Brake wear

[26DIPP]

I have a 2014 Superb DSG with 23000 M. The brake wear indicator is flashing intermittently. Is the Superb so heavy on brake pads - and I assume it is the front ones - that they have to be changed every 20000 - 25000 M?

[wokwon]

Euro cars do have soft pads and rotors, however it depends on your road conditions and how you drive.

 

Mine are at 68,000km and still going

[26DIPP]

I bought it used with 21000 M. The tyres front and rear had about 3mm left. I do not know how good or bad the 1. owner had been driving.

Have you got the brake wear indicator activated in the dash board. Mine was off when I bought it.

Edited 6 December, 2015 by 26DIPP

[peterposh]

I've got 78000 miles on the front of mine , you're probably "comfort braking " ;-)

[Danny 57]

I am just over 50k miles on mine but I do not use the brakes as much as most as I always use the engine to slow me down and I drive like a Sunday afternoon slow coach to and from work, 50 odd miles round trip.

[brad1.8T]

I have a 2014 Superb DSG with 23000 M. The brake wear indicator is flashing intermittently. Is the Superb so heavy on brake pads - and I assume it is the front ones - that they have to be changed every 20000 - 25000 M?

Brake wear rate totally depends on the driving conditions & driver.  I know my wife uses brakes at about 3x the rate I do as she tailgates the cars in front and doesn't look very far up the road.

 

Personally, I think the BWI is usually a bit conservative.  The only way you'll really now what needs doing is to shine a torch through the wheel spokes & have a look.

[Superb170]

As above, it does depend very much on the type of driving and also the driving style. Mine has 75k kms and I was told at the last service (at 60k kms) that the pads probably wouldn't last until my next service but that I would get another 15k kms or so out of them so I expect to have them replaced shortly. Interestingly my rear pads are wearing faster than the fronts.

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Edited 7 December, 2015 by Superb170

[wokwon]

As above, it does depend very much on the type of driving and also the driving style. Mine has 75k kms and I was told at the last service (at 60k kms) that the pads probably wouldn't last until my next service but that I would get another 15k kms or so out of them so I expect to have them replaced shortly. Interestingly my rear pads are wearing faster than the fronts.

 

Yeah VWs are usually biased to the rear in light braking to reduce the 'nodding' of the front of the car.  As the brake pedal is applied harder, the bias moves forward to account for the weight shift.  This is why VWs tend to have dirtier rear alloys than the front.

[peterposh]

The handbrake operates in the rear and the auto adjusters tend to make the pads drag slightly as they adjust thereby wearing them out before the fronts

[silver1011]

DSG's are usually a bit heavier on brake pads as you have less control over engine braking and can utilise the 1st gear crawl function enjoyed by auto's.

 

As has been mentioned though, the biggest influence on brake wear is the types of journey and the driver!

 

My 2011 Superb with 86,000 miles is on the original set. When I swapped the winter wheels over a few weeks ago I check the pads out, still plenty of meat left on them.

[simannjo]

Is it orange or red with an exclamation mark?

If red then chances are its just the fluid a bit low - Check this first...

Edited 7 December, 2015 by simannjo

[psycholist]

The wear detector is in one of the front pads, so it doesn't detect wear in the back at all. Have a look at the pads to see ho much material is left on them. You may be looking at a wiring issue rather than a brake wear one. 

[Wens66]

Just changed my pads all round at at 64000 mls.

Front pads were the original and still had a few mm left on them and not down to the wear indicator yet. ( this is only on the n/s front for your info)

Rear set were worn down to a few mm as well, but this is the second set i have fitted so evidence the rear wears quicker as described by others before.

Hope this helps

[Helipilot]

I have 58000 miles on my 2.0 4x4 and on my last service 2 months ago the report that came after the service said that 80% on the front and 90% remain on the pads. I do a lot of motorway driving and use anticipation more than my brakes. So I guess a lot depends on your driving style. I like speed but keep my distance and use the cruise control a lot switching on and off to slow down or accelerate, this keeps the brake usage down and keeps me awake on a 9 hour drive!

[peterposh]

pads you buy from motor factors usually have a shaped piece of metal that looks like a spring . This rubs on the disk when they are down to their last few miles thereby making a loud grating sound to warn before you get down to the rivets

Edited 11 December, 2015 by peterposh

[numskull]

pads you buy from motor factors usually have a shaped piece of metal that looks like a spring . This rubs on the disk when they are down to their last few miles thereby making a loud grating sound to warn before you get down to the rivets

.... And grawnches the disc....LOL!

[26DIPP]

The warning light in the dashboard is orange.

When I swapped the winter tyres a couple of weeks ago, I had a look at the pads and they were all fine. I did not look at the sensor but I will when I change the tyres back after Easter.

The car is braking fine for now and discs and pads are fine - but still strange that the light comes on after 24000M.

[SuperbTWM]

I have cut the wires from the pad before and soldered them together with some heat shrink if they have activated ridiculously early

[iancjc]

Although my car eats tyres my pads are still fine after 58k miles. Just been serviced and the dealer said they would last at least another 18k (to the next service)

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[Superb170]

I just changed mine all round. 82k kms (52k miles) and were down to be last few mm and the tears were pretty much gone. Noticed some difference in the new pads - I didn't realise how much they had worn. I got 10k kms more on my last Superb with the same driving mix (80/20, extra urban/urban). Only difference was wheel size - 17s v 18s on current.

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[dstev2000]

My Superb has 61,000 on the clock and there's around 1/3 of the meat left on the pads. My car usually has a full boot and is a mix of fast motorway and central London stop start. I'm hardly what I'd call light on the loud pedal either.

My last superb had all of the brakes done at around 80k, still had meat on them too. My Octavia before that was also around 80k, same story.

[williamshatnerspants]

Hi, sorry to hijack..... I think I heard a squeal from my brakes today.... do these look worn out? thanks

 

[peterposh]

They are in their twilight years, I'd change them if they were on mine

[peterposh]

I've got a few blokes driving for me and ever since I fitted trackers the brake wear and fuel consumption has decreased dramatically.

 

Additionally  the tyre wear on the fronts has gone from about 20/22k to 25 /26 k

Edited 17 February, 2016 by peterposh

[brad1.8T]

Hi, sorry to hijack..... I think I heard a squeal from my brakes today.... do these look worn out? thanks

 

 

I can't tell if it's (1) the backing plate reflecting in the disc or (2) the pad thickness is about 3/4 of the backing plate thickness.

 

If it's #1 then they need changing.

 

If #2 then (back when discs weren't considered sacrificial) I would change then soonish.  These days, as the discs are also throw-away - I'd leave it until they are almost metal-on-metal