Hi,

I have been driving my 55 superb for a few months now.

As I somehow got the feeling that my brakes were starting to make some noises I checked the paperwork when they had last been replaced (got all the previous Invoices).

From and rear pads have been changed at 36K miles. According to the paperwork the Discs have not yet been done.

The Car has now done 76K miles, which means the last set of pads have lasted 40K.

Would that sound about right? When do you feel new Discs are due?

Cheers,

dsab

Hi Dsab,

Look at the discs and pads rather than the paperwork which gives you no useful information at all.

If the car spends most of the time cruising the discs and pads will last many times longer than if you are driving on narrow twisty roads.

If the discs look like they are in good condition and there is no brake judder, you need to measure the disc thickness with a micrometer.

40k is a good life for a set of pads

That seems like a decent mileage, but you really need to inspect the pads, and measure the disc thickness with a micrometer to know if the pads and/or discs are worn out.

I beleive the rears wear very quickly on the superb, mine lasted 26k with mostly motorway driving I still have the original fronts and the car has done 45k, but the rears are getting low again...

I beleive the rears wear very quickly on the superb, mine lasted 26k with mostly motorway driving I still have the original fronts and the car has done 45k, but the rears are getting low again...

I can't see why, unless the Superb is majorly under-braked at the rear, or your rears are dragging. Are you disappointed with the fuel economy for no traceable reason?

My octavia is still on the original disks and pads with 67K on the clock. Mostly motorway miles though, so that may explain it.

The rear pads on the Superb/Passat have a short life - inspect carefully after 20k miles. The fronts last well.

The Superb has poor rear pad life because it is over braked at the rear. This is a hang over from the pre ABS days when Passats were fitted with brake force limiting valves - so in normal operation with a light load the rear brakes received very little operating pressure. With the fitment of ABS, the limiting valve was no longer necessary and was hence deleted. This means that the rears receive full operating pressure even when the vehicle is lightly loaded - hence the wear.

It's a **** up caused by the age of the design. Despite the rapid rear pad wear, VAG put the wear indicators on the fronts.... (Well done Wolfsburg).

The disks last a lot longer than the dealers would have you believe (wonder why?). Check with a micrometer or vernier caliper.

rotodiesel.

Roto is right I think. I just had the rear pads changed at ~37k miles. Rear disks are OK. Front pads/disks still OK on original pads. I wondered why there was no wear warning light for the rear pads. Mostly motorway miles.

had my rear pads renewed at 22k miles.........mine was done through visual inspection rather than wait for the disc to make a grinding noise when pad eventually dissapears!...got a good supply and fit price of £39.00 for the rear pads.....would of done it myself but with the cold weather and the need of a special tool to crank the piston back i couldnt be asked to do it......almost 3 times cheaper to do than the main dealer i might add

Recently had new pads all round, at 35k urban driving miles - 1st time for the front, but 2nd time for the rear.

Roto - or anyone else who knows - what parameters do you look for when checking with a micrometer? What is the minimum acceptable thickness of a disc?

cheers

Rotodiesel, are you saying that the Passat/Superb is running full effort to the rear brakes even when you're only calling for, say, 40% at the front?

Samm, what you're looking for is a disc or discs worn below the manufacturer's minimum thickness, but that varies with which discs you have on the Octy, so I presume the Superb will be the same, but the actual figures may well vary from what my Octy manual would say even if it was here.

The Superb/Passat brakes are set up such that there is more rear braking force available than would avoid lock-up under light load. This is set by the caliper piston areas. On the early B5s lock up was prevented by a load sensing valve operated by the rear axle. Later cars have ABS and can't lock - but don't have the load sensing pressure reducing valve.

The problem with the later set up is that under normal conditions of gentle braking the rears get more hydraulic pressure than they should - the system relys on the ABS to keep it safe. This is why the fronts last so long and the rears wear out so quickly. It's just a case of sloppy design with a good dose of stupidity as far as pad warning devices go.

According to my data, new rear disks are 10mm thick and should be replaced when worn to 8mm or below.

rotodiesel.

That all makes sense now.

depends on if your heavy on your brakes mine where changed in january last year had it serviced in december and was told there still like new I tend to ease off rather than brake if at all possible