Akebono Euro Ceramic Brake Pads

[Mtnman]

I installed these pads about 6 days ago. I am still in the break in-bedding period, but i am very happy. These pads have the initial bit of OEM pads (at least if not more). They do not squeal (used anti squeal paste on contact points with calipers) and they brake well. I do not track my car. If anything changes when the bedding process completes, I will update this post. So far, recommended buy. (i can not imagine they will get worse with more break in, only better...btw)

[Mtnman]

Update. These pads are great! I had an idiot elderly man in a buick pull out in front of me im the pouring rain today, and had no problems stopping....and laying on the horn. Dont think he ever knew i was there.....even after 15seconds of horn. Initial bite is oem minimum...but i think it is actually a little better. No squealing, and no fade thus far. Also, my rims look just as clean as when i bought them. Overall i give them a 100% reccomended buy. I thought i was going to suffer some initiail bite loss, but gain no dust. I can say without question that there is no loss in initial bite, nor in braking power. Definitely worth the money. I paid 70 bucks at ecs tuning for these (front).

[Mtnman]

How did you test fade?
Very unscientifically, I must say. First, I do not track my car. So, really, if i experience fade something is really wrong. My buddy and I tested the new braking system by going from 45/50mph to 0 at about 85-90% braking about 12 times in a row (and I really mean back to back to back) after we installed the brakes. We experienced no issues. That was the extent of my testing. And really, there are so many things that factor into fade besides pads (rotors, fluid, etc) that i should probably take it out of my "findings".

[slowCoupe]

So I got a set of these for the rears on my '05 330Ci ZHP... they wouldn't fit over the rotor. Definitely had the piston all the way back, and the caliper as wide open as it could go. Was still about 2-3mm too narrow.

Any ideas? I think I'm going to hit a local parts store, have them pull whatever pads they have in stock and compare. Make sure I got the right thing.

[danewilson77]

Inner pad was seated flush? Where did you get them from?

[slowCoupe]

Inner pad was seated flush? Where did you get them from?

Ordered from Amazon, they are the EUR683 Euro Ultra-Premium Ceramics. Inner pad was all the way back against the inside part of the caliper body, it physically wouldn't go back any further. I fiddled with it for about 20 minutes and figured if I hadn't gotten it in that much time, something wasn't right.

It's quite possible they sent the wrong type of 683. Amazon has a very good return/replace policy, thankfully. But I'll check it against what the local shop has.

[danewilson77]

ok.....gotcha.

[Mtnman]

I only have fronts, so I cant help you here. Sorry. Good luck though. Maybe go to an online store like ecstuning, and check what part number they reccomend from akebono for the rears just to verify accuracy?

[patdown]

I have these pads also. I agree with OP. Did some testing on the Tail of the Dragon. No fade. Didn't hit the trees. And had a hell of a good time!

[kayger12]

Didn't hit the trees.

Always a good thing, lol!

[slowCoupe]

Well we can disregard my issue.. decided to give it another try this morning and they slipped right on properly. Amazing what a good night's sleep will do.

[M3TA5IN]

Hm I want ceramic, break dust is driving me nuts

[dregan330i]

I am glad I found this! I had a Corolla with ceramic pads on, 215K miles I finally replaced them (still had some life left too!). First thing I thought of when I had to clean my rims every few days was "I wonder how ceramics would do on my 330i". Good info!

[PKR]

Ditto the OP. I put these on the front about 8 months ago. Love 'em. Love having clean(er) wheels too!

[HokieZHP]

Are the ceramic pads harsher on the rotors? I am thinking of going ceramic on my fronts but I have BMW perf. rotors and I want them to last as long as possible!

[quikryptonite]

Thanks for the recommendation. I love the brake pads on my car, except for the dust. Sounds like you get the best of both world with these. I have them on my to do list at 75,000 miles.

