Who says Astras crew through Brakes :)

[bigg]

Can anyone beat this

2003 Astra TS CD..

currently 84000km and took it to Bridgestone to get it
fisrt set in 4 years of 4 new tyres and i thought i would
get new brakes and rotors as well..

I got a call from Bridgestone and he says ive still got a good 20000km left on the OEM pads and rotors :O

the only reason i asked to get it done was on the last few Astra services
from Holden it says pads will last 15,000 more km

at the 45,000 service Holden says pad will only last 15,000 more
at the 60,000 service Holden says pad will only last 15,000 more
at the 84,000 service Bridgestone says pad will only last 20,000 more

also screw Holden Service.. for the 75000 holden wanted $485 + $120
carbon flush Bridgestone was $200.

im putting on about 90km a day mostly freeway traffic but over the past
4 years i would say 1/4 of that is peek stop/start traffic..

[Amazer]

my 2000 model got to 145,000kms on the original pads

rotors were undersize when I replaced the pads

they do seem to last well

Rob

[Shaun]

I have changed pads on a SRi T but with 104,000km it has original Rotors. For a FWD Turbo i think thats impressive

[auzvectra]

i only have 55K on mine, heaps more meat on the pads, but i can notice a decrease in the brakeing abilities, so i think i may kill the rotors before the pads die, damn mountain runs :D.

[Wraith]

Not an Opel, but I had an AE82 Corolla right up until it clocked 350,000km and the front rotors were still ok !

I had the car since about 230,000km and never had to change the pads, they were still ok after 120,000km of driving...

[KID_SRi]

Astras chew the arse out of the Rotor before the pads wear out.
Stock pads are Shit. I put Ferodo Race Pads in my SRi, whilst doing the job I found the stock pads were like new & the rotor was rooted @ 20000km thats before I did Track work.

[MatsHolden]

Astras chew the arse out of the Rotor before the pads wear out.


That goes for all Opels.

[Dave]

i only have 55K on mine, heaps more meat on the pads, but i can notice a decrease in the brakeing abilities, so i think i may kill the rotors before the pads die, damn mountain runs :D.


ill second that.......my brakes were semi ok at 55k untill i decided to go a bit overbored.....well alot overbored compared to my other previos mountin runs, lets just say 45 up 15 down, not that i condone such driveing, its dangerous therefore you should not do it :angel:

But any way after that the pedal went rock hard and now you realy haft to apply the brakes before they stop ya.....I checked them, plus varius other people had a quick look after i noticed a grinding sound plus feeling through the pedal under light brakeing, but the pads have plenty of meat on them. So pretty much the only thing to do is ride em till there stuffed and bin the rotors aswell. oh there train tracked ;)

[Wraith]

That goes for all Opels.

I think your right Matt...

My Calibra has just turned over 70,000km and the front rotors are almost finished !

I've had the car since 36,000km and havn't changed the pads yet, they're still ok.

[Amazer]

[quote=Dave;222591to apply the brakes before they stop ya.....I checked them, plus varius other people had a quick look after i noticed a grinding sound plus feeling through the pedal under light brakeing, but the pads have plenty of meat on them. So pretty much the only thing to do is ride em till there stuffed and bin the rotors aswell. oh there train tracked ;)[/quote]

the light grinding sound is probably cause you have glazed them from getting them very hot and cooling quickly

I dare say if you removed your pads they would be shiny

Rob

[platypus]

the light grinding sound is probably cause you have glazed them from getting them very hot and cooling quickly

I dare say if you removed your pads they would be shiny

Rob

rub em on the concrete!!!


and they have been scored (not train tracked)- not too uncommon especially if you get stones in behind the wheels there!!



if it feels spongy i'd blame the fluid and get your brakes bled, you've probably boiled the fluid and introduced air to the system

[Vectracious]

The rotors on the TS Astra are rubbish - I had to replace ours at 60K - even Holden themselves said that the OEM rotors and pads would have to be replaced in another 60K - so chucked in some RDA rotors - cheaper and will last longer than the OEM stuff. The only downside is that some "feel" has been lost while braking, but the car still pulls up fine.

