My 98 S70 T5A has 66k miles and the brake pedal is getting low. The front pads were replaced at 35k with Volvo pads and have worked fine. IPD appears to be cheaper than Volvo for pads & rotors. They also have 2 grades of pads & rotors. Does anyone have experience/recommendations? I don't need to take it to the track any more, but don't want to lose any of the stock performance, nor gain noise. Advice is welcomed.

Thanks

I jus purchased via mail order, OEM pads, silicone grease, and rotors from Nils Sefelt Volvo (Houston Texas 800-468-0041) for less money than IPD wanted for the same parts. This was even during a time when IPD had their brake parts on sale. I am very happy with the braking performance on my 98 V70 GLT even with the dust (It cleans right off). The braking feel and performance on my wagon is on par with many high performance cars I have raced and owned in the past.

I would add to the comments of those people who recommend the stock pads.

I needed a new set of pads this summer. Browsing the net, it appeared that there were mixed reports for aftermarket pads, primarily in terms of not as good stopping power. For me, stopping power is the key pad criteria. I don't care about brake dusting, and even squealing. None the less, I did try a set of aftermarket pads that some people had felt were superior (KVR Performance pads). To make a long story short, after they had broken in I lived with both squeal and poorer braking for about a month before going back to a new set of stock Volvo pads.

Volvo braking systems are one area where the engineers (at least pre the Ford acquisition) seem to have won out over the corporate bean counters. The pads are a very high quality, high friction pad made by Textar. You pay the price of superior braking in terms of shorter pad life and more dusting, but I think it's worth it.

Garth

I concur with Garth......I think the OEM volvo brakes are outstanding, and the only thing I would change is the stock lines to stainless steel lines, and replace the fluid(with the new DOT4+)once a year....two at the very most.

Steve Ferraro

Hoboken, NJ

I keep hearing these guys and their love for the OEM pads but... I do A LOT of mountain driving and got very tired of having to replace pads every 10,000 miles and cleaning the wheels DAILY. So I went with the IPD pads AND I'M NOT GOING BACK OEM. I don't have fade problems, dust problems or noise problems and I'm also getting 40,000 miles out of set. Yes I know I'll get flamed but I'm sticking with the pads that work for me.

Henry,

Here is my experience. I went from stock to IPD PBR deluxe pads, and lost about 10-15 feet in stopping distance, and for the first time ever, experienced brake fade. After about a year of less-than driving, I replaced the pads with stock, but had to replace all 4 rotors as well because of heat damage. The fronts had hot spots, and the rears looked like a mirror, and wouldn't work when even slightly damp.

I'm sticking with stock. I can live better with the brake dust on the wheels than with reduced performance.

Regards,

Mike Harris in Sandy Eggo

Henry-

Rotors are rotors- for the most part. Pads, on the other hand, make or break (no pun intended) how the car stops. IMO, OE Volvo is the ONLY way to go for pads. Volvo has the reputation for safty and durability of their cars, and they don't scrimp on the brake pads. No matter what anybody else says, aftermarket pads don't have the feel, the modulation, or the braking force of the OE. This comes from someone that drives a LOT of Volvo's with whatever brakes someone else has wasted their money on. Nothing works as well as OE in daily-use driving.

Dave the Volvo Tech

'99 V70R AWD, '93 854 GLT, '82 242 DL

I totally agree with Dave - Go with the Volvo OEM brake pads!

Why compromise something that Volvo has already done the homewok on?