DIY: My tests of the Centric Posi-Quiet Brake Pads for 2004

I didn't know a lot about the history of my car when I bought it 2 months ago with 10K miles, but after working on it , it definitely seems to be a car that was babied by the 2 previous owners.

 

For instance, the brake pads and rotors had very little wear after measuring them. But the brake dust and massive amount of brake squeal were driving me nuts. Plus I wanted to switch to pads that will extend the life of the rotors, and despite what many say (without any personal experience, just repeating what they heard) on car forums, my personal experience after trying them on many cars of all types is that the ceramic pads put much less wear on the rotors. Plus I can save the pads in like-new condition to put back on the car when it's time to sell.

 

So I starting searching for brake pads that fit the Brembo calipers, and I found only one site that listed the Posi-Quiet pads for that caliper (not specifically for this car). Unfortunately, that site uses their own part numbers so I couldn't shop the pricing on the pads, but I ordered them anyway for $60/axle.

 

When they arrived, I compared them to the Brembo pads, and they were the same size and shape minus the brake pad wear sensor hole. Since I enjoy DIY with my cars, I will never rely on a pad sensor to tell me my pads are worn since I do my own brake fluid changes every year. So I am happy to tie wrap the sensors out of the way and preserve them as well.

 

Stamped on the pads were the original Centric part numbers, and you can buy them from Rock Auto for $33/axle:

 

CENTRIC 10508100 Posi-Quiet Ceramic w/Shims

 

These Brembo calipers are definitely the easiest pads to change of the many brakes I have changed, especially since the parking brake is not integrated into the rear calipers like many cars today. So if you are worried about having the right pads for track days, it's easy to switch back and forth with a performance pad.

 

I've had the pads in for about 2 weeks, and I can tell you that they are whisper quiet. It's still strange for me not to need to cringe every time I press the brake pedal because of the previous blood curdling screeching. The dust is a little too early to tell because they are breaking in, and it's a little early to comment on the bite of the pads because it takes a couple hundred miles of wear to get the real feel, but so far, the dust is much less, and the brakes feel nice. They're not grabby, but when you press down hard, they grab hard.

 

I'll report back over the next couple of months, but at this point, I would be surprised if I needed to look for another pad.

 

 

As a follow up, the new pads are producing next to no dust, and they are perfectly quiet and smooth.

 

They grab linearly with brake pedal pressure so if you stomp on them, they grab hard. They are not grabby like the stock pads on initial pedal, which some people like. I don't.

 

I'm definitely keeping them on. Since I don't track the car, I don't see me replacing them until it's time to sell the car. Then I'll put back on the squeaky, dusty stock pads for originality. In the mean time, I will enjoy always having clean wheels without having to clean them every day.

Thanks for the write up. I'll swap over to these soon as I can't stand the amount of brake dust from the oem pads

Thanks for the write up. I'll swap over to these soon as I can't stand the amount of brake dust from the oem pads

 

You're welcome.

 

However, I am not sure if the LP640 will take the same exact Centric ceramic pads. If not, they might have a ceramic pad that fits your calipers.

Thank you for the review!

 

It's interesting to me because I've sold Stoptech / Centric / Posi Quiet for many years. Most were unhappy with the performance of the Posi Quiets as their braking power is less than that of the other pads, and most look for a more aggressive initial bite. They strongly excel at minimizing dust, as you've noticed. I'd be curious to hear back after a few months with some aggressive driving thrown in to see how you are liking them long term.

Thank you for the review!

 

It's interesting to me because I've sold Stoptech / Centric / Posi Quiet for many years. Most were unhappy with the performance of the Posi Quiets as their braking power is less than that of the other pads, and most look for a more aggressive initial bite. They strongly excel at minimizing dust, as you've noticed. I'd be curious to hear back after a few months with some aggressive driving thrown in to see how you are liking them long term.

 

I already know what to expect because I having been putting ceramic pads on everything I own from my Lotus Esprit V8, to family cars like Jaguar XF, and even SUV's like Range Rover Sport.

 

I've come to prefer the smoother braking as opposed to the grabby feel of the metallic pads. But if you want that grabby feel, you just can't go with these types of ceramics. I understand in Europe, they love the grabby feel and just don't car about the brake dust and squealing.

 

Without doing a Car and Driver braking test, my experience is that when you really need the stopping power, it's there with the ceramics, without the initial bite. When all your cars have these pads, it becomes the new norm, and it's annoying to drive a car with grabby brakes.

 

If I was going to track the car (I won't) I would drop in the metallics because that's just not what ceramics do.

I ran HPS pads on my steel brake Murci's, huge improvement over the stock pads. Like you noticed, quiet, low dust and better stopping power (bite and fade resistance).

 

 

Good write up Stimpy! You can take this one step further by removing the rotors and have them Blanchard ground before installing your pads. This will maximize your braking performance as it is the correct way to "resurface" the factory rotors.

 

Just an update, since the new pads have been on the car for about 1500 miles now.

 

I literally NEVER have to clean the wheels, which is a huge life-quality improvement. Life is definitely too short to be doing the thankless job of cleaning wheels after every drive!

 

And now that I have painted the wheels silver (they used to be black), and painted the calipers yellow calipers with silver rotor hats, not having the brake dust keeps all of that looking brand new.

 

The braking bite is just fine for me still. It's definitely more pedal pressure at the beginning compared to stock pads, but I don't notice it, and the brakes are still squeal-free so I would never go back to the dusty/squeally pads.

Stimpy do you have the DIY brake pad replacement info? I need to switch out my rear pads soon it drives me crazy. I don't know what pads are in there now but the dust is like a sand storm for as short driving distance as 10 freaking miles. My front brakes are much bigger than the rear but the weird thing is they produce very little dust to almost nothing, the rear is a different story. thankx

I didn't know a lot about the history of my car when I bought it 2 months ago with 10K miles, but after working on it , it definitely seems to be a car that was babied by the 2 previous owners.