[Wraith]

Yeh, unfortunately the same applies for Calibras and same Manufactured Year SAAB's as they use the same OEM rotors as the Opels...

[Shaun]

Are you guys kidding your selves? 60,000km is about standard life out of a set of rotors. Thats not bad going. Im suprised mine have gone 104,000km. But im sure they will be close to needing changing

[luvpsi]

jap car rotors are much longer lasting though:) they dont seems to get eaten in as much

[Wraith]

Not kidding at all Shaun, read my post regarding my old Corolla......and I'm sure all Jap makes will accomplish similar !

Even my old 5.0ltr VH SL/E Commo from the eighties which I had for 12 years and covered about 170,000km didn't need it's rotors changed, I had them machined twice and that was enough.

My turbo vert only has 15,000km on it and the wear amount on the front discs looks more like 70 or 80,000km worth, so whatever they're using these days for rotors is indeed crap.

[digifish]

My turbo vert only has 15,000km on it and the wear amount on the front discs looks more like 70 or 80,000km worth, so whatever they're using these days for rotors is indeed crap.

It all depends on the relative hardness of the pad to rotor (and) the driving conditions.

Soft rotors are not necessarily 'crap' nor is a hard pad necessarily 'bad'. After all as a driver what you care about is stopping power, resistance to fade, consistency of braking performance across the life of the pad/rotor and lack of squeaks.

The biggest pressure on manufacturers is to make brakes that don't squeak. In light of this, they will choose pad/rotor combinations that both brake effectively, resist squeaking and warping.

Rotors + brake pads are the easiest things in the world on a car to replace and they are are relatively inexpensive (once labour is removed), so you should all learn to do your own. It's usually a case of -

1. Jacking the corner
2. Removing the wheel
3. Removing one bolt on the callipers, loosening another.
4. Swinging the caliper out of the way, then the rotors usually slide right off the hub.
5. Putting the new rotor on.
6. Pressing the pistons pads back into the calliper (I often find a G-Clamp works wonders. If that's too hard, loosen the bleed valve for the caliper and it will push in with your fingers.
7. New pads in.
8. Reassemble.

15-20 min a wheel.

So what if you need to replace the rotors every 5 years? :p

digifish

[Wraith]

In my old Commodore, I used 'metal king' pads, went through quite a few sets, the rotors were still fine as mentioned and in my case the driving style is similar for all my cars, so I can make a good assessment and comparison of different cars brakes.

My Astra and Calibra utilise stock 'soft' pads, so the rotors are definitely crap in terms of longevity.

I think we all know rotors are piss easy to change, the point here is they shouldn't NEED to be changed this often, it's an unecessary expense ;)

[Apex]

Not an Opel, but I had an AE82 Corolla right up until it clocked 350,000km and the front rotors were still ok !

I had the car since about 230,000km and never had to change the pads, they were still ok after 120,000km of driving...


I recently replaced the rotors on my AE-82 Corolla as they warped due to me running upgraded pads and standard break fluid. The disks were still the factory ones that had covered 180,000km!

[Wraith]

That's exactly my point, comparatively speaking, the rotor change intervals on our Opels is very poor, made worse if you decide to use performance pads.

[JohnBu]

That's exactly my point, comparatively speaking, the rotor change intervals on our Opels is very poor, made worse if you decide to use performance pads.

dont think opel is any different to any other euro car, i.e. bmw/audi etc, fortunately they are cheaper to replace than said bmw/audi! haha

don't forget Wraith, I'm sure your opel stops better and weighs more than your 5.0ltr VH SL/E Commo.

bit like todays tyres, dont last as long, but stops, handles and rides better than of yesterday..

i suppose everything is a trade off..

me. have an astra turbo, 87,000km, original pads and rotors..

rear pads are due to be replaced @ 90,000km service. front pads look like they have 50% left.

more than happy with the life and braking performance.

