My Bitch - HSV Brakes

[dark]

Some background first - I have owned three HSV sedans from the VX 11 VY11 and now the VE 317, the first two were second hand but limited km and were great machines, the VY11 especially. I love the VE. I searched the our site and found an interesting thread regarding the cost of getting the brakes done on the VE and found that I have to replace the rotors as well. I have two friends who own VE HSV's but are the 6.0litre version so they have had them a bit longer than me. Both are selling them because it costs over $4000 juat to do the brakes, one was doing them at 50,000 and the other had to do them at 35000km. It was also about the time for tyres. I can wear the cost of tyres I expected that and after 3 HSV's knew what I was getting into, but the brakes is a totally different issue when it never happened in the previous models. Why did they build a car that cannot have the rotors machined not even once? I do around 25000km a year, so every second year I have to pay over $4000 for a service, sure. Did not happen in the VX or VY11. I remember when I bought the car the sales person assurred me that because the VE has particular tyres designed for it that HSV had arranged for them to be replaced at $300.00 a corner!!! I saw through that, but never expected them to get me on the brakes. They are good, but is there another car that costs that to change the pads?

Thanks I have had my bitch, if someone is looking for an extrememly well looked after 6.2 litre HSV that is an absolute pleasure to drive let me know.

[chargedvx6]

DIY and throw the warranty in the bin.

[bok1]

when i had to change the ceramic discs and pads on my 911 turbo i was up for a lot more than that,almost triple your price.for a car with good brakes you have to pay the cost unfortunataley.



phil

[surfwagon]

The VZ AP's have the same thickness (32mm with a 30mm minimum) and my mates were down to 31.2mm at the first pad change, 18mths.
After machining they are 30.8mm so still fine.
His brakes were the reason I had the AP's fitted to my senator.
DBA do a 5000series disc for these and racebrakes in Sydney has them for around $1000/pr and $140 for pads.
if Holden is charging you $4000 for replacements then they obviously aren't covered under the waranty (wear and tear) so I'd be going after market.

[bigdogdazza]

Jeez I was very very close to buing a maloo instead of ss and didnt even consider the cost of pads and discs, I am so glad I didnt get one now as I couldnt afford that with tyres so the car would have been sitting around whilst I was on the train! I reckon as stated earlier "go aftermarket and do it yourself!".:confused:

[Mix 6000]

Hi, I've done 50,00klms in my HSV VE Maloo with the same brakes that your speaking of, & mine are know where near replacing....only about half worn. (checked last Fri, when I got new rear tyres fitted).....Will be looking for other options before I give Holden $4,000 for rotors & pads!!!...cheers...:)..

[macca33]

Much better to look into the aftermarket - DBA being one manufacturer/supplier of top quality gear. After the importer/distributor/dealer mark-ups, no wonder a set of AP-R rotors cost so much.

Cheers

[255-LS1]

:lol: my mate is going to have kittens when he finds out about this, bought an LS3 clubby totally unaware of the brake costs haha.

What would one expect for an aftermarket replacement?

Cheers

[macca33]

I would imagine that the cost for 4 x discs and pads (aftermarket gear used) would be in the $2-2.5k region, then add fitting. Still high, but not $4k.

[Curtis-R]

Same problem with FPV and the Brembos... price you pay for the bling brakes, but as others have stated there are cheaper ways around the high cost of replacement... selling the car due to cost of brake replacement seems a bit extreme though? Surely you cold further explore these other options ;)

[SimoVXSS]

Good brakes are not a cheap excercise that forsure. Came very close to putting GTR brakes on my old skyline but the cost to maintain was crazy and really not worth it. Unless you track the car no need for such expensive brakes.

