My 2009 has only a little over 10K miles and I just noticed the front brakes squealing. I don't think of myself as a particularly hard driver -- mostly highway miles and around 2 hours total track time so far. Is this normal? When did you guys have to change the first pads?

 

I don't know if they ever changed what pads they used for stock, but brake squeal has been a common problem on Rx8s. I think there is a service item for them and the dealer can fix it for you. I have 56k miles on my stock pads. They are getting changed now, but in general highway use, they get decent miles. Tracking/hard driving would burn through them faster.

 

Just my word of advice, but, people who track keep a seperate set of pads just for the track. If you are going to track your car, then you need to check your brakes regularly. So, jack up your car, pull of the wheels and look at the pads. It's a lot cheaper to replace your pads versus your rotors.

 

^+1...so far I'm at 22k and still on the stock pads. All the miles were driven on the street...hopefully I get to take the 8 to the track in the spring...

 

since when did squealing pads mean they were worn out? you need to check them out - i'm sure you have plenty of meat on the pads still. if you're worried about teh sound, change to some other pads (maybe hawk ceramics?) but you're fine.

 

Squealing pads generally isn't a "problem" for track cars, since everything is a compromise, and who cares about noise when you gain performance? Our car is very close to a track car, stock, and our stock brakes have a decent amount of that performance edge, sacrificing quiet to get it. (Not that our pads are ok for track use, generally 100% track use is too hard on our stock pads) Going soft on the brake usage keeps them colder than they were designed for, and you get squealing.

Change to a different pad if it bothers you, but recognize that you will give up some stopping power. Or else get harder on them occasionally, and the noise will fade away as they heat up to their designed operating temperature. Or get harder on them when you want, ignore it when you don't.

I just replaced mine a 51k, and they had ~20% pad left.

 

Brake pads last as long as it takes to wear them out

The stock pads...no track days should last 25K miles or more......

If you drive them hard they can last 1/2 day at the track....so it's kinda like saying how long does it take to eat a Big Mac

Check and see if there is pad there...and if there is the squeal could be a number of things....

If there is pad there...go out and bed them in real well and it will stop for a while...if not replace them with an appropriate type pad for what you want to do....

If you don't track drive....a nice ceramic pad like Hawk is great for the street...quiet and low dust

 

Thanks for the replys. The squeal didn't come on gradually, 10K nothing then suddenly a loud squeal at low speed so I'm assuming it is a wear sensor. Or does the car not have these?

Normally I'd get brake pads changed out at a garage (I'm sure if I go in and ask 'em to check my brakes they will say they are low) but if this is something I'm going to deal with every 10K it might be worth it to learn how to do it myself.

I love the breaking on this car so I'm not sure I'd want to change pads if that will effect the way I can drive. Alright so maybe I'm a little hard on the brakes.

 

They will last longer than that...


If it's a wear indicator you wouldn't call it a squeal....

For peace of mind.....just get them looked at and go from there

 

If you are really hard on the brakes, then yeah, you could easily be through the pads already. It is pretty easy to check, just pull off each wheel, one at a time, and see what kind of thickness is left between the pad backing and the rotor, check inside and outside. Brand new is roughly 1/2in to 3/4in (I'm not good at eye-balling these things). If you are to the wear indicator on one or more pads, then the backing will be very close to the rotor.

Changing the pads is incredibly simple, and very quick. Basically remove 1 bolt, rotate the caliper out of the way, remove the pads, put new ones in, retract the piston far enough to clear the new pads, rotate the caliper back in place, replace the bolt. The rears require a $5 tool to push the piston back (technically screwing it backwards into the caliper).

Mazda made this very easy for all the people that swap pads for a few hours of track time, and back to street pads after for the drive home.

 

Thanks for the info guys. This sound like a good project to try tomorrow afternoon in the O'Reillys parking lot. That way if I get confused I might be able to get one of the gearheads to help me out.

So just a socket wrench and some brake grease and I'm good?

EDIT: Forgive my ignorance, but if I need to replace my pads can I get the OEM pads anywhere but the dealership?

 

i think i'm in the same boat, except i have a 2004, stock pads with about 57k miles, and recently the brakes have started to squeal.. i havent looked at them yet, hoping i dont need new ones yet.

If i do change them, should i change all four? or two at a time?

 

Don't forget, another potential indication of low pads is your brake fluid will drop from the full mark, getting lower the more pad material is removed. It isn't failsafe, because if you use front vs rear more than the other, then you might not get this indicator. My brake pad wear is fairly even, and I got the low fluid warning light because of it with ~20% pad life remaining. I could have just added fluid to get the light to turn off, but it isn't the right way to handle it. Checking your fluid level might be another way of checking how much pad you have burned through. Not failsafe again, but another potential indicator.


Several vendors here sell OEM parts, look through the vendor sites as some of them change their in-stock frequently. If none here do, the FinishlinePerformance.com is a big dealership in northern VA that you can order stuff from online, and they keep their prices very low compared to walking into your local dealer. (like $34 per coil vs $85 per coil from my local dealer)

 

Usually you will get more life out of the rears....up to 2X the fronts.....you might need only fronts....

Check...

 

65k, original pads...

 

80K on mine all original. It'll be about time in the spring. Mine is mostly highway miles.

 

I got 42,000 out of my rears, fronts still have alot left (but they might have been changed before I got the car)

 

30k with 2 track days.

 

19k

 

18k and still going strong. I break pretty hard too, I'm surprised they aren't completely gone.

 

Got 24k on my originals......all around.

 

Got 40k on my car. Don't know when the pads were replaced. I bought the car with 21k.

I need to replace my pads.....they're pretty damn worn. Aggressive canyon driving, daily driving, local autocross events, and more.

I'm surprised they even lasted this long.

 

32K with stock pads, hoping they will wear down soon so I have an excuse to get aftermarket pads that don't squeal at every stop sign.

 

Looks like I'm the one with the shortest brake pad life span.. o.o

I replaced all 4 too

 

I drive really hard on my car and my stock pads are gone just couple days ago. Down to about 1-2 mm. I would say mine last about 20K miles.

cuz I had the service guys did the TSB about 20k Miles ago and they replaced it with new pads back then.

Next Im going to replace the rotors, when its not so dead cold out.