I picked up my rx-8 last week and I have noticed that my right rear brake squeels under light braking but it does not under hard braking. Is this a normal occurance or should I bother taking it in to the dealer. Thanks in advance for the help.

 

There have been a number of threads about brake squeal issues - perhaps you should search and read them.

I personally got tired of my squealing brakes and replaced brake pads and rotors with R1 concept rotors and PBR ceramic pads. After the bed-in procedure they are squeal free and seem firmer than the originals, and there is much less brake dust.

Edit: perhaps look through the wheels tires and brakes subforum on the main site. Good luck.

 

Also check TSB thread.

 

Warranty covers brake pads... I just had mine replaced... if it squeels, take the mechanic for a ride, once he/she hears, he/she is authorized to replace under warranty.

best of luck.

 

I took mine to the dealer, they replaced the brake pads and then about a week later, they started squealing again. It's aggrivating, but the dealer is more so. They told me to stop the squealing, do a hard stop from about 20mph and that should break up the 'glaze' on the rotors. It doesn't really do anything.

 

Mine only do it for the first couple of light stops in the morning before everything is warmed up and only with low pressure. Both my rears make the noise. It is a little annoying, but since I drive in so much traffic, you never hear it more than 2 or 3 times in the morning, usually at night when I leave work after the car has sat in the sun all day they don't make a peep. There are no signs of glazing and I get very little dust on the rear wheels, and not very much on the front's since they have worn in, so I wonder if the pad compund is just a touch too hard which is causing the problem. It certainly is not enough to warrant a trip to the dealer as they would not be able to reproduce the sound on a drive with as warm as everything would be by the time I got there.

 

squealing is normal for high preformance pads

 

Yeah, High Performance Track pads but the OEM pads should not squeal. I had squealing with the first set of OEM pads on my '04 start at about 8,000 miles. Had the new pads and shims installed by the dealer and the squeal went away and has not come back through 24,000 miles.

now running something like Carbotech Panthers or Hawk Blues on the street is another story - until hot they are worse than fingernails on the blackboard... But they shouldnt' be used on the street. There is no value or need.

 

rear brake? I never had a squealing problem with the rears, just the front brakes.

 

Good point. I missed that in his first post. Only problem I had with squealing was in the front.

 

the OEM pads are just as high performance as most of the aftermarket pads you will get out there - there is a reason this car is in the top handful of cars all time in braking performance. The only place where Mazda went wrong is thinking people buying sports cars valued braking performance over a little squealing...


take the car out, drive around the block once or twice with the brakes dragging a bit and that will scuff them up and you'll be set for a few weeks/months

 

Fact is my OEM pads after the TSB did not squeal and yes they are high performance, just not as high performance as what I put on at the track. There is always something faster, better, smaller, bigger, lighter. Thanks for the lesson in precision.

 

It's normal, a bit of heacy braking will get rid of the noise for a while.