[auzvectra]

and was gonna say, not many jap cars could match a stock astra/vectra let alne the performance versions :).

[xplosv57]

Unfortunately this is the case with most euro cars, brakes are made of a soft compound for better and more comfortable braking but in turn makes life of the brakes very short and unmachineable!!!! I suggest alot of engine braking and easy stops to make the brakes last longer, or just do alot of freeway driving!!!

[Wraith]

I think your correct explosiv with the above :)

John I'll have to agree with most of what you've stated above also, I hope I at least manage to get around 80,000km from my Astras rotors ;)

Auzvectra, I don't really understand what you mean by your response above Most Jap cars can't match a stock Astra or Vectra for what exactly :confused:

[auzvectra]

brakeing capabilities.

[Wraith]

I see, but don't about that....

My old Corolla was pretty good, although it was a lightweight.

I also have an S13 stock non turbo and it stops as good if not better than my Cali or Astra :rolleyes:

Best brakes I've had so far, my HSV R8 with the Harrop 'whopper
stoppers'....seriously eyeballs out of your head stuff, amazing retardation and total non-existance of fade.

It was actually a hazzard on day to day driving, because with that car, I always had to check my rear view to make sure other cars wouldn't run into the back of me, because it was able to haul up at least twice as good as an average car does.

[JohnBu]

Wraith

i thought the S13 would have terrible brakes if the S15 is anything to go by... i can't imagine that the 10 year newer S15 would be worst.

again the S13 would be alot lighter than your car.... i would also imagine the extra weight of the convertible and 20inch wheels would affect braking performance, compared to the hatches

Harrop brakes eh.... same stuff the V8 supercars use.

[Wraith]

Can't comment or compare my S13 to an S15 as I havn't driven one, but the S13 stops and handles very well.

It is lighter than the Opels though....

With my vert, I noticed no change in stopping performance when I installed my ICE, as it added at least another 30kg of weight, but with the 20's on, it actually stops better than before !

I put it down to a couple of factors: better and lower profile tyres and the fact that for any given travelling speed, the larger dia. 20's are rotating at less rpm than the smaller 17's would be.

As for weight, they weigh less than 1kg more than the stock 17's, if they were alot heavier, this would cause the situation to be the other way around :)

[auzvectra]

we have done many hill climbs, in which most cases the only cars without overheated brakes are the opels and an evo 9.

[Apex]

Must say my Astra’s breaks stood up to a beating on Pukekohe race track, they didn’t fade at all!

In saying that the Astra does not stop as quick as my 20 year old Corolla (890kg). My old Altezza would have truly embarrassed it!

[Wraith]

Must say my Astra’s breaks stood up to a beating on Pukekohe race track, they didn’t fade at all!

In saying that the Astra does not stop as quick as my 20 year old Corolla (890kg). My old Altezza would have truly embarrassed it!

Yes, my AE82 20 year old Corolla was the same :)

Auzvectra Evo 9's have Brembo's of course they're going to have excellent braking/stopping capabilities, your talking about the best handling, best cornering 4 door sedan in existance, I don't think our Astras stock brakes are are good comparo in any way to one of those :rolleyes:

[auzvectra]

huh, i didnt say they were, i just said ours and theirs were the only 1's that wernt smoking like a chimney.

[xplosv57]

Best brakes I've had so far, my HSV R8 with the Harrop 'whopper
stoppers'....seriously eyeballs out of your head stuff, amazing retardation and total non-existance of fade.


Can't go past a set of Harrop or AP Racing 4 potters, gee do those things bite haha!!!

[Wraith]

Yeh, there up there with the best that Brembo have to offer...

I believe HSV are now using 6 pot AP calipers up front.