Always change pads AND discs?

[MIW615]

Back on subject I agree with the 2 sets of pads to one set of discs ratio, but this does depend on driving technique and the type of car concerned. If you are lucky the discs can generally be ground (not skimmed) once, maybe twice depending on the manufacturer's minimum thickness specification.

Usually I have found that the majority of the time it's just the outer lip of the disc that needs removing and no major grinding on the face. This can be established by checking the disc "run-out" with a dial guage and as long as the disc is within the specification then there is no real need to remove valuable metal from the disc - this way you may extend the life of the brake disc.

It also depends on the quality of the brake disc's manufacturer as they can vary drastically - my choice would be Brembo

 

[Rory]

Sorry to hear that, but manu are the same these days. Just thinking back to charging you to take the wheels off, that was the worst that I have heard of, F1 do it all 4 in 6 seconds

Yes, but they have about 40 people working on it at once (although that's still only 4 man minutes!).