Hey guys and gals, I'm looking into getting a full set of 4 rotors and pads for my '04 SS and I'm curious what other people are using. What brands do you currently use and what others have you had good or bad luck with? I was looking on Rock Auto at the Rotor & Brake Pad Kits and noticed that the Raybestos Fronts come in either Ceramic pads or Semi-Metallic pads. What's the pros and cons of the 2 types? It looks like the Raybestos Rears come in Ceramic only. I see that Raybestos also has a kit that comes with coated rotors and Hybrid Pads that "feature the best attributes of ceramic and semi-metallic all in one pad," but they are $25 more for the front set and the rear set, so $50 more altogether. Are they worth the extra $50? Just trying to get some insight on what would be best. I mainly drive in stop and go traffic on the way to work and back 5 days per week if that makes any difference.

 

I've kind of settled into a groove over the last 10 years or so:

• Daily driver / stock - I just use OEM / AC Delco parts. It seemed like when we started getting GM cars made in the mid 00s and on that the brakes lasted longer than our 90s/early 00s cars did. I was getting to the point of only doing 1-2 sets of replacement pads up front and 0-1 in the rear across the whole life of the car - so I started just putting stock stuff back on when the old wore out.
• Performance - I use Centric blank rotors (something I picked up on from getting more into track racing with the vette) and Carbotech pads (1521 for 100% street stuff, AX6s for anything that sees any hard usage).

The brands I've had bad luck with:

• Bottom end autozone duralast pads. Used these on our 00/03 Impalas as I was in college at the time and money was tight. But I had one where the pad delaminated from the backing and wedged itself between the rotor and caliper bracket.
• R1 Concepts rotors. Had these on the monte as I was into the whole drilled + slotted craze at the time. Sure enough, I got heat cracking around the drilled holes as many did at that time. These were also a bottom end $ brand, so there's clearly a theme there.

The over generalization is that ceramic tends to be a little more expensive, but shows less dust (its lighter color / tends not to stick as well) and is quieter.

But I'll say the lines are pretty blurry these days. Theres lots of types of ceramic, metals, and binders that can be used so there ends up being a lot of crossover in properties. There's also ceramic pads that have metals added to improve certain properties.

As long as you're buying a quality pad, I wouldnt get super stuck in trying to buy one vs the other.

For just regular driving, I wouldnt spend any extra money on special brakes. Id pick a reputable brand known for long life and hope you don't have to touch it again for a long time.