Akebono Brake Pads
 

I just recently changed my brake pads to the akebono set available on tirerack and since there was no review, I figured I'd do a quick one with my limited knowledge on brakes.

I purchased the "Akebono Street Performance" for the rear and the "Akebono Euro Ceramic" for the front. There was a matched front/rear pair "ProACT" but I wanted at least "three red dots" for the stopping power. I'm not sure why they don't offer a full set under the "street performance" or the "euro ceramic" but they have the same ratings for stopping power, dusting, and noise so I assumed they would be an okay match.

I assume that my pads I removed were the OE pads, there was about 80K miles on them and they were pretty much on the last legs. If I had allowed them to wear for another 5-7K miles, I'm definitely sure that they would have worn through the friction material and started to eat the backing.

Installation:
Pretty straight forward, same as any brake pads, nothing special here

Break in:
Initial bite was not that good, but after the break in it seems to be a lot better.

Normal Usage:
Although I can't give you exact numbers, the brakes feel different. They are less sensitive to initial brake application, but they still grab as hard, if not harder, than the OE brakes. When you initially get on the brakes, there is less "stop" but as you push it in a little more it stops just as well. I actually like the feeling now since it gives me more control of the braking at lower speeds/less stopping force. The front brakes wore in perfectly, but the rear brakes aren't wearing the inner portion of the rotors. I think this is because the rear calipers are slightly angled and its not letting the friction material on the pad touch the rotor yet. I'll update this as it progresses. The rear brakes do hold fine though, with the ebrake engaged it seems to hold it better than the old pads did.

They are both ceramic pads, and although I have always heard ceramics aren't good for stopping strength, it seems to be fine for me. I havent autocrossed on them so I cant say how they perform in more extreme conditions but they work really well for DDing.

I'l update about autoX/unusual wear/etc if I see it!

thanks for reading, pm me if you have questions

Ebrake functionality was probably attributed to the pads getting so thin.

What whas done to the rotors? New? Machined/Resurfaced? Nothing?

I think it's important for "sporty" cars to have good inital bite or "responsiveness." Good intial bite, with enough feel to back off as needed. Spend less time off the gas.

If you're getting less initial bite, you may want to check the pad maker's bedding process and do it over again.

IMO AP1 OEM pads are great DD pads.

Nothing was done to the rotors except a brake cleaner and 400 grit polishing. I have done brakes on a bunch of other cars and with the ones I machined, I have never noticed a difference in wear or usage as long as the rotors were not visibly scarred so I'm not a big fan of machining, if it needed it I usually just buy a new set.

I would have gone with the OEM pads, but I wanted to test out a different option. If these pads are good to my rotors and rims, I'll probably pick up another set + a good set of blank rotors to run. This is more of a trial/error testing, I suppose.

please let me know how it goes... i was actually looking to do the same setup but i wasn't sure if I should. i used ceramic brakes before on my 6th gen accord and they were great. Since i'm running a performance car, I just want to make sure i'm not going to have any probles DD and mountain driving.

so how are you liking your brake pads so far?
i'm looking to get this set as well.

I have them, frankly from a performance point of view they're no better than the OEM pads. I will say this though, they dust a lot less, and are a bit kinder to the rotors.

I made a thread not long ago, asking about these brake pads. These were the best brakes you can get at pep boys, since we have a commercial account I got them for a really good deal. I like them very much and they brake well for street. I definitely agree that they hardly leave any dust, my wheels are usually generally more clean than previous pads I had on them.

I recommend them, sure :thumbup: