I'm about to hit 20k. Good timing =)

http://www.finishlineperformance.com/rx8/docs/04-006.html

FINALLY!!!! That squeals drives me crazy. Thanks for the post.

I just had my car in today for the 25K service - I had Mazda put Royal Purple Tranny and Differential fluid today. I figured I would ask about the rusting hubs, at which point I was shocked - They offered to paint the rotors, but only 1 time. Of course I said Yes - When I picked up the car, first my car would not start - I think they left my lights on by mistake - so after I get a jump I start driving and when I try to stop in my usually aggressive style, the car would not stop - The feel was like getting a brake job and driving home - Except you know to take it easy so I call Mazda from my car and ask what's up - The assistant manager tells me "Oh yea, we probally cut the rotors after we painted the rotors - HELLO - does anybody remember customer service ? I knew I was getting to a point - After reading the post about replacing the pads, you would think that would of been discussed.
Sorry for the rant -

If I paint my calipers, would that void the warranty on the pads/rotors/calipers/etc...?

I doubt it

all i have to say is....


Thank God.. i hear the squeel in my dreams! lol

I wouldn't be too eager to get these... most likely its a less aggressive pad that will sqeal less but also stop poorer and overheat quicker

Dont be so pessimistic

When the ones I have go bad- I'll try these for sure

Waiting for the thread on how to MAKE your brakes squeal so you can get free replacement pads... :p

yea, hasnt this been an unofficial tsb and people have reported the new pads suck?

either way, new pads!

actually this is listed as an official TSB. From what I hear the pad is engineered for less noise but some may see more fade on the track.

BTW I made a template out of cardboard to paint the rotor hats so if this voids the warranty I'm living in a glass house. Mz has tried to address the rusty rotor issue on the Mz3 by having the suppier dip them in anti corrosion coating. The fix has kind of back fired when they forgot to remove it from the clamping surface and the substance balls up under the pads and grooves the rotor.

I feel bad for future owners if Mazda went to the new less aggressive compund for all the cars leaving the factory.

would you rather they have squeaky brakes?

would you rather they have squeaky brakes?

I would. My squeaky brakes have always gone away (for a while) after hitting them hard.

If I paint my calipers, would that void the warranty on the pads/rotors/calipers/etc...?

I was wondering the same thing (I heard it can void the warranty if you get paint on the wrong parts...not sure what that means, though, and I didn't hear that from Mazda) and was considering asking my dealer to paint the calipers when I take my 8 in to paint my rotors and, now, change my brakes. Do you think they would do it if I provided the caliper paint?

How loud is this squeak? Is it everytime you brake? My brakes squeak, but not all the time, maybe 25% of the time.

After mine get warmed up they usually squeak everytime I stop, but only when I apply a certain amount of pressure to the brakes. As for the pads not being as good, Im sure that they will be ok for daily driving. If you are going to the track, just buy better set and use those for track days.

Will just changing the front brakes effect the car? or would you need to buy rear ones to and install them?

I am interested in hearing from someone who has had this change and reply with their assessment on how the new pads are working!

http://www.rx8club.com/showthread.php?t=40052&page=2

Thanks. It'll be nice to have a few more reports...I don't want to give up performance if that's what will happen with the new pads. :rolleyes:

the cr is going into the shop for some work next week i dont want my brakes changed yet.. !!! they squeal but work great. id rather have them work great and deal with the squealing.

I live by the ole saying.. IF IT AINT BROKE DONT FIX IT!.

Never mind the squeak.. how about a reprieve from the dust!!

Thoseof you who bought the Rx8 before August 26th 2003 are lucky bastards. Notonly do you haveyour free warranty maintainence service but now you get to have your two front brake pads replaced on topof the free maintainence.

