V70 brake longevity? Topic is solved

traveltoad · Post by **traveltoad** » 01 Oct 2004, 10:04

I have a 2003 V70 2.4T

I was recently told by my local dealer (no comments please) that my car needs front brake padsand will need rear pads soon. The car only has 23,000 miles on it. Yeah, yeah... driving style, hilly environment... I know those things effect brake pad life span. But I have never had a vehicle use up pads so quickly.

I have been leasing vehicles for a few years and I usually turn them in with around 50k on the odo. Recent vehicles included are a Subaru that was driven in San Francisco most of its life and an Land Rover Discovery which was off roaded quite a bit (it relies on TCS to overcome the open diffs). Both of these were hard on brakes yet, a much greater life span.

This brake pads life span seems very short to me. The dealer stated that Volvo uses a very soft brake pad material as a reason for the short life.

Does that make any sense?

Post by **matthew1** » 01 Oct 2004, 12:18

Unfortunately it does. My mom's 2002 or 2003 V40's front pads were due at ~20k.

Tsquared · Post by **Tsquared** » 01 Oct 2004, 17:48

I get about 2 years on the front (20-25K) and 4 years on the rear. I have changed over to ceramic pads to help last longer. The problem with ceramic is that they get much hotter during heavy braking and can warp rotors. The plus side is less dust, better stopping response time, and longer pad life. The down sides are they are a bit nosier (not a squeal but a scrubbing sound until they break in), the cost, and the chance of the warped rotors.

I haven't had a rotor warp with ceramic yet. When I come to a stop I will let the car edge forward every 15 seconds or so to help dissipate the heat built up in the pads. I have had performance friends swear by them and others swear at them.

Post by **matthew1** » 01 Oct 2004, 20:46

You recommend any particular brand of ceramic pads Tsquared?

Tsquared · Post by **Tsquared** » 03 Oct 2004, 06:28

I have NAPA premium ceramic on my 99 F-150 SC Lariat, Brembo ceramic (Porsche performance brand) on my 89 944 Turbo S, and Satisfied Ceramic on the 96 850 (TireRack.com).

I did have a horrible squeal with the rear pads until I added a cut down shim kit.

Tsquared · Post by **Tsquared** » 03 Oct 2004, 20:06

Here is some additional info on why I initially went with ceramic. On my 944 I had just rebuilt the top end and turbo to a 350 HP profile and I was thrashing the brakes. I had purchased "lifetime" pads from the dealer just after I acquired the car. After I had "freshened" the engine the 944 was going through the metallic pads every 3 to 7K miles slowing down this car. On the 4th set they made me a deal on "lifetime" rotors when I disintegrated a pad, caliper, and rotor. The dealer bundled Porsche's rally racing (Brembo made) slotted, cross-drilled rotors (front and rear) and ceramic pads for the cost of new front rotors and new caliper (I still spent about $700).

I got 40 k miles out of the first set of ceramic front pads. I am 20 K into the second set and I am happy about the performance of the pads. I dropped a set of ceramic pads on my 850 three years ago. I expect to get another year out of them. I have been changing them every other year with OEM and aftermarket semi-metallic pads up until the change to ceramic.

My wife drives the 850 until Christmas when I get her something newer (looking hard at a V70R). My daughter will be the primary driver on the 850 at that time. The F-150 is my daily driver and will be for the next few years. The 944 is for Sunday drives with an occasional outing at Road Atlanta (unless I unload it to help with the cost of the V70).