Civic brake pads/rotors recommendations

[rainman49]

I need to change brake pads/rotors on my daughter's '96 Civic 4-door without ABS and with auto transmission. Should I move up a notch in quality above the AAP or Auto Zone brands? The car gets driven a lot, mainly on fairly short trips of 8-10 miles at the time, so I'm sure the brakes get a pretty good workout.
Thanks,
Rainman

 

[Dave Hess]

I got Bendix Import Quiet pads on a 1998 Civic EX and they are $42. I also have Bendix rotors that I installed last year at 127K miles. When it comes to the brakes, I always spend a little more money for alot better brakes.

 

[outrun]

I concur with LT4. Spend a little more on brakes. Actually it may be reverse. Aftermarket Brake components are often on par or even superior to Dealer counter parts for a LOWER price.

Personally no experiance with Bendix, although I understand them to be reputable manafacturer. What is your concern? Performance? Longetivity? Quiet? Ease on Rotors?

Hawk Street pads if you want performance, they are more harsh on rotors though. Price will be as high or higher than OEM Dealer parts.

If you want good price and performance try Federated branded Raybestos pads & rotors. The line recommended is called "PG Plus." PG Plus pads and rotors also D3EA certified. See if Federated can give you the wholesale price which is 50% BELOW MSRP (dealer price).

 

[Chris Meutsch]

I've learned the hard way that sometimes AZ works on some cars, and sometimes factory is the way to go. On my 2001 Civic, I have factory pads as replacement. I warped AAP's rotors in about 100 miles (mostly highway) and then AZ's rotors about 1000 miles later. I have factory rotors on now and they're holding up much better. However, my old 2000 Protege had AZ Albany pads and rotors and never warped. However, the pads only lasted 20k.

 

[rainman49]

Thanks guys.
I've decided to move up a level, as suggested. Now I'm trying to decide whether to go with Bendix or Raybestos. I don't need performance, just reliability and stopping power. And I hate warped rotors.

 

[RH+G]

Do NOT put the PG Plus on your Civic. If you go with Raybestos get the QS ortherwise you will get SQUEAL

 

[The One]

pro stop here, no probs...

 

[outrun]

I have enough brake experiance to say that squeel is dependent on many things.

Ceramic pads are great, however I take a conservative approach to rotors. It is my opinion that even Ceramic OE pads are harsher on rotors compared to semi-metallic. Then again take that too with a grain of salt. Most rotors do not like being machined more than once or twice at the most.

That is why I did not recommend QS pads. The second is a personal observation, brake warranty claims with the QS got sky high here. They burn quick, using old granny with a light pedal as a index.

If you want something Ceramic and less harsh I would recommend Wagner (Federal Mogul) Thermo Quiet Pads.

 

[PandaBear]

Had Bendix Ultimate (Axxis) and the stopping power is ungodly. It lasted all highway driving for about 60k miles, but it dust like crazy.

Quality wise I think Bendix and Raybesto are both decent if you are not buying bottom of the line. IMO if you are not going for performance, Raybesto PG Plus and Quiet stop should be decent.

What about Nissin or Akibono (whatever the spelling is), they are OEM of Honda and if you can find them they are very good.

 

[teambeechstreet]

i have Hawk HPS rear pads on my 04 Civic Si. great stopping power with practically no dust. much much better than OEM

 

[robbobster]

quote:

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Originally posted by teambeechstreet:
i have Hawk HPS rear pads on my 04 Civic Si. great stopping power with practically no dust. much much better than OEM

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I think your lack of dust may be because these are rear pads.

I've run Hawks all around on several vehicles, and the fronts got at least as dusty as the factory pads, though I do drive sorta fast/brake hard. But the increase in stopping power makes them worth it for sure...which is why Hawk HPS is all that I use.

 

[Thermactor]

Get Brembo blank rotors and Porterfield R4-S brake pads. None better on the planet.

 

[ChrisW]

I have autozone duralast rotors and Hawk HPS pads on all four corners of my 94 civic ex abs. the rotors are holding up fine in over 10K of use, no warpage here and i am pretty hard on my brakes (front pads are 50 percent in about 10k mi). I've had brembo blanks on before these autozone duralast i will say that the duralast rotors were better cast than the brembos. Many SCCA and NASA honda racers use the duralast rotors with no problems.

While I like the HPS pads, since theyre relatively quiet for a performance pad (except when they heat up they make some noise), i wish they had more initial bite. I have had suggestions of going with Cobalt Friction GT Sports (Cobalt friction is in the process of moving plants and i've heard they are going to stop making some pads), or Carbotech Bobcats. I think I am going to try the Bobcats next. Or go with the hawk HP+.

 

[PandaBear]

I heard good things about Porterfield from my track happy friends too, that's the only thing he used now.

 

[Nick29]

I'd go with Brembo OEM replacement rotors and name brand pads with a lifetime warranty (Bendix has some that are decent).
HPS will make a ton of dust (I've had 3 sets on my car) but will give noticeably better initial bite and have a higher coefficient of friction (meaning you won't have to push the brake pedal down as far to slow the car at a given rate) than OEM replacement pads. R4-S are overkill IMO for a car that isn't going to be driven hard (ie: autox).

 

[Pete]

I've gotten Honda parts from www.manhonda.com (best price).

If you ever need an online parts diagram, go to:

http://www.slhonda.com/orderparts.jsp

 

[BlazerLT]

Great luck with Monroe parts I installed myself.

Come with a 3 year warranty.

 

[unDummy]

Spend a little more on the front pads. I find that good pads make rotor choice less relevant(use the cheapest new solid blank rotors you can get).
For the front, look at the performancefriction carbonmetalics, beckarnley axxis, akebono proacts, hawk ceramics, EBC greenstuff, carbotech bobcats.... Notice how I left out store brand and the popular pads like bendix/raybestos/eis/..
You didn't say EX/DX/LX so I'm not sure of the availability of the pad brands/PN's.

I find that a good bleed, proper prep(new hardware, thorough cleaning, and lube), along with proper pad bed-in will do more to prevent noise and warping, then pad or rotor selection.

For the rear, since there is little braking performance, this is where you can save money by using the cheapest new storebrand shoes/pads/drums/rotors/hardware....

 

[PandaBear]

quote:

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Great luck with Monroe parts I installed myself.

Come with a 3 year warranty.

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Monroe makes brake parts?

 

[BlazerLT]

For sure, and good ones at that.

Zero brake dust.