Brake pad wear

[Transporter]

Bendix make brakes for many car manufacturers incl. VW, Skoda, these are the hard facts, ...not my mate say. Plus brad, you already posted that in other section.
I personally have only good experience with Bendix for over 20 years, but I can't say the same about Ferodo. I found Ferodo Zero too noisy on many cars.

Bendix Produces Its Last Asbestos Brake Pad - Local News - News - General - The Courier so they were ready, weren't they?

[brad]

Bendix make brakes for many car manufacturers incl. VW, Skoda, these are the hard facts, ...not my mate say.

Yes, I'm aware that Bendix are an OEM supplier of brake components. That doesn't necessarilly make them good. Bendix were the OEM supplier for Commodore brakes. IIRC, the VT had 5 different Bendix compounds available as OEM spec from Holden spares as they couldn't get it "right". Lucas used to be an OEM supplier of electrics too - doesn't mean they were any good.

I have plenty of mates but only one that was (until 12 months back) the Senior Technical Advisor for Ferodo/Motospecs. What he doesn't know about brakes isn't worth knowing. If I need impartial brake advice, he's the guy I go to. He can even tell you which is the better country of manufacture when a brake pad is made in two places. I know a lot about brakes but he knows heaps more.

Plus brad, you already posted that in other section.

Your point? I believe you've recomended the bendix pads in other threads as well. Is there a limit to how often a forum member can post the same bit of information or recommendation?

I personally have only good experience with Bendix for over 20 years, but I can't say the same about Ferodo. I found Ferodo Zero too noisy on many cars.

I had good result with Bendix too. I'd estimate that I fitted well over 3000 sets of Bendix pads in a 5 year period - mostly Metal King as they were very good at the time. But that was 25 years back & manufacturers change. Just look at some of the great names in home electronics that now produce utter rubbish (Grundig, Telefunken, TEAC, etc).

Even my mate says that not all Ferodo stuff is any good. I once asked him about pads for the Golf - gave him a selection of 4 ferodo pads that would have fitted & his reply was "rubbish, marginal, rubbish, good". He was the first to admit when his employers product was price rather than performance driven.

Bendix Produces Its Last Asbestos Brake Pad - Local News - News - General - The Courier so they were ready, weren't they?

While they stopped producing asbestos pads 8 months before the deadline of December 2003, the subsequent products weren't up to the same level of performance or durability as their asbestos pads or the competing asbestos-free brake manufacturers, particularly the performance stuff.

Any idea when the government decreed that automotive parts had to go asbestos free?

[Transporter]

Any idea when the government decreed that automotive parts had to go asbestos free?

From 1st Jan 2004 they couldn't be stored, sold or fitted (ban was also for any asbestos used in gaskets and so on, ofcourse that there are exemptions)

Exemption was also for used brake shoes returned as deposit, which you could return 3 years from that date.

...and you're definitely right about that the market is changing all the time, and it is now that Bendix has GCT pads that are the cheapest from the Bendix range and are very good for everyday driving and they last. Very similar to Bendix Performax range which were good when first made and 2years later they stopped making them (they lasted on many V6 Mits. Magna's +100,000km), approx. 5 years ago.

Don't get me wrong I use many different brands of brake pads inc. ATE and other OEM brand for European cars.

It's good to have more choices than one, if you know what to buy.

[brad]

From 1st Jan 2004 they couldn't be stored, sold or fitted (ban was also for any asbesto used in gaskets and so on, ofcourse that there are exemptions)

I meant when did the gov't flag that there would be no more asbestos. How much notice did they give for companies to re-tool, source alternate materials & run-out existing stock?

[Transporter]

I meant when did the gov't flag that there would be no more asbestos. How much notice did they give for companies to re-tool, source alternate materials & run-out existing stock?

From my memory, I think it was at least one year notice.

[K1W1]

Have bendix caught up yet? When AUS went asbestos free they were had their pants down. I have a mate who has only recently left Ferodo (he did the brakes on the latest VE Clubsport among other things - very cluey guy) and he hasn't a nice thing to say about Bendix (and can back it up with fact upon fact). Personally, I've never had an issue with Bendix under normal driving conditions but I trust this guys judgement & knowledge.

I'm confused about this post.
You say Bendix pads are crap because your mate the expert says so but you also say you use them and have no problems. How can you trust his judgement if you buy Bendix? I can't follow the logic.

