Hi everyone, I have a question about the brakes on my '24 VRS. 

 

I bought it new a year ago and today it has been in for its first service. Clean Bill of health but I did notice that the brake pad wear on the report was slightly worse on the rear than the front.

 

I've had many cars in the past because I'm ancient. I questioned why it wasn't the case that my front pads would be more worn than the rear.

The dealer came back having spoken to the technician and told me that on my car there is a 60:40 braking bias towards the rear of the car so the increased wear on the rear is to be expected. 

 

I bit my lip whilst my gut screamed "NONSENSE" - can someone clarify for me please?

 

Ta.  

Do you use the adaptive cruise control?

 

To slow the car ACC will apply the rear brakes (the parking brake) so as to maintain a distance the vehicle ahead. This may well have caused more wear than you’d expected.

—————

 

See comment from @RADIOTWO correcting my misunderstanding; thanks.

 

 

Edited 28 February, 20251 yr by SteveTheElder
Final para…

2 minutes ago, SteveTheElder said:

Do you use the adaptive cruise control?

 

To slow the car ACC will apply the rear brakes (the parking brake) so as to maintain a distance the vehicle ahead. This may well have caused more wear than you’d expected.

The ACC does not use just the rear brakes it uses all four as its just as if you are using the foot pedal, in fact  if you just cover the pedal when the ACC cuts in you will feel the pedal go down !

2 hours ago, jimcallaghan said:

Hi everyone, I have a question about the brakes on my '24 VRS. 

 

I bought it new a year ago and today it has been in for its first service. Clean Bill of health but I did notice that the brake pad wear on the report was slightly worse on the rear than the front.

 

I've had many cars in the past because I'm ancient. I questioned why it wasn't the case that my front pads would be more worn than the rear.

The dealer came back having spoken to the technician and told me that on my car there is a 60:40 braking bias towards the rear of the car so the increased wear on the rear is to be expected. 

 

I bit my lip whilst my gut screamed "NONSENSE" - can someone clarify for me please?

 

Ta.  

Sounds to as you need to take it to a different dealers, I have never heard of a 60:40 bias to the rear on the brakes ( yes 60-40 on the drive on a four wheel drive) I cannot answer why the rear pads are worn more but have you checked the callipers to see if they are sticking ?

Do Octavia's have torque vectoring by braking? This has been known to increase wear on rear pads.

Could it be the case that the % is all relative - are the rear pads thinner off the shelf maybe? If so 20% of a thinner pad - vs 15% of a thinker one?  (just an idea) 

for info - my brakes were (and I suspect they guess a little) worn 15% front 20% rear after 9k miles 

Interesting that RADIOTWO mentioned brakes sticking. I don't think so - at least not noticable - but I don't get great MPG and I'm not heavy footed as a rule. (OK - now & again 😉 ) but that might account for wear and MPG. 

I've no means to test this so it'd have to be back in the garage (another different one maybe)

 

I'm going to of course ensure I get to the bottom of this but when I heard the technicians response I just didn't buy it. Cheers all. 

2 hours ago, jimcallaghan said:

Hi everyone, I have a question about the brakes on my '24 VRS. 

 

I bought it new a year ago and today it has been in for its first service. Clean Bill of health but I did notice that the brake pad wear on the report was slightly worse on the rear than the front.

 

I've had many cars in the past because I'm ancient. I questioned why it wasn't the case that my front pads would be more worn than the rear.

The dealer came back having spoken to the technician and told me that on my car there is a 60:40 braking bias towards the rear of the car so the increased wear on the rear is to be expected. 

 

I bit my lip whilst my gut screamed "NONSENSE" - can someone clarify for me please?

 

Ta.  

The 60/40 braking bias will actually be to the FRONT - NOT the rear!

2 minutes ago, Longship said:

Do Octavia's have torque vectoring by braking? This has been known to increase wear on rear pads.

Not a clue what this means - but yes.
"The Skoda Octavia vRS 245 utilizes a system called "VAQ" (which stands for "electronic front axle differential lock" in German) to achieve torque vectoring, meaning it can actively distribute power between the front wheels to enhance traction and handling, particularly when cornering, by sending more power to the outside wheel to minimize understeer; this feature significantly improves the car's agility and performance compared to a standard open differential. "

Courtesty of Goolge. VAQ is wasted on me.

4 minutes ago, Longship said:

Do Octavia's have torque vectoring by braking? This has been known to increase wear on rear pads.

The ESC programme will almost certainly use braking effort, but I wouldn't think it would be on the rear brakes only.

2 minutes ago, Warrior193 said:

The 60/40 braking bias will actually be to the FRONT - NOT the rear!

this was my thinking... 

5 minutes ago, jimcallaghan said:

Could it be the case that the % is all relative - are the rear pads thinner off the shelf maybe? If so 20% of a thinner pad - vs 15% of a thinker one?  (just an idea) 

for info - my brakes were (and I suspect they guess a little) worn 15% front 20% rear after 9k miles 

Interesting that RADIOTWO mentioned brakes sticking. I don't think so - at least not noticable - but I don't get great MPG and I'm not heavy footed as a rule. (OK - now & again 😉 ) but that might account for wear and MPG. 

I've no means to test this so it'd have to be back in the garage (another different one maybe)

 

I'm going to of course ensure I get to the bottom of this but when I heard the technicians response I just didn't buy it. Cheers all. 

Suggest checking the rear hubs for excessive heating after a run.

The rear brakes needing replacing on my VW Bora before the fronts but that was at about 80k miles. But generally  I have found the fronts and rears wear pretty evenly. Also the health checks are not very precise in my experience and opinion.

My last car was a Tiguan, the rear pads needed replacing at about 85k, the fronts lasted to just over 130k (I do a lot steady of motorway miles), and my current Superb is heading the same way, my vehicle health report last time it was in the garage reported the rears were more worn than the fronts, it seems quite normal these days. The Superb now has 82k on the clock so I would imagine they will need replacing soon.

If the brakes are used quite heavily it's quite normal for the rear pads to wear more than the fronts, on a track car twice as quick.

 

Its a function of the pad area, disc diameter and above all the relative absence of airflow cooling to the rear calipers which because of the need for a handbrake are also placed high up where all the radiant heat rises when stopped.

 

I agree the 40/60 front/rear split is just the usual Trumpism from a service receptionist.

Rear pads are almost always less thick than the front and they last longer as the braking efficiency is lower on the rear.

I think the reported wear is not very accurately measured. The slight mismatch is probably within the limit of error in the measurement.

 

Wait till they are really worn and I think you'll get a more accurate result.

 

Of note, the rear pads on the landcruisers I used to run always wore about 3 times more than the fronts.  They were smaller pads by a long shot and simply didn't have enough meat on them to last as long as the fronts