Artwork

I have had the oppurtunity to try a few sets of brake pads on my car, so I thought it would be a good idea to provide my own personal review of these pads.

I have rotora Slotted and Drilled rotors front and rear.

I rated these pads based on inital bite, fade, dust, and pad noise.

Stock pads: Inital bite 7, fade 6, dust 8, pad noise 8.
Axxis Ultimates: Inital bite 9, fade 9, dust 5, pad noise 6.
EBC Greenstuff: Inital bite 8, fade 8, dust 9, pad noise 8.

I rated the pads based on a 1-10 system where 10 would be the best.
Overall i rated the EBC Greenstuff the best, but I found the Axxis Ultimates to have better braking performance. The stock pads are not bad when you get rid of stock rotors, they seem to perform pretty well.

I wanted to let you know that I am not a brake expert by any means, but I wanted to provide my own personal review of these pads.

There are many other pads that I have not tried, but It would great if you gave your own review of the pads that you have tried.

sgmotoring

Stock usually have the least pad noise.

russianDude

I've ordered Akebano Ceramic pad set from tirerack.com.
I've heard good things about them, they should be better than stock, and only costs $52.
I also got Brembo blank rotoros for $57 each (vs. $100+ for OEM rotor).
Brembo blank + Akebano pads should be better and cheaper combination that stock.

Artwork

Good point...Yeah I should have set the pad noise as 7 for the EBC...

icy CL

i got the same combination and i don't like them. i think the pads are not good. braking power is very poor and i have to step on the brake pedal really hard to get sufficient stopping speed. i am going to try and replace the pads with ebc or stock and see how that goes. if i'm still not happy, i may end up getting the drilled or slotted with ebc pads.

russianDude

It can't be worse than a stock setup? I searched through Acura TL & CL forums, and nobody seems to complain about Brembo & Akebano pads except you.
I am sure drilled/slotted rotors will give you more stoping power, but it will also cost you more.
I think drilled/slotted rotors only good for looks and for performance driving.
For daily normal driving its a waste considering how they cost.

icy CL

the rotors are good. they have not warped yet. and i am not the only one that has complained so far about the combination. search some more. i wanted to try it out because cost was a factor for me at the time when i purchased the set. i think as far as breaking power, it is comparable to the stock set up...maybe a little inferior. as far as durabilty and not warping, i think the brembo blanks are better. not trying to belittle your purchase. i paid exactly the same price you paid for yours and purchased them at the same online shop. just giving my opinion on the combination.

russianDude

Thanks for the information. So it looks like over-all its cheaper and better than stock setup. I was OK with stock stopping power, but I was getting very pissed off that OEM rotors warp every like 10K miles, and those things are not cheap! Besides, who wants to be in the shop every 10K miles to resurface rotors and etc..
Do OEM rotorss warp because of Honda pads, or combination of both?

russianDude

just had it installed for $55 by my friend mechanic:
total bill $235 for Akebano & Brembo blanks front combination.
So far I feel the following:
Brake pedal feels soft, which I like.
Even though its smooth, the car stops quickly and evenly.

I guess the real test will be after 1-2 years.

I realize that even Brembo will warp, but I can't imagine it being any worse than an OEM setup (which by the way will cost more $$$$).
Akebano pads should be easy on rotors, so perhaps they will last longer... will see.

1killercls

I got mine for about $15.00 each more than OEM. Seems worth it to me....
Brembo Slotted and drilled ownz OEM for that price.

joedokes28

axxis ultimates are waaaay worse than stock pads on dust. My wheels are dusty after 1 day of driving.

russianDude

you need to go with ceramic pads if you don't like dust.

russianDude

I got Brembo blanks for $57 each, OEM is like $100. Brembo drilled is $115.
Yours are the same as mine, except somone drilled & slotted them. To me its not worth it because
1. More $$$ than Brembo Blanks
2. Shorter rotor & pads life.
3. More possibility to crack (I saw a picture in one of the threads....)

The advantage:
- Better stopping power
- Looks better.

Well, I figured I am OK with normal stopping power, and don't care about looks.
I was just sick of OEM stuff getting warped every 10K miles :angryfire

typeR

love my NAPA ceramixs with rotora F/R

Tosh

After the stock discs on my 90 Legend Coupe warped, I bought Brembo drilled rotors and Axxis/PBR Deluxe pads. Good combo: never had any issues with performance (brakes made an odd howling for a few seconds when first applied in the wet at low speeds), and looked cool through the spokes (at least after I painted the centers to avoid the rust). And I have used those pads since they were called Repco and like them a lot for being low dust and easy on rotors (just can't beat good old asbestos).
So now that I have a 2001 CL-S and Honda destroys its reputation further by putting limp disc rotors on their cars, I need new non-OEM rotors. And for $57, the Brembos from TireRack seem a no-brainer. But I'll look for Axxis Deluxe 2, which I think are available, otherwise I'll get Deluxe again, not Ultimate.
About rotors warping: If you get enough heat into any rotor, it can warp. But it is a fairly straight forward process for a car maker and its supplier to get it right for a particular model with a specified tire (grip). A given tire/wheel/brake combo braking at maximum effort (limited only by the maximum amount of tire grip) under some known amount of air cooling becomes an interesting exercise for the third-year engineering student, as the system quickly reaches a steady state condition, heat-transfer wise. So basically the manufacturer/supplier runs the tests and writes down the specifications for the brake system parts. The metallurgy of casting and heat treating iron is an incredibly complicated and precise science, developed over a thousand years, but a proper, well-researched science nevertheless: there are no surprises in manufacturing a passenger car rotor! During manufacturing, if at some point along the way of casting and heat treating the rotor you decide to cut corners, then the rotor will warp. (It could possibly warp or crack if you threw a bucket of water on it right after a long stop, but the manufacturer should have figured out a safety margin to avoid this extreme case.) Even racing the car should not warp the rotor: the system's failure mode is brake fade, or a loss of friction due to high temperature. An increase in tire grip will increase the temperature, but there isn't room under the fenders to get out of hand here. (And this opens up the whole new area of trading performance for race car brakes/tires. I found a really good link about this once.)
Bottom line: A rotor should never, ever warp! Well, my POS CL-S rotors have warped twice under the easiest of conditions. The originals warped at 30k and were resurfaced under SB 01-017. They of course warped again (the warp becomes built-in and stays in the rotor, even though you might machine them flat), and I talked them into replacing them under warranty for brand new OEM rotors (and pads, which I paid for) at 48k. Now at 67k, these are warped real good. And I baby the car and understand how to nurse brakes. I wrote and complained to NHTSA: go to their website, and file a complaint!
http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/ivoq/

Tosh

russianDude

good to know that brembo is better and cheaper thank OEM.
I figured Akebano is not the best, but pretty decent pads...

Artwork

Thanks for all of the responces...is anyone running the Comptech pads?

icy CL

hey russian..that's the feeling i could not describe but you said it right. the pads feels soft but apply the right amount of pressure on the pedal and the pads do bite. in stop and go traffic though, i'd feel more comfortable if i step on the pedal and it stops immediately. i guess it's a matter of getting used to and keeping a safe distance from the car infront. the brembos are definitely better than the stocks.