. I'd appreciate opinions on performance, rotor friendliness, and quality of Honda oem pads and any aftermarket pads anyone has used.

I can get the Honda pads from Majestic, shipped to me for $60. Their site didn't have any info describing pad composition - are they metallic?

I also have an S2000 (my DD), and some on the S2Ki forum have been touting performance pads such as Carbotech. I doubt it's worth the extra $$, but am open to opinions. I'm not terribly concerned about price, within reason, just want pads that stop well, resist fade, and don't wear rotors abnormally fast.

Appreciate any feedback.

Bob Peitzke
Pacific Palisades
2003 Honda Pilot
2006 Honda S2000
1987 Toyota MR2

[ED27]

I went with Akebono ProAct ceramic pads....produces less dust than OEM and in my subjective opinion provides better feel and stopping power. They run about $110 through rockauto.com and come with shims installed. Combined with Centric rotors, my setup has proven to be more resistant to rotor warpage. You can find them locally but are usually priced higher.

[wcondor]

hey, i just did all pads and front rotors on our 2003 pilot.
i went with hawk hps performance pads and brembo vented front rotors,
and i am very happy with this set up. have a couple hundred miles and
the stopping power is great, no noise and low dust.

i've always used hawk and brembo on my sports cars and they are available for the pilot. the brembo rotors are vented blanks - did not go with the drilled or slotted type. did not choose ceramic since have no experience with that type. hawk also makes a suv pad - might try them next time.

all parts were from tirerack.com and imho better and cheaper than oem.

[rockman19762001]

I just replaced the front/rear pads on the 03 Pilot, used Bendix OEM Pads from Advanced Auto Parts Store. Rounded up 100.00 dollars for the pads, paid my local mechanic to put them him. He charged me 100.00 so the brake job was 200.00 for the whole mess.

[wcondor]

if one is going to diy, then would consider changing the front rotors while it's all apart already. my front rotors were ok but i changed them anyway since it only added like 5 minutes to each side (2 screws each as long as they are not seized. then 5 more minutes to drill out - i had to drill out 1 of 4). i did not change the rears since they do not wear as much as the fronts.
overall i figured it saved some time and effort down the line.

[oldtrlrnr]

I don't really want to change rotors this time, as ours look fine. Of course the added work is trivial, but why dump a good pair of rotors when brakes have been working fine. I may get some Brembos when these start to show wear. I don't believe in turning rotors, as it tends to increase susceptibility to warping.

I've been reading more about ceramic pads, which are said to use embedded copper fibers for good heat transfer while being easier on rotors than semi-metallics with steel fibers. But I've also been reading comments about how good oem Honda pads are. For instance some have said the S2000 oem pads are ceramic, but I'm not sure. (I haven't had my wheels off to check them yet.) Wondering about composition of oem pads for Pilots.

Appreciate more discussion on this.

Bob Peitzke
03 Pilot
06 S2000

[rockman19762001]

The OEM equipment brakes for a Pilot are Asbestos free-semi metallic composition. If this helps.

[wcondor]

yeah i guess it depends on how many miles are on your rotors. i had over 45k and knew they would have to be changed within 1 year so it was a reasonable decision to change and upgrade.