Brake pads Bosch or Centric

Bosch’s Quietcast brakes have never done me wrong. I’ve used them in three vehicles now and had good pad life and performance on a budget. No squeaks, decent life for ceramics.

Honestly for everyday driving the Bosch and centric is a good combo. The powerstop are very grabby and have a bit more stopping power but it’s not worth the extra money, plus long term normal rotors are better. Drilled/slotted don’t have as much durability

Yes to the Bosch/Centric combo. No to drilled rotors on a daily driver.

I had this problem too and I saw in other forums quite a few other people as well. I used Bosch pads too I think (can’t recall right now) but when I compared them to the OeM ones I removed, there was a difference similar the the gaps you pointed to in your pic. Putting the old OEM ones back and the gap is not there. So what I ended up doing was simply added a bit of shim to one side of the Bosch pad to take up the gap and the problem went away. I put the shim only on one side, the side that would be compressed when in reverse. FWIW others have tried other brands of pads and they all seem to have the same issue. Apparently the only ones that don’t are the OEM ones for some strange reason. When I compared mine, it wasn’t the pad backing that was causing the delta, it was the shim.

I'm very happy with Bosch QuietCast pads and rotors.

If my customers choose aftermarket, I always get

380mm centric high carbon rotors

Centric posi-quiet ceramic brakes.

The centric rotors are the absolute best bang for your buck.

I find paid results in comebacks, and oddly enough I get a lot of comebacks when I use brembo brake pads and rotors (they are 100% a different formulation than the land rover brembo OEM spec)

I went aftermarket with centric posi-quiet pads or Bosch quiet cast. Won’t ever go back to factory.

Centric Premium is my preferred brand, I have used them for years and they don’t warp.

If you're looking for a solid set at a budget price, I've always had solid results from Centric and Power Stop brands on Rockauto. They're not high end by any means but they're cheaper than going OEM and they've always lasted at least 40,000+ miles. Also, if you go to Rockauto, do not be tempted by their economy category. The offerings in that section are very inexpensive but you absolutely get what you pay for. I went that route once out curiosity and the pads and rotors from the economy section were awful. Squealed and squeaked from day one and wore down insanely fast. Tried sound dampening sprays and re greasing. Never took the noise away.

For my (owned 3 years, purchased used) 2014 Honda Crosstour I've always had to grind down the edges of the pad mounting plate tabs on Bosch brakes a couple of mm to get it to fit into the calipers. I have just received a new set, and while I still had to grind down the edges to get them to slide into the calipers, the top and bottom edges were MUCH shorter than the previous pads. So much so that when braking after reversing direction, the pads will shift in the calipers with a noticeable 'click' as the brake pads engage the disks to slow the car and are thus moved to the other end of the caliper. The overlap between the brake pad plate and the 'C' in the caliper where the tab meets the caliper is only 2mm or so. Definitely less than I am comfortable with.