12th Dec 2012, 23:15

One thing I have learned, that all drivers should abide by when stopping, either from high speed or especially going down hill, is to pump the brakes instead of just keeping your foot down the entire time. By pumping the brakes, you allow more cooling and less friction, and this prevents warp. When you constantly hold down the brake pedal, especially down a long steep hill, the friction causes heat to build up, and this in turn causes the rotors to warp when cooled down. This will cause the brake pedal to pulsate or the back wheels to feel not balanced when braking.

Also, just as important is to leave lots of room between you and other drivers to prevent hard braking. Doing these two things alone will lengthen the life of your brakws and rotors. Just thought I would say this, as warped rotors were mentioned in the review above, and can most of the time be entirely prevented.

Other than that, I thought it was a great review.

Tommaso

1st Nov 2013, 19:23

I just don't get the three comments above.

Brake discs tend to warp under hard braking? What are you guys talking about? Even the cheapest Chinese disks don't warp under heavy braking.

Are you guys telling us brake disks are not manufactured for hard braking? Come on, that sounds like a dealer technician trick to sell brake jobs, you know what I'm talking about. A brake disk DOESN'T warp, even in an emergency braking.

Reasons a brake disk might create vibration at braking are rusted/rust pits on the disk, cheap replacement brake pads that stick on the disks when the car sits for a long time, uneven wheel lugs tightening, and stuck caliper sliding pins.

26th Feb 2014, 13:50

I own a 2011 Nissan Rogue that was bought brand new. This is my third Nissan. First was a Titan, and next was a Maxima. Seems funny I never had a problem with the brakes on either one of those.

The Rogue I now own has had the brakes and rotors fixed three times! Now out of warranty, they want to do nothing about it. I was told the three times they fixed it, that they had replaced the rotors and brakes. Now I find out they only turned the rotors and put new brake pads on it. The brake systems on these cars are defective, and it's not the fault of myself. I am now in contact with consumer affairs about this issue, and hoping to get some kind of help with this issue.

I also was told the other day at Nissan shop, that they put a different type of rotor on the 2015 Rogues. If there is not an issue, then why did they change the rotors?

The car is awesome, except for the rotor / brake problem!

27th Feb 2014, 18:01

I respectfully disagree.

The warped rotors I have seen over the years have usually been caused by over torquing/mismatched torque of the lug nuts.

I have "fixed" them sometimes by correct torque and some hard and repeated braking to heat and straighten them. This only works sometimes.

15th Dec 2014, 18:24

To add my two cents' worth, whenever my wife drives my Matrix, also with 4 wheel discs, the brakes feel spongy and soft for a day or so. She has a habit of 'stabbing' the brakes when she hits the pedal, instead of gently pressing on them.

I've argued this with her over and over, but she refuses to change her driving style. Her car has warped rotors from day one, but mine are still smooth and true three years later.

Could it be a coincidence? Maybe, but as a gearhead I think about the forces I'm applying to the mechanical components, where she does not.

My money's on driving style too. Sorry. It may well be that Nissan changed the rotors to help eliminate this issue, but then, they put air bags in every car, whether they expect them to crash or not.

4th Jan 2015, 04:15

It is 2015. There is no such thing as hard braking causing rotor warping. That was a garage myth.

It is possible Nissan uses poor brake parts. There are many available brake parts on eBay, at better prices than what main dealers sell.

Rotor warping is caused either by uneven wheel lugs torquing (look for wheel corrosion at the wheel lug, which prevents smooth torquing), or caliper pins missing lubrication.

13th May 2016, 23:41

I had a 2005 CRV and that generation of CRV is also known to need rotors and pads replaced all the time because of warping. Turns out it's not a factory defect, but that the factory and dealers are using the wrong (too much) torque on the wheel nuts and that is causing the warping. Perhaps the next time you have the rotors/brakes replaced, check yourself with a hand torque wrench that the nuts are not too tight (you should be able to find the spec on the net or ask the dealer).

After I checked my warped ones at home with my torque wrench, they were found to be too tight. I then put on new rotors and pads, hand torqued them and never had trouble again.

Hope this might be the simple fix for the Nissan vehicles with this issue as well.

Good luck.