Brake pads Bosch or OEM KIA

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.

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

I did Bosch quiet cast pads and rotors on the front on my 12 a couple months back. I’m happy with them.

I have a 2015 Kia Soul I bought new. In over 9 years, not a single thing has gone wrong with it - no repairs of any kind. Just oil, brakes and tires.

The rotors/brake pads are notoriously bad. The oem pads leave uneven deposits on the rotor. Causes shaking while braking. Ive replaced rotors twice. Got better pads and drilled and slotted rotors. No issues since.

I ordered Bosch brake pads after installing them. I noticed a knocking sound and if you look in the pic there’s a gap at the top and bottom of the ears on the pad. I threw my old pads away so I couldn’t even compare them. Only when driving really slow then braking or in reverse. Didn’t do it every time but the noise is driving me crazy. I also installed new rotors front and back and it’s only the front driver side making that noise.