My S2000 has close to 43k miles on it and the front brake pads dont have too much thickness to them anymore. The rears look a little thicker but not too much. The brakes do not make any noise at all however I am just trying be extra cautious to take car of wear items before they MUST be replaced. The local Honda dealer would probably make me wait 2 weeks for an appointment and try to charge me $500 for a job that should cost a whole lot less.

I dont race the car and really try to lay off the brakes when stopping from high speeds.

Should I just get OEM replacement pads ?

H&A has OEM front pads for $34.50 and rears for $43.73 so their very inexpensive.

Will aftermarket pads give me any benefits of longer life with better braking ?

If I decide to purchase OEM pads do the rotors need to be turned / resurfaced ?

Does the brake fluid need to be replaced ?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Michael

 

If it's the original fluid it should be changed. You should consider a DOT4 fluid. There's a FAQ entry on bleeding the brakes.

On the pads, there are several threads, and maybe even a FAQ entry, on how to change them. It's a fairly simple task, though a bit messy and time-consuming the first time you do it. You'll need a special tool to screw in the rear caliper pistons. After replacing them, you can "bed them in" by making a few progressively harder stops from about 60-10mph. Or, with stock pads, some people even skip that procedure. Aftermarket pads won't improve your best-case braking distance; they just deal better with repeated hard stops. So unless you plan to track the car, there'll be no performance difference. Plus, aftermarket pads tend to squeal.

As for the rotors, they'd only need resurfacing if they've developed significant grooves (that can catch a fingernail). If they're cracked they should be replaced. Note: there's a common form of rotor cracking that's not obvious except from close up -- they look like spider webbing across the entire surface.

HTH,
John