EPDM vs Neoprene belts

[BowieBoy]

I had been using cheap neoprene serpentine belts for years and generally got about 25 to 30,000 miles between replacement. I noticed that OEM belts on my GM vehicles lasted much longer than that and never cracked, so I asked a friend why they lasted so long and he said that OEM belts were made with EPDM rubber, not neoprene. So I started researching and found that premium belts like Goodyear Gator and Gates were EPDM and voila, they lasted much longer like OEM belts.
If this has been posted before, sorry

http://www.gates.com/products/automotive...e-vs-epdm-belts

 

[AKhan87]

yes, those EPDM belts last a very long time but then again, I can only speak of serpentine belts from our Toyotas

but the two 96 & 00 civic I owned, never had their timing belts changed, and I put 320kish on the 00 civic and 20k on the 96 civic, with it already having 178k upon purchase.

 

[DoubleWasp]

Gates and Gatorbacks are all that I use, and to good effect.