[mikeyb74]

I'm running Aebono Ceramics with cross drilled and slotted rotors on my 03 Altima 3.5 SE. I've had really good luck with them. On my e46 I'm running Cool Carbons.

[Mtnman]

Are the ceramic pads harsher on the rotors? I am thinking of going ceramic on my fronts but I have BMW perf. rotors and I want them to last as long as possible!

I have textar ceraminc (oem maker) on the rears, and they are killing my rear rotors. I have Akebono on the front with perf rotors on the front, and all is well.

[billschusteriv]

Good data.

[echo46]

I put these on my e36 and love them. When the ZHP needs new pads I will definitely replace with these. I agree that they have as good or better bite than OEM.

[SC4ME]

I just replaced both front and back rotors and brakes. Put on the M-performance floating and drilled rotors with the Akebono Euro-Ceramic pads.
I bedded the brakes with 5 or so successive stops (they were smoking a bit on the last one, thought that would do it!!). When looking at the rotors, they had a faint blueing on the edges, so everything got nice and hot.

Oh, no fade during that process. I think that the initial bite is a bit less, but maybe not (similar to the butt dyno, you tend to feel what you expect to feel!). There is very little brake dust, love that part (and a big reason for choosing those pads).

As for wear of the rotors, after a couple hundred miles, you can still see the grinding swirls on the rotors in places, they are not worn smooth yet (semi metalics have always smoothed out new rotors by now from my experience). So I expect the rotors to last a nice long time.

All in all, I am very happy with this setup, and the looks are awesome. (Cant post a pic now, the car is about 8,000 miles away. Im on a business trip).

[lkstaack]

I've had Akebono ceramics front and rear for about 3 years now. I love not having to clean my wheels every other day. I haven't detected increased rotor wear and I'm getting good life out of the pads. However, I don't like them. The initial bite is worse than stock in my opinion, and they require more pressure on the petal for the same effect. Performance doesn't improve when they warm up.

[carsontl]

i bought akebono front and rear high perf ceramics and put them on the car not too long ago as well, had them on my infiniti g35 and loved them. Love them on this car too. Still in break in period but they already have a good solid bite to them with no dust

[zhp43867]

I'd like to add some of my own experience if I may.

I put them on my sisters 325ci:
- One set of pads lasted about 50,000 miles with some pad material left. At this point, the rotors were shot, which may have been accelerated by the pads but I do not know.
- She does not drive gently, but not overly aggressively either.

I have had them on my ZHP for around 15k miles:
- They have less bite than the stock pads, and less overall braking "force".
- From what I have observed, driving my car with stock pads and the Akebonos, then also comparing my car directly to a 330 with stock brakes, I believe braking distances are lengthened approximately 15%. The 330 has very good brakes to begin with, so I do not believe they are dangerous, but the brakes will no longer throw your head through the windshield.
- The ABS threshold is marginally lower
- I have run snow tires, Pirelli All Seasons, Michelin PS2s, and now Bridgestone RE760s (all with good tread) in this period.
- I have had them fade, and indeed, begin to "melt"; meaning the pedal went mushy on me on two occasions while driving very spiritedly on my favorite empty backroads during the weekend. This from my experience is prone to happen if you slow down from somewhere between 70-85mph to 30-50mph one or more times within a say, 10 minute period.

Would I do it again? No, not for me, I drive too aggressively.

Did I put another set on my sisters car when the time came? Yes I did.

Feel free to ask me any questions if you have any, and please do not flame me about my driving habits.

[johnrando]

I'd like to add some of my own experience if I may.

I put them on my sisters 325ci:
- One set of pads lasted about 50,000 miles with some pad material left. At this point, the rotors were shot, which may have been accelerated by the pads but I do not know.
- She does not drive gently, but not overly aggressively either.

