Gave my car a once-over this weekend, looks like I will need rear pads shortly. Planning to have the rear rotors turned because they're lightly scored, but otherwise fine (any reason not to do that?).

See the price of OE brake pads are around $120+. What about aftermarket? Anyone every try Centric, Valeo, or Raybestos?

Thanks,
-Michael

 

Yes. If the discs (or rotors) are worn, skimming may result in them reaching or exceeding the wear limit. However, if not well worn, a light skim may be beneficial, but skimming cost needs balancing against cost of new rotors.

 

'Light scoring' is not sufficient to require cutting the rotors. Leave them alone.

 

I suggest Hawk ceramic pads, I get them on Amazon. You probably don't need to turn the rotors with light scoring. That being said, I usually replace them on the rears since the pads usually go 60-80K and the rotors are cheap.

 

I meant to add that the replace option changes if there are Brembo cross-drilled rotors, since they run $300+ per pair and the calipers are one of the most difficult things to remove I have ever attempted. I changed rear pads on the Brembos for the XKR recently and the rotors were scored and I just went with them to save money. They seem to have bedded fine. If it was the front, I would have replaced the rotors.

 

Thank you. The scoring is not deep, but I will measure and see if they can be cut. if they're not too expensive I may just replace them as well.

No Brembo brakes. This has (from what I gather) standard semi-metallic pads.

The fronts must have been done recently, rotors look like new and pads have almost zero wear.

 

I had my rotors and pads replaced last summer and i used AKEBONO ceramic pads with Eurospare rotors.

No problems to report.

 

I, like Louenigma, also put the Akebone Euro ceramics on my superv8, and I love them. VERY little dust, if any...and only slightly less bite than the OEM pads.

 

I prepared and extensive write-up regarding this very subject. Please review since it may answer your questions. You can use this link:
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...ice-how-61323/

 

Thank you. Yes, I did see your DIY job previously, and have the page bookmarked.

So Centric is a good brand for rotors on this car? For $30 I would replace them, but someone had mentioned the rotors being inexpensive... I looked at the list price of $200 and was left wondering...

Still trying to figure out all these Euopean brands. Centric, Beck/Arnley, etc. With my previous cars it was easy... just bought AC Delco lol

 

Rear rotors can be had in the $60 range. This is cheap when run out over a 50,000 mile life. I use Hawk HPS pads. They cost a little more but they are much higher performance than the Akebono which I found to do everything well except brake.

 

Yes, $50-60 is quite reasonable for brand new rotors. I would definitely do that over trying to cut the old rotors. The OE dealer prices are insane.

I'm not sure about going with ceramic pads. OE was semi-metallic, right?

What about Centric semi-metallic pads? Or Raybestos? I've had good luck with those in the past.

 

I can highly recommend the Centric products I listed in my write up and would also recommend Ceramic over Semi-metallic for reasons I listed in the write up. (More wear and more dust+++) I have 10 K miles on this vehicle after installing these products and I am totally satisfied. The cost of these products is hard to beat. I would not have the rotors resurfaced and also flush and install new brake fluid.

There are many ultra-high performance brake parts available that are extremely expensive, however I don't go racing this car. I would grade my use as "normal" city and then highway/interstate driving in the range of 60-75 MPH. Ceramic Pads are the way to go. The Total Brake job on my 04 XJ VDP and now my 2011 XF SC with ceramic pads work great and virtually no dust. Semi-metallic brake pads are more abrasive and wear rotors faster. I have found more rotor wear and brake dust using semi-metallic pads, not less rotor wear. Ceramic pads cause less rotor wear and less visible dust.

Since they were first used on a few original applications in 1985, friction materials that contain ceramic formulations have become recognized for their desirable blend of traits. These pads use ceramic compounds and copper fibers in place of the semi-metallic pad's steel fibers. This allows the ceramic pads to handle high brake temperatures with less heat fade, provide faster recovery after the stop, and generate less dust and wear on both the pads and rotors. And from a comfort standpoint, ceramic compounds provide much quieter because the ceramic compound helps dampen noise by generating a frequency beyond the human hearing range.

Another characteristic that makes ceramic materials attractive is the absence of noticeable dust. All brake pads produce dust as they wear. The ingredients in ceramic compounds produce a light colored dust that is much less noticeable and less likely to stick to the wheels. Consequently, wheels and tires maintain a cleaner appearance longer.

Ceramic pads meet or exceed all original equipment standards for durability, stopping distance and noise. According to durability tests, ceramic compounds extend compared to most other semi-metallic and organic materials and outlast other premium pad materials by a significant margin - with no sacrifice in noise control, pad life or braking performance.

Basically I think the evolution of ceramic pads is an engineering improvement over past materials and they don't eat rotors they save them.

 

Thank you! I appreciate the advice.

I never knew that ceramic wore the rotors less. I may have been confusing these with whatever pads were said to have no brake performance when cold. Maybe that was ceramic a long time ago. I know that lots of modern cars come with ceramic right from the factory.

Considering most of the prices for ceramic are the same as S-M, I think I will give them a try. I do hate the black brake dust!

 

There are racing pads such as EBC Green Stuff that are formulated for high heat created while driving on a racetrack that do not perform well when cold. While the EBC Red Stuff pads are formulated for regular use. Since I'm not racing or attending track days I wouldn't use racing pads. That's similar to having snow tires on you car in Miami. The rear rotors for $30 each work fine, the fronts were a heavier duty style for $60. Either way, $317,00 for everything is a lot less than some of the $1,200. dealer quotes. Basically you can spent as much as you want.

I'm surprised Jagular hasn't jumped in because he has a great explanation about why resurfacing rotors is a short term fix for "pulsating pedal or warped rotors." Please search for it on the XF side.

 

Okay, yeah that makes sense. No I have no plans to put racing pads or rotors on my car. No issues with pulsating brakes, just scored and cheaper to replaced with aftermarket at this point than have cut.

Just a note, in searching for parts yesterday there's a VIN break at G49700, looks like 2006.5+ MY cars have different rotors (slightly more expensive at $60) and no option for the ceramic Centric Posi-Quiet. Raybestos does make a ceramic pad set for $47, among other aftermarket brands, the rest are all semi-metallic.

 

I found this link very helpful

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/s...ad.php?t=61323