GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

Greetings fellow wrenchheads! Just turned 80K on the '03 Vibe and I think it's finally time to change the front pads.Which leads to the question... What composition pads did the factory fit to the base model 2WD, ceramic or semi?Thanks!P

semi

I replaced mine at 80K miles, although they didn't really need it. The new pads I put on put out a significant amount of dust, staining the wheels. Next set I'm gonna get some OEM pads from a dealer, they were a lot cleaner on the wheels. I've even thought about putting the original pads back on, still plenty of good meat on them.

makes me wonder how you get that many miles from brakes. I'm at 46k and my fronts are shot to hell. Rotors are all deeply scratched and glazed and the pads don't work for nothing. Fade after about 3 seconds of braking and just does not stop from speed very well at all anymore. strange?

probably a combination of many factors. most of my miles are easy country roads, so if you do much city driving, you'll be on the brakes more in your 46K miles than I would have been in my 80K. I tend to drive for mpg, which means accelerating and braking gently, so if you are an accelerate and brake fast kind of driver, each stop is harder on your brakes. Here in MD we get a snow or two, maybe a half dozen times per winter we get enough for the road crews to bother treating roads. you probably get relatively constant road treatment up in CT, maybe that rusts your rotors faster, whcih wears your pads faster. I drive a lot each day, my rotors don't get a chance to rust up.

surprisingly they rusted prior to my ownership. So I guess the first owner did not drive a whole lot. But I drive constantly at least 60 miles a day. I also do a lot of driving in traffic and stop n go's. Againt the powerslots have a cadmium plating and I have never had one rust on my cars ever. Not even if they sat for a week while on vaca.

Quote, originally posted by Whelan »makes me wonder how you get that many miles from brakes. I'm at 46k and my fronts are shot to hell. Rotors are all deeply scratched and glazed and the pads don't work for nothing. Fade after about 3 seconds of braking and just does not stop from speed very well at all anymore. strange?In my last car (2001 Hyundai Elantra) I got 99,950 miles from my original brake pads. How? 60 miles per day on the freeway and driving using the Smith System keeps my foot off the brake peddal. I have had days when the only time I had to touch the brakes was when I got to the corner of my street, when I got off the freeway, and when I parked the car .

Smith System?I never touch my B-pedal until its needed. Left foot drivers are strange that way. They can be accelerating in front of me with their brake lights on lol.I used to get a little more mileage out of my other cars with their brakes, but I also upgraded fairly soon and drove standard so engine braking was the norm. Now that I have auto its a little different cause judging a coasting speed is not the same.

Thanks for the help.. Yeah, I did the fronts at 80K. I probably could have gotten another 10 or 15K out of them, but heck, I had the parts and the wheel was off.. I believe that part of my brake pad longevity is because I'm driving a stick. You'd be amazed how much more of a beating brakes take trying to fight the auto-trannie. I'm generally pretty easy on my equipment, though.

Stick Shift FTW!I miss my standards. This is the first auto I ever owned, if AWD came stick I would have been all over it.