Brakes and pads recs:

[MdlSP100D'16]

Good Afternoon All!

I am looking at getting new brakes, the whole package. Rotors & pads, front and rear! I have a 2016 Model S P100D. I have literally zero idea of what are good, quality brands. I love the look of the black rotors so that's be a plus. What recommendations do you all have??

 

[Gixx1300R]

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[MdlSP100D'16]

Cross-Drilled Brake Kits

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Click here to shop our huge range of 2017 Tesla S brake parts and accessories.

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Question! I was wondering about if I could just do the 2017! Since mine is the refreshed August 2016 build, do you know if that means its the same as the 2017 for purposes of brakes and rotors?

 

[Gixx1300R]

Question! I was wondering about if I could just do the 2017! Since mine is the refreshed August 2016 build, do you know if that means its the same as the 2017 for purposes of brakes and rotors?

As long as the rotors are the same diameter (front and rear) the brakes will swap

 

[gillmj24]

Anybody get Akebono brake pads? Do they make ones for a 2015 S? I upgraded my SAAB 9-5 with them eons ago (I think brembo rotors too) and they were great and no brake dust.

I'm surprised at the amount of brake dust I have, I don't top off the battery so there is always room for regen braking, my leaf and bolt EV's predictably made hardly any dust at all on the wheels.

 

[MdlSP100D'16]

Anybody get Akebono brake pads? Do they make ones for a 2015 S? I upgraded my SAAB 9-5 with them eons ago (I think brembo rotors too) and they were great and no brake dust.

I'm surprised at the amount of brake dust I have, I don't top off the battery so there is always room for regen braking, my leaf and bolt EV's predictably made hardly any dust at all on the wheels.

I'm glad you asked this, I always see Brembo but stumbled across Akembono and am trying to get advice on brands and what people have liked!

 

[gillmj24]

Do you get a surprising amount (for an EV with regen braking!) of brake dust?

 

[maximizese]

Anybody get Akebono brake pads? Do they make ones for a 2015 S? I upgraded my SAAB 9-5 with them eons ago (I think brembo rotors too) and they were great and no brake dust.

I'm surprised at the amount of brake dust I have, I don't top off the battery so there is always room for regen braking, my leaf and bolt EV's predictably made hardly any dust at all on the wheels.

It's less about the brand and more about the friction material. In the Akebono example, I'm pretty sure you're referring to ceramic brake pads (a godsend to heavier European cars that dust up a storm on organic OEM pads). I still have a set of on the rear of my old VW TDI with Hawk HPS pads at the front with zinc coated Zimmermann rotors. I'm typically an early and easy brake user so the Electronic Brake Force Distributor (EBD) biases the rear. The VW OEM pads would leave the wheels dark grey after 1K miles of driving and the pads would last about 40K miles. The Akebonos have over 120K miles on them and still have about half of their material.

 

[gillmj24]

This is 2 months' worth. All wheels are dirty so it's not like just one wheel has a draggy brake and is making extra dust.

I am always next to model 3's at superchargers and they never seem to have dirty wheels. The nice 19" wheels not the (ugly but functional) 18" dark grey aero covers.

More dust than 2 years with a Leaf and 6 months on a Bolt combined!

 

[gillmj24]

And after a cleaning

 

[gillmj24]

Is it possible taking my foot off the gas makes both regen and mechanical braking?

I have regen on standard. No way stopping from 10mph (when regen really falls off) to 0 is making that much dust?
Mine is 2015

 

[maximizese]

Is it possible taking my foot off the gas makes both regen and mechanical braking?

I have regen on standard. No way stopping from 10mph (when regen really falls off) to 0 is making that much dust?
Mine is 2015

Nope, shouldn't be possible. Mechanical brakes needs pressure from the brake pedal to the master cylinder, brake booster, then the individual brake pistons at each caliper to squeeze the brake pads against the spinning brake rotors. My guess is that ought to service the brakes by inspecting the brake pads, applying a new layer of anti-squeal on the backs of the pad plates, clean up the calipers and piston seals, and clean/lubricate the guide pins. It's possible the caliper might need to be rebuilt but I'd start with the easy stuff.

Aside from brake dust, are you seeing any increase in energy consumption or tire wear? If not, perhaps it's time to switch to ceramic pads.

 

[gillmj24]

Energy consumption has been pretty consistent during my ownership, but maybe it could be better? It's about 340 Wh/mi over ~11k miles in 11 months. Pre-heat pump 2015.

 

[Doanster1]

If little/no brake dust is your top goal, then yes, Akebono is the way to go. Like others have stated, I’ve used them plenty in the past on the family cars and they are great/no issues.
For “my” car (daily driver), I go with grippier compounds at the expense of dust (EBC Yellows, Hawk HP+, etc.).

 

[maximizese]

Energy consumption has been pretty consistent during my ownership, but maybe it could be better? It's about 340 Wh/mi over ~11k miles in 11 months. Pre-heat pump 2015.

That sounds high to me, especially for a dual motor, but you do have cold winters and balmy summers that I don't have in coastal Southern California. Our 11/13 built S85 RWD has an average of 320 Wh/mi. I probably use the A/C 75% less than the average person and rarely use the heater. I suspect you have a dragging brake. Does the car pull to side with the brake dusted wheel while driving straight for 1/8th of a mile?

 

[gillmj24]

That sounds high to me, especially for a dual motor, but you do have cold winters and balmy summers that I don't have in coastal Southern California. Our 11/13 built S85 RWD has an average of 320 Wh/mi. I probably use the A/C 75% less than the average person and rarely use the heater. I suspect you have a dragging brake. Does the car pull to side with the brake dusted wheel while driving straight for 1/8th of a mile?

All 4 are about equally dirty, maaaaybe the front ones a little more so but it's close.

I preheat and precool quite a bit too.

 

[gillmj24]

Road trip today about 175 miles. Mix of highway and stop-and-go. Lots of hills up and down. Averaged about 280-300 - trip home shown here was probably more downhill on average than the first leg, but I don't think the brakes are dragging at all.

 

[philip295]

That sounds high to me, especially for a dual motor, but you do have cold winters and balmy summers that I don't have in coastal Southern California. Our 11/13 built S85 RWD has an average of 320 Wh/mi. I probably use the A/C 75% less than the average person and rarely use the heater. I suspect you have a dragging brake. Does the car pull to side with the brake dusted wheel while driving straight for 1/8th of a mile?

I have a 2014 S. The front pads were seized into the calipers on both sides. The inner sides or the disks were dished. I replaced both pads and disks.