Just did a brake job on an older Honda CR-V.

Used metallic (they work fine... i.e. 100% able to lock up a rotor as needed... pads only last 3-4 years, but rotors seem to last longer. Changing pads is like a 30 minute job.

Other choices were Semi-Metallic, Ceramic, Evolution Clean Ride Ceramic (whatever the hell that is), Pixi-dust etc.

What do y'all use and why?

I always have used the metallic when they came available.

One time i tried a ceramic clutch disk and it worked well.

It would not slip at all.

Put PowerStop rotors and pads on my F350. Worth the money. Truck clearly brakes better than with OEM.

Ceramic.
I hate brake dust on my rims.

I always used the second from cheapest at Advance Auto, on the theory that second from cheapest = some degree better than cheapest. But this last time, I used the cheapest. A little squeaky until they warm up, but work just fine.

I use the best ceramic pads from AutoZone. Not much dust on your wheels and guaranteed for life. You on;y pay for them once.

Semi-metallic - I'm easy on brakes, they last forever. And no noise.

Napa ultra premium pads

2015 1500 4X4 Silverado. Just replaced (6/27/19) the original front & rear pads @ 86,306 miles. OEM ACDelco Severe Duty; Ceramic. Also needed a set of front rotors. OEM ACDelco as well.

I replace with OEM because they last on the Silverados that I have owned.

Related question...

Do you turn your rotors?

I haven't turned a rotor for 15 years (if they are severely grooved I replace)... otherwise, I don't do it. New pads surface just fine for me almost instantly (under 100 miles).

I don't turn rotors, if warped or worn I replace.

A rotor just doesn't cost all that much more than the labor for turning. Plus, I can have my truck/car back on the road in an hour instead of sitting on jacks for 3 or 4 days waiting for the machine shop to turn them.

I use NAPA

I put drilled, slotted rotors, with ceramic pads on my F350, because of pulling this beast.

After a lot of home "testing" I now go with semi-metallic and deal with the dust.. Have occasionally needed to address rotor problems but do not shave them because it seems that many modern OE rotors are not hardened very deeply and wear quickly after some point. Turning further down would be silly, so I replace for safety.

Always turn my rotors, my guy charges $10 and I get them back within an hour.

I get rotors turned for $15, don't usually wait more than 2 hours.

I might turn them if I knew a shop that does it. I typically just replace them. They’re pretty cheap.

Semi metallic and whatever cheap rotors on the truck, ceramic and up graded rotors on the soccer wagon. The wagon really stops nice.

I get my rotors turned at O'Reilly Auto parts. Not every location has that capability but easy to find out with a phone call to stores close to you. I've gotten them back as quick as a few hours, but sometimes have to pick them up the next day if I get them in too late or others ahead of you. Best to call before you go and get there early if you want them back the same day. They charge more for Truck/SUV rotors than passenger cars. Think it's $25/$15 per rotor.

I use the best ones Autozone carries, and then also use Autozone, because they have a lifetime warranty, and is honored where ever they have a store, which is nationwide..

I had brake pads on one side go bad in New Hampshire.. I went into the store, gave them my phone number, they looked up the warranty, and changed them in the parking lot, as you said, 30 minutes...they even loaned me a few tools I didn't have with me...nothing out of my pocket...

normally I replace the pads on all my vehicles every 50K, and the rotors every 100K.

locally the cost of resurfacing them, is pretty much the same cost as just buying a new set of rotors...

and yeah, I'll agree, upgraded rotors and ceramic pads, stop really really nicely....

I was a rural mail carrier for 31 years, and nobody wears brakes out like a mail carrier. I tried them all..............from the lowest priced ones to the highest price ones. If there was any measurable difference, I couldn't tell it. I kept extra pads and rotors on hand so I could change them out without having to go into town and buy some. I was lucky in that I live on the route that I carried, and I've had to stop at my house and change pads out before I could complete the route.


I admit that I was hard on brakes, in that I would usually keep moving and not stop until the last moment, not slowing down and easing into the stop like some carriers did. I wanted to run that route as quick as I could, and get home and do my work around the farm. My style of driving probably had something to do with it not making any difference as to the quality of the brake pads I used. I knew some carriers who swore that the highest priced pads were worth the money, and they should have known.

Auto makers have gone to lightweight rotating assemblies over the years. Less mass equals more MPG. Even if it's just a small amount, it helps meet EPA guidelines. With the lighter rotors, they take and release heat less efficiently.(speaking more of OEM here) When I feel them starting top "pulse", I just replace them. Ceramic pads and new rotors when needed. Haven't had a rotor or drum turned in 15 years. I do find a difference in quality. Napa gold for me.


Clyde

Power stop drilled and spotted rotors and their ceramic pads on both of my trucks. Much better that OEM.

I've never tried those, but I'd guess they disperse heat quicker.

Not much need for them now, though, on my new 4Runner.

Maybe if I ever buy one of those '68-69 Camaros that now go for a Sheik's ransom like I had back in the day.

I bought some cheap pads from Autozone way back when and I didn't get more than a month from them. Autozone gave me another set and I replaced them. Same thing. I didn't go back for a third bite at the apple. Around that same time a buddy of mine installed an Autozone water pump. He went through three of them in short order. It was a few decades before I bought anything other than RTV or the like from Autozone again.

Sort of off the subject now, but Autozone used the same business model as Etrade (or rather the opposite since Autozone did it before them). Grow at all cost with the lowest prices, quality be damned. It worked for both of them which reaffirms the lowest price is irresistible bait for the masses. Autozone reached critical mass a long time ago and now they don't have an all, or mostly crap inventory of parts like they used to. There is less difference in the major parts store chains and the parts they carry than back in the day. That's globalization and consolidation for you.