[brad]

I'm confused about this post.
You say Bendix pads are crap because your mate the expert says so but you also say you use them and have no problems. How can you trust his judgement if you buy Bendix? I can't follow the logic.

Sorry, didn't want to do the internet style "here's my resume to prove how smart i am" thing.

I was a brake/suspension/wheel alignment specialist from late '70s to late '80s and mainly used Bendix friction material in that time (then went off to fix 747/767). Bendix had a huge market share among the workshops. So my brake material knowledge is ~20 years old. After that, I can only go on what I've fitted to my cars, which hasn't been much because as I stated earlier, I don't really use brakes much compared to most.

So my personal knowledge is out of date & that's why I listen to what my mate has to say. I hope that clarifies my position.

[gslrallysport]

We stock 14 or 15 different brands of pads, including Bendix, and Brad has absolutely hit the nail on the head. Bendix are surviving on the reputation they developed 20 years ago and name brand advertising. In their defense, the GCT is the best thing they've made since Metal Kings. They were absolutely caught with their pants down with regards to asbestos, and it's only in the last few years that the GCT has come through with the goods, albeit as a price higher than what most equivalent trade servicing pads come in at.

I actually know one of the Bendix chemists (horses mouth stuff), and even he says that Bendix (FMP Group) couldn't not care less about producing decent aftermarket niche performance pads (shows with the rubbish they call Ultimate...), and that GCT, and their OEM equipment contracts, are all they care about. GCT is their bread and butter, and even in his own words, they're priced 20% above the rest of the trade market, but workshops are happy to pay this because they know the car won't come back... Which is a good thing, saves them money in the long run.

The upshot of it is, if you want a reasonably priced, high quality, low end performance trade servicing pad, then GCT isn't a bad option. It's certainly ALOT better than most of it's competitors in it's indented market (although Remsa still make it look silly in terms of quality and performance for similar dollars), but if you're after a performance or above OEM spec pad, there's definitely better options out there on the market.

[GTR27]

Odd.......i find the Octavia RS slightly underbraked (this was before chip also). Sure the initial bite is great (all vw/skoda's i drove had "touchy" feeling brakes) but the actual stopping power I don't think is that good (by all means its OK, but DEFINATELY not overbraked.) My only other mod I will consider soonish is pads....if it doesn't fix it then i'll price a big brake kit up. I'm very gentle on brakes (get lots of k's out of them) but when I stomp on them, i expect detached retina's.

My wife's Honda Jazz feels like it stops better than the skoda. It has great brakes! (and drums on the rear!) especially considering how gutless the car (jazz) is lol!

Only car that i've driven that had GREAT brakes stock, was a VE senator signature with optional factory big brake kit. After i'd just about bitten the steering wheel when I gave it a good stomp (in a safe location) the brakes actualy felt BETTER.....impressive considering it was a 1.9T car.

[brad]

We stock 14 or 15 different brands of pads, including Bendix, and Brad has absolutely hit the nail on the head.

Thanks Mum. You wrote that really well & no spelling mistakes. Can we have a roast for dinner when i come over on Sunday?

Odd.......i find the Octavia RS slightly underbraked (this was before chip also). Sure the initial bite is great (all vw/skoda's i drove had "touchy" feeling brakes) but the actual stopping power I don't think is that good (by all means its OK, but DEFINATELY not overbraked.) My only other mod I will consider soonish is pads....if it doesn't fix it then i'll price a big brake kit up. I'm very gentle on brakes (get lots of k's out of them) but when I stomp on them, i expect detached retina's.

So what are you actually experiencing?
Is the ABS engaging? If it is then no amount of big brakes will overcome the fact that your tyres aren't maintaining grip.

Are they fading? If so then probably different pad material, possibly followed by slotted discs may help. The VRS is already 312mm rotors aren't they?

If you don't use them much (ie: they aren't at operating temp) and then you give them a big go then pad selection will be pretty important as they need to work well when cold(ish). Ferodo DS (AKA Ferodo 2000) were pretty good in those conditions - probably don't come with the wear sensor though. Ferodo 2500s wouldn't work. I used to get immediate response from the old Bendix standard (now GCT??) but if you were going down Maquarie Pass or Jambaroo Mountain Rd, they were sad pandas before you were halfway down.

A mate is running a Civic Type R and has similar issues - I'll hunt down some info we were discussing on another forum - it might help.