Brake pads Bosch or R1 Concepts

R1 concepts were an upgrade on my 2nd gen and got me through 4 years of abuse because the OEM ones would brake fade terribly. On my Camry they only lasted a year.

I put a set of r1 concepts pads and rotors on my wrx that I daily got them off Amazon for like $250 and came in like 2 days had them on for around 7500 miles and haven't had any issues.

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 have R1 concepts from Amazon, perfect for the car and stopping power.

Just a word of caution, I ordered Bosch pads off of RockAuto and received off brand pads wrapped in shop towels in Bosch boxes. Still put them on and they're alright, but not what I bought. Wasn't worth it to me to send back. Not RockAuto's fault, they have third party suppliers. I'm sure they would have taken care of it had I cared enough

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.