[maontayne]

I remember when I test drove my E that I drove another to see if all of the E's braked this poorly. For four wheel disc on a vehicle that isn't that heavy they are pretty bad.

At 70K miles of mostly highway my rear pads are about gone yet my fronts, which are way heftier than the rears have more than half of their surface remaining. Its like Honda has an improper proportion valve on the E. Perhaps if the valve allowed for a larger proportion of the fronts in ratio to the rears the E would stop better and the front would wear out before the rear like every other vehicle. Oh and we would have a safer vehicle.

Anyways, replaced all four pads today and it was pretty easy like most vehicles. 70K and only tires pads and a drivers seat. Pretty good huh? (knocking on wood)



ET

 

[Tim Vance]

I don't know....
Out of all the vehicles I've ever owned (and in almost 30 years of driving, there have been a few...lol) I find the E to have pretty darn good brakes...

And, the fronts on mine went out last year, and the rears are still doing just fine...

 

[ZOMBIEinvader]

I am pretty happy with my brakes. I have 53K on them. 3 days ago on the expressway a car flipped in heavy traffic up front about a 1/4 mile away. The brakes came on full slam and the E stopped like a champ from 70 mph. Everyone came to a full stop quite a few drivers jerked out of the outside lanes onto the shoulder to keep from slamming into the cars in front of them. The air was really thick with the smell of heated metal and pads. I was impressed with how well my E braked and handled while braking.

 

[Eww-an E]

I also think the E's brakes are quite good.

 

[MikeQBF]

Huh? Maybe a heavy foot?

I just replaced pads/rotors all around, at 100K, just for comfort level and maybe a touch of unevenness on a front rotor. There was at least another 50K left on everything, and amazingly even all around. And I never had complaint one about the brakes - they hauled the big box down from 60 to 0, in fine style every time.

So in the immortal words of Gary Coleman, "Whatcha talkin' 'bout Willis???"

 

[Spam16v]

wife's '06 has the oem ceramic pads all around from Honda (sold as a CPO'd car w/them), and my '05 has semi-metallic pads and they have been wearing longer and seem to have more bite. she notices it switching back and forth and likes my brakes better. i notice, but it doesn't bother me.

 

[Honda Tech]

Huh? ....

Notice the OP's location? The Mountain State is a little rougher on pad life than some of the "flatter" states. I got 104K out of the original brakes on my '03 when I lived in Michigan.

The OP's mileage is actually pretty good, considering. The Suckzuki SX4 is pretty popular with the surface miners around here - but you should hear them bitch when they wear out the front brakes in 23K miles, and need new tires every 12K.

FWIW, I'm seriously thinking about lobbying to get the motto currently on the WV license plates "Wild and Wonderful" changed to "Don't Drive Faster Than Your Stupid Brain Can Think" as a warning to all the out of staters passing through. The roads here can get on top of you pretty quick, and it's more than just a little annoying at how many of the Ohioans can't seem to keep it between the lines.

 

[Spam16v]

i frequent WV often with my supermoto bike. stay in Fairmont and head towards MD and then up to OH and back.

http://picasaweb.google.com/spam16v/WestVirginia#

two or three weekends would SHRED a set of tires, my front is cupped from excessive flex during braking (not the most ideal tire for intended use), and the sides of the rear are near chunking from backing it into turns heading up and down the mtn near Judy Gap. roads there are pretty treacherous, that's for sure.

tow vehicle

 

[siclmn]

At 60k I had mine inspected and they said leave them on plenty of life left. I don't drive like a dick and always leave a lot of space between the next car so I don't need to slam the brakes on for every stop.

 

[Blue Devil]

The E's brakes are actually not that bad for a Honda (Honda's a great brand, but they are CHEAP when it comes to brakes).

70k miles is damn good for brake life though. My mazda3 got about 40k out of a set (then again I autocross it).