I bought mine 2days after the cutoff date and I remember the hassle those cheap bastards at MazdaNA put me throughwhen I tried to join in on the free maintainence. See the dealerthat sold me my Rx8 forgot to have me sign the little paper whereyou had to accept the lack of horsepower. Mazda NA basicallytold me to fuck off and gosort it out w/the dealer b/c it wasnt their fault the dealer didnt follow orders. Technically I couldhave takenlegal action here and fought a little harder but I didntwant to waste anymore of my time. Though everytime I go in for an oil change -- I cant help but think about how the cashIm blowing on the maintaience could be goingstraight into my fuel tank ifI had just been more persistant and threatening. Oh well

has anyone had their pads changed that did not squeak? Or did not squeak as much? My 8 falls in line (August 6, 2004) with the rest of the squeakers, but I harldy get a squeak. Its down to twice a day (and it's not loud). They do generate a lot of dust!
If i take it in for the new pads and they don't squeak for thier test, then I guess they'll deny my replacement even though my car is in the VIN range. I have 16k miles on my 8.
Should I try and take it in?

i did....i just told them they were squeaking and i had tons of dust,,,,,then they changed them free of charge

why dont you do brake tests mark up a empty parking lot with tape measure speed at 30 mph then brake and count how many feet it takes
then get the brakes changed.
and do it again 10 bux stock brakes are better.

The whole point of the new pads is to eliminate the squeaking plus they reduce the brake dust a ton. So what if the stock ones are alittle better...I dont enter a whole lot of braking competitions. If im going to take the car out to a track and do some real driving I switch the stock pads out anyway. For street use the new pads are fine.

why dont you do brake tests mark up a empty parking lot with tape measure speed at 30 mph then brake and count how many feet it takes
then get the brakes changed.
and do it again 10 bux stock brakes are better.


$100 says that they'd be exactly the same (within the precision of the test). First of all, 30 mph is too slow to gauge anything. Even a 70 - 0 test would yeild the same results. Both pads will be aggressive enough to engage the ABS. If they're able to lock the wheels, that's all the braking that you can use. I don't care if you put a 14 inch cross drilled, vented, slotted, cryogenically frozen ceramic rotor with 8 piston calipers and the best racing pads and fluid you can get on there. You're not going to significantly reduce your 70-0 stopping distance. The only gains (which are important in racing) that you're going to get are in heat dissipation and resistance to fade. If your brakes have the capability to lock your wheels, then they're not the weak link. Then next in line is the tires. So, you go to racing rubber and then you can start decreasing your stopping distances. If your tires are sticky enough that your brakes can no longer lock the wheels, then you can talk about an upgrade.

For those of you who are waiting to get the current squealing brake pads to worn out.. don't. go and get replaced. I had mine sqealing all the time then it started to sound less frequent. Now. I don't hear it most of the time and they wouldn't change the pads without duplicating the sound.

Painting your hubs isn't going to prevent you from getting the new pads. My dealership is anal about work and had no issue with my hubs/calipers being painted.

The new pads feel the same as the old pads, but no squeeking, and so far less dust as well.

I say go for it!

If your car is new and doesn't squeek yet, I'd recommend holding off on switching until they start squeeking. No sense in replacing them when they don't need to be (plus you'll get new pads after the old ones are worn down some)

The TSB has fine print at the bottom that advises the dealer that rotor machining will not be covered.

My rotors have noticeable wear....you can see it just at the very edge of the rotor. There is a small "lip" where the pad has not worn away the rotor material.

The origianl pad was very hard on the rotors. Speed Racer's original rotors were worn beyond the point of being resurfaced. This was all from the stock pads. He had to get new rotors.

I would bet all of us in the 15K miles+ club will have significant rotor wear.

My dealer has my new pads in now, i'm unsure if I like the idea of putting brand new pads on rotors with wear on them. It just seems to make more sense to resurface or replace the rotor which the dealer will not do under this TSB.

That’s what MAZDA gets I complained ABOUT THAT brake noise like 1 000 000 Times and they say no their is nothing now I can go over their and slap them around LOL