I have had them on my ZHP for around 15k miles:
- They have less bite than the stock pads, and less overall braking "force".
- From what I have observed, driving my car with stock pads and the Akebonos, then also comparing my car directly to a 330 with stock brakes, I believe braking distances are lengthened approximately 15%. The 330 has very good brakes to begin with, so I do not believe they are dangerous, but the brakes will no longer throw your head through the windshield.
- The ABS threshold is marginally lower
- I have run snow tires, Pirelli All Seasons, Michelin PS2s, and now Bridgestone RE760s (all with good tread) in this period.
- I have had them fade, and indeed, begin to "melt"; meaning the pedal went mushy on me on two occasions while driving very spiritedly on my favorite empty backroads during the weekend. This from my experience is prone to happen if you slow down from somewhere between 70-85mph to 30-50mph one or more times within a say, 10 minute period.

Would I do it again? No, not for me, I drive too aggressively.

Did I put another set on my sisters car when the time came? Yes I did.

Feel free to ask me any questions if you have any, and please do not flame me about my driving habits.

Thanks for the additional info. BTW, no flaming from the familia.

[GreatFrog]

Was replacing brake pads with Akebonos (EURO683 rear & EURO964 front). The rears fit like OE. However, the contact patch for the front is noticeably smaller than OE. When installed on, the outer edge of the pad aligns perfectly with the outer edge of the rotor, but the inner edge rests on the rotor friction surface, rather than sitting on the inner edge as the OE does. I am afraid this will reduce the braking force, as I noticed a reduced braking force with the same pads on the E46 M3. Could be they were not broken in properly yet.

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Anyhow, just a heads-up for people looking to switch to these pads. I am not a spirited driver most of the time, so slightly reduced braking force is not too big a deal for me, although I pretty much got used to the brake feel of OE and love it. The only gripe I have with them is that the reduced patch will leave a narrow band of exposed metal on the friction surface of the rotor, which would definitely rust and become an eye sour. The only cure to this problem would be to run new rotors with zinc coating, such as Zimmerman (OE?) and Meyle.

[az3579]

I don't have that problem with my set. I just put a set of these on brand new rotors on the E39 touring and they fit exactly where they should, just a little bit inwards from the extreme outer edge. I've never had pads go all the way out to the very edge before...

[cornercarver]

Was replacing brake pads with Akebonos (EURO683 rear & EURO964 front). The rears fit like OE. However, the contact patch for the front is noticeably smaller than OE. When installed on, the outer edge of the pad aligns perfectly with the outer edge of the rotor, but the inner edge rests on the rotor friction surface, rather than sitting on the inner edge as the OE does. I am afraid this will reduce the braking force, as I noticed a reduced braking force with the same pads on the E46 M3. Could be they were not broken in properly yet.
I did a full set of Akebono Ceramics with new rotors a few months ago and mine had roughly the same swept area - about 10% of the rotor face was unswept. Here's my post w/a photo: http://www.zhpmafia.com/forums/showthread.php?21278-ZHP-3-A-Corner-Carver&p=569249#post569249

Brake torque is noticeably less, but that was expected with a ceramic compound. Akebono says the bedding period is 400-500 miles. They felt like shit for the first couple hundred miles, but once bedded they felt considerably better.

[Sockethead]

You're not going to have the same initial bite as you do with the OEM pads, it takes a while to get used to that...

[GreatFrog]

Yes, I was talked about the 10% difference in swept area.


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[az3579]

Yes, I was talked about the 10% difference in swept area.


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Ah - I misunderstood.
Thankfully that 10% doesn't really matter in every day driving, so I wouldn't worry about it. My touring does indeed have the unswept area on the inside, but so does my ZHP with a full 4-piston Wilwood / M3 rotors setup, so I'm used to it.

[GreatFrog]

Ah - I misunderstood.
Thankfully that 10% doesn't really matter in every day driving, so I wouldn't worry about it. My touring does indeed have the unswept area on the inside, but so does my ZHP with a full 4-piston Wilwood / M3 rotors setup, so I'm used to it.

Yes, it is completely aesthetic. I think only OCD person like me will complain about it, LOL.



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