Went aftermarket on the VXSS instead of factory Holden. Not the same thing as HSV but the aftermarket brakes (DBA) are just as good IMO

[Alex81]

here ya go here's a good price comparison, i brought DBA new front and back rotors for the hsv premium brakes package, the total for all 4 rotors without the front hats was $1800 i than brought EBC green stuff pads front and rear for just under $600 and fitting cost a total of $150 (good bloke)

so for a total of $2550 fitted without the front hats

Front hats for this model were around $700 for the pair

With front hats $3250 fitted which still leaves $750 in your pocket, either way genuine or not it's not going to be cheap but you can save some coin going aftermarket

On a side note, I have just purchased genuine hsv front pads for this setup at a cost $312 for fronts only, the reason for buying these is, i hate the squeal the EBC's make

[steve_t]

C'mon, these are amazing brakes! Was it that they stop the Clubby in the same distance as a Lambo Murcielago?? You gotta pay for that stopping power.
Is the point of the OP that it's expensive? Or that he didn't know what he was getting himself into when he bought the VE?

[Excellent]

C'mon, these are amazing brakes! Was it that they stop the Clubby in the same distance as a Lambo Murcielago?? You gotta pay for that stopping power.
Is the point of the OP that it's expensive? Or that he didn't know what he was getting himself into when he bought the VE?

No I think he wasn't happy about not being able to machine the rotors. I'd be just as unhappy as these kinds of ownership costs tend to catch you by surprise.

[AMADR8]

cheap solution ill swap brakes with u:nyuk::nyuk:
hehehe

[dark]

Same problem with FPV and the Brembos... price you pay for the bling brakes, but as others have stated there are cheaper ways around the high cost of replacement... selling the car due to cost of brake replacement seems a bit extreme though? Surely you cold further explore these other options ;)

I agree hence the post and the final statement was more "'ÿou can do better than this"

I am checking with my service provider and have written to HSV and I will let you know the result.


C'mon, these are amazing brakes! Was it that they stop the Clubby in the same distance as a Lambo Murcielago?? You gotta pay for that stopping power.
Is the point of the OP that it's expensive? Or that he didn't know what he was getting himself into when he bought the VE?

If you read you will see I have owned three of these, the brakes were excellent and never an expensive issue. I do 25000 a year and have done so for for three models to suddenly go to this cost (when it never occurred in the previous models) is to me extreme. To say I was not aware of what I was getting into when I have owned three is not close to reality.

[which12day]

cheap solution ill swap brakes with u:nyuk::nyuk:
hehehe
I'm on my second Clubsport and they just keep getting better. $57000 on the road, is there anything better for the money? Don't think so! Wouldn't contemplate swapping the brakes for the SS package so it's just another running expense. BTW, a friend asked VW what the service costs were for the Toureg and he was frightened off by the $7500 brake service at 60,000K

[dark]

I'm on my second Clubsport and they just keep getting better. $57000 on the road, is there anything better for the money? Don't think so! Wouldn't contemplate swapping the brakes for the SS package so it's just another running expense. BTW, a friend asked VW what the service costs were for the Toureg and he was frightened off by the $7500 brake service at 60,000K

As I said, I love my car, it is a pleasure to drive. If that is the case with VW, Ford and other performance vehicles that the rotors have to be replaced with every pad change, I will situp and take notice and apologise for an ignorant thread.

[Uwish]

Speak to Tony Dun At VSport.
DBA 5000s with DS2500 pads should be cheaper than your quote.
While you're at it you should go braided brake lines as well.

[BlownLS7]

gee you could fit the whole Harrop VE Kit for 4K, just fit a Harrop Kit every time hsv brakes go.

cheers

[nickh]

gee you could fit the whole Harrop VE Kit for 4K, just fit a Harrop Kit every time hsv brakes go.

cheers


actully this might not seem like such a bad idea. Sell your currently brake kit on ebay for like $2500-3000k and buy the Harrop set up. c/over price ur looking at maybe 1000-1500 plus fitting.