 

[mediaseth]

There's something with the 08's, though

Of course, there's that infamous thread about the 08's brakes. I don't know that I have the "squishy" brake problem others have reported. What I've noticed is that it takes more force than it should to keep from creeping forward at a stop. I really have to HOLD that peddle down there. It's not the engine revs. Those are normal at idle..so it must be the brakes? I'm going to have it looked at because I gently tapped a driver in front of me the other day. No damage to either vehicle.

 

[xequar]

The rear rotors rusted away before they had a chance to wear away on my '06. The fronts are still 75 percent good after 50,000 miles. Of the seven vehicles I've owned, the Element has the best brakes of all of them, although the brakes on my Astro van are pretty good if I get after them a bit.

Question for the crowd, though, is how hard does the Element's automatic transmission push against the brakes, and are sufficiently depressing the brake pedal at a stop? My E's a manual, so I'm in neutral at a light, but my Astro's an auto, and if I don't have my foot FIRMLY planted, that van'll be cruising at about 12 miles per hour before I realize what's going on.

 

[FiAsco]

I'm about to "service" my brakes, but after 60K miles both the pads and I believe the rotors have a lot of life left. I feel and hear no problems at all. I'll post thickness for pads and thickness, runout, and parallelism on the rotors after my service.

My Element brakes are above reproach. IMO the Element's brakes are best in class and outstanding by any standard.

Compare that to my '07 Mercedes Benz E-Class w/6,700 miles. I'm getting some minor rumbling from the front end from the 13 inch diameter 32 mm thick ventilated cross-drilled factory rotors. It's still under warranty, but if the rotors are the problem then warranty will be tricky. OT--I absolutely love this car, but I'm not sure I'm cut out for German car ownership having owned Japanese cars exclusively my entire life.

 

[hotrodder]

I'll agree with the positives----I always thought the E's brake system was one of its many assets. We don't have salted roads here, though, that may be the difference.

 

[Bowzer]

THe E is my 6th Honda and I find the brakes on the better than average side so far...with around 25k miles now.

I have lived the Accord warping rotors experience for years but not so on the E at all.

Regarding rear brakes going first in many cases: I believe this to be a bit of the intended balance to reduce nose dive. ALthough I do not own one, the current Accords are having this issue of premature wear on the rear report a lot. But I also notice the folks complaining on such tend toward tohe more aggressive side...which would duplicate mountain areas, too.

Overall, if you heat'em up and mash them a lot you will have quick wear no doubt. But I honestly haven't heard of a car this past decade that doesn't do this...especially on middle of the road daily drivers.

 

[maontayne]

Thanks all.......

I'm not complaining about making it to 70K, just that the brakes aren't that strong. I'm not a leadfoot or tailgater either. Nobody has commented on the proportion valve and wearing out the rear with well over half still left on the front pads.


Oh and I used the caliper tool from Auto Zone. A lot quicker and easier than wedging wood pieces in there..............



ET

 

[slimerdogs]

Knock on wood as mine have been great. Yesterday I had a little CRI and almost rear ended a CR-V but hit the brakes and if it was my Dodge I would have killed the CR-V but the E did greatand stoped way short. As for the rear wear I cannot see that on mine as the rears have about the same material left on them as the front. About 40% at 75000.

 

[breitlingdj]

107,000 miles. original brake pads. no squealing yet.

changing them out next week for safety purposes (they are not as efficient now as they were even 20K ago), but for the type of vehicle, weight of vehicle, and all-road capabilities (notice i didnt say "off-road"), the Es brakes are damn good.

FAR better than my land rover disco, who needs new gasoline every 140 miles and new brake pads every 25K.

:-x

 

[miketomaszewski]

#1- I don't drive like a d*ck.
#2- I'm very light on my brakes.
#3- The brakes on both of my E's work great, but...
My '04 went through a set of rears at 38k.
I just had my '08's rear brakes replaced under factory warranty with 16k miles!!!
16,000 miles.
In both cars, the fronts were in great shape and the rears were metal on metal.
The dude at the dealer told me " faulty pads". Must be Honda uses different composition pads for front and rear, huh?
Don't get me wrong, I love these cars, but something funny is going on with these rear brakes.