Brake Pad Life...

[Lyle Waters]

What do you get from your brake pads?

 

Just been in for a service and was expecting them to say 'Pad Change Time, Many $$$$'s Please' but the service report stated:

 

50% remaining on front pads

40% remaining on rear pads

 

This @ 27,000 miles mostly urban driving still on the original pads.

 

For a car this size I.m well impressed.....

[Andrew T]

Covered at least 35,000 on the fronts and they look hardly worn! must be heading for 100K at least. Best I've had before was 50K and that was on a Diesel, which I reckoned was good because of the extra engine braking. I think the pads are particularly thick though, there looks to be more on these after 35K than there is on some when they are new. I also reckon with brake pads you get what you pay for, and a good brand name lasts a lot better than something you've never heard of.

[Guest marcusheawood]

...but engine braking on a diesel is worse, no throttle butterfly!

[Andrew T]

I thought it was to do with the higher compression ratio.....certainly when I was driving a Petrol and a Diesel regularly on the same roads, I would have to brake in the Petrol where the Diesel just required lifting off.

[tim-spam]

Normally, engine braking is less in a diesel for the reason given by Marcusheawood. The lack of any throttle on the inlet is one of the reasons that a diesel engine is more efficient than a petrol engine - lower pumping losses and a very high air to fuel ratio at part throttle.

There is however a butterfly in the inlet tract of the TDI engines, which shuts for around 3 seconds when the engine is switched off - this is to give a smoother shut-down.

[Andrew T]

Well there you go, I've learned something today and it was worth getting up after all.......however the Diesel always felt like it had more engine braking - gear ratios then perhaps or full moon ?