[oranpark_addict]

gee you could fit the whole Harrop VE Kit for 4K, just fit a Harrop Kit every time hsv brakes go.

cheers

i like your style, and to think it might actually be viable:)

[duke5700]

Jeez I abuse the Harrop brakes on my VX, 3rd set of DS2500's and the rotors are still have plenty of meat. I believe the DS2500 compound is per what HSV's used to use?

[dark]

gee you could fit the whole Harrop VE Kit for 4K, just fit a Harrop Kit every time hsv brakes go.

cheers

Thanks for that, will be looking at this along with selling my ones perhaps on e-bay. The car is only 11000 km old so should get a decent dollar for them. Should save me some money in the long haul and have great brakes as well.

[planetdavo]

One of the BIG issues with owning a HSV is that many buyers think they will be nearly as cheap as a Commodore to maintain, as they are still "based" on a Holden. If it was a Porsche or an AMG Merc, it would simply paid for by the Gold card holding owner. Here's the big clue.
You are getting near world's best product on a cheap as locally made car costing one third or less than those other options. They have huge AP Racing rotors and aggressive high performance Ferodo DS2500 pads, combined with a heavy car of over 1800kg's.
It's pretty normal from what my trade contacts have told me for most large brake cars, and from my own personal experiences with several large braked cars. Can't have your cake and eat it too.
There's always the option of cheaper rotors and pads, if you are prepared to lose some of the braking performance that goes with it. Even p!ss-ant shopping car brakes have always been like this.


No I think he wasn't happy about not being able to machine the rotors. I'd be just as unhappy as these kinds of ownership costs tend to catch you by surprise.
The rotors can certainly be machined if they remain over the minimum thickness after machining.
See above for further input.

[calais190]

Relative to purchase costs, 4G to replace the brakes on a 65K car, equals a touch over 6% of its original cost.

To replace the pads and rotors on my VZ Calais, brand new cost was 52K, brakes and pads were 70 per rotor (280) plus pads were 200. $480 all up, this was done at 50,000kms which amounts to just under 1% of the cars cost.

Just found it interesting how a performance car (roughly 15K more than a Calais) with performance brakes changes the relative cost percentages.

[planetdavo]

Relative to purchase costs, 4G to replace the brakes on a 65K car, equals a touch over 6% of its original cost.

To replace the pads and rotors on my VZ Calais, brand new cost was 52K, brakes and pads were 70 per rotor (280) plus pads were 200. $480 all up, this was done at 50,000kms which amounts to just under 1% of the cars cost.

Just found it interesting how a performance car (roughly 15K more than a Calais) with performance brakes changes the relative cost percentages.
Certainly true. You can also certainly feel the difference between the two after a few hefty brake applications too!
There is a common saying that gaining performance is a law of diminishing returns.
It's cheap and fairly easy to get to (say) 90%, but that last few percent in comparison cost a fortune to achieve.

[Brockfan05]

One of the BIG issues with owning a HSV is that many buyers think they will be nearly as cheap as a Commodore to maintain, as they are still "based" on a Holden. If it was a Porsche or an AMG Merc, it would simply paid for by the Gold card holding owner. Here's the big clue.
You are getting near world's best product on a cheap as locally made car costing one third or less than those other options. They have huge AP Racing rotors and aggressive high performance Ferodo DS2500 pads, combined with a heavy car of over 1800kg's.
It's pretty normal from what my trade contacts have told me for most large brake cars, and from my own personal experiences with several large braked cars. Can't have your cake and eat it too.
There's always the option of cheaper rotors and pads, if you are prepared to lose some of the braking performance that goes with it. Even p!ss-ant shopping car brakes have always been like this.


The rotors can certainly be machined if they remain over the minimum thickness after machining.
See above for further input.

VE HSV's are fitted with DS2000 spec pads as it was found that VZ and previous models that had high performance brakes with the DS2500's - owners were not getting enough heat into the pads and the brake performance suffered. The DS2000's have excellent cold 'bite' and reached suitable operating temp quicker.