 

For instance, the brake pads and rotors had very little wear after measuring them. But the brake dust and massive amount of brake squeal were driving me nuts. Plus I wanted to switch to pads that will extend the life of the rotors, and despite what many say (without any personal experience, just repeating what they heard) on car forums, my personal experience after trying them on many cars of all types is that the ceramic pads put much less wear on the rotors. Plus I can save the pads in like-new condition to put back on the car when it's time to sell.

 

So I starting searching for brake pads that fit the Brembo calipers, and I found only one site that listed the Posi-Quiet pads for that caliper (not specifically for this car). Unfortunately, that site uses their own part numbers so I couldn't shop the pricing on the pads, but I ordered them anyway for $60/axle.

 

When they arrived, I compared them to the Brembo pads, and they were the same size and shape minus the brake pad wear sensor hole. Since I enjoy DIY with my cars, I will never rely on a pad sensor to tell me my pads are worn since I do my own brake fluid changes every year. So I am happy to tie wrap the sensors out of the way and preserve them as well.

 

Stamped on the pads were the original Centric part numbers, and you can buy them from Rock Auto for $33/axle:

 

CENTRIC 10508100 Posi-Quiet Ceramic w/Shims

 

These Brembo calipers are definitely the easiest pads to change of the many brakes I have changed, especially since the parking brake is not integrated into the rear calipers like many cars today. So if you are worried about having the right pads for track days, it's easy to switch back and forth with a performance pad.

 

I've had the pads in for about 2 weeks, and I can tell you that they are whisper quiet. It's still strange for me not to need to cringe every time I press the brake pedal because of the previous blood curdling screeching. The dust is a little too early to tell because they are breaking in, and it's a little early to comment on the bite of the pads because it takes a couple hundred miles of wear to get the real feel, but so far, the dust is much less, and the brakes feel nice. They're not grabby, but when you press down hard, they grab hard.

 

I'll report back over the next couple of months, but at this point, I would be surprised if I needed to look for another pad.

 

Thank you for the information about the brake pads for Murcielago.

I have just been thinking about a purchase of a set of brake pads for my Murcielago LP640. As being said, haste makes waste and make a deal wisely. It is always reasonable to read this forum.

Stimpy do you have the DIY brake pad replacement info? I need to switch out my rear pads soon it drives me crazy. I don't know what pads are in there now but the dust is like a sand storm for as short driving distance as 10 freaking miles. My front brakes are much bigger than the rear but the weird thing is they produce very little dust to almost nothing, the rear is a different story. thankx

Aside from some Porsche brakes, it doesn't get easier than the 4 piston Brembo design for changing pads. If you're changing the LP, the brakes are a little different, but in general for replacing pads this write up will give you enough info to get the job done.

http://lambodiy.blogspot.com/p/brake-pads.html

Aside from some Porsche brakes, it doesn't get easier than the 4 piston Brembo design for changing pads. If you're changing the LP, the brakes are a little different, but in general for replacing pads this write up will give you enough info to get the job done.

http://lambodiy.blogspot.com/p/brake-pads.html

 

Yep. It literally doesn't get any easier. The only thing different than some other brembo's is that you must remember to remove the cotter pin on the brake pad retaining pins before trying to hammer out the retaining pins. Many brembo's don't have those cotter pins. (Step 2 in white out's DIY)

 

Otherwise, go to youtube, and search "replace brembo brake pads" and choose from the many videos showing you how to do it.

 

Because it's so easy, and so common, and so well documented, there's no point in us making more DIYs.

Just an update, since the new pads have been on the car for about 1500 miles now.

 

I literally NEVER have to clean the wheels, which is a huge life-quality improvement. Life is definitely too short to be doing the thankless job of cleaning wheels after every drive!

 

And now that I have painted the wheels silver (they used to be black), and painted the calipers yellow calipers with silver rotor hats, not having the brake dust keeps all of that looking brand new.

 

The braking bite is just fine for me still. It's definitely more pedal pressure at the beginning compared to stock pads, but I don't notice it, and the brakes are still squeal-free so I would never go back to the dusty/squeally pads.

 

 

Love the silver on yellow!! Got more pics?

Love the silver on yellow!! Got more pics?

 

You know I am going to take care of you Gonzo!

 

And yes, that is my Esprit behind the Murci in the C&C pic.

 

Thankx whiteout and Stimpy!

Gonzo,

 

Here is a look at the wheels in motion (starting at 3:13) with the Esprit V8 behind it.

 

 

It's so hot in Houston right now, the batwings are always open as soon as you start the car.

Gonzo,

 

Here is a look at the wheels in motion (starting at 3:13) with the Esprit V8 behind it.

 

 

It's so hot in Houston right now, the batwings are always open as soon as you start the car.

 

Wow! They both look awesome!!

Yep. It literally doesn't get any easier. The only thing different than some other brembo's is that you must remember to remove the cotter pin on the brake pad retaining pins before trying to hammer out the retaining pins. Many brembo's don't have those cotter pins. (Step 2 in white out's DIY)

 

Otherwise, go to youtube, and search "replace brembo brake pads" and choose from the many videos showing you how to do it.

 

Because it's so easy, and so common, and so well documented, there's no point in us making more DIYs.

 

Just done swapping out my factory "dusty" pads for the Hawk HPS pads on my rear brake (LP-640). Yeah I can't believe it was this simple and painless, except removing the pad wear sensor. The pad wear sensor were somehow infused in with the brake pad compound, the only way to save the sensor is to destroy the still good pad. My pad wear sensor is much smaller when compare to Whiteout DIY pic.