Akebono Euro Ultra-Premium
#1
Akebono Euro Ultra-Premium
Just wanted to share my experience with the Akebono EURO Ultra-Premium pads. Last year I replaced my front rotars and pads with ATE parts. I already replaced the rear with ATE parts the year before. While the rear pads are ceramic, ATE doesn't make ceramic for the front on the X-Type.
Since day one, I've noticed an annoying squeal coming from the front. I've tried to remedy the problem, but to no avail. Just as well, due to their semi-metallic nature, the pads put out A LOT, I mean A LOT, of brake dust. Probably more so than the original factory pads. Needless to say this annoyed the bloody hell out of me.
I've been sitting on a $50 off coupon from Advance Auto for a while, so I decided to use it before it expires. But since I don't have anything to spend it on, I figured might as well try new pads even though my existing pads are near-new. And so this led me to the Akebonos. They ended up costing me $22 after price matching Amazon and then taking off the $50.
I've had them on for 2 weeks and I must say they're great. No squealing whatsoever since day one. Brake dust is very, very minimal now, probably say 95% reduction from the ATE semi-metallics. I would say even less dust on the fronts than the rears now (which have the ATE ceramic pads).
As for stopping power, I definitely noticed a slight reduction from the ATEs I had, both cold and after warming up. The ATEs performed much better than the factory pads, so I'd say the Akebonos are on par with the factory pads, so not a big deal.
All in all, love the pads, and love my clean wheels and squeal-free drive.
Advance Auto has them for $120. Amazon $72. Rockauto $80 something.
Since day one, I've noticed an annoying squeal coming from the front. I've tried to remedy the problem, but to no avail. Just as well, due to their semi-metallic nature, the pads put out A LOT, I mean A LOT, of brake dust. Probably more so than the original factory pads. Needless to say this annoyed the bloody hell out of me.
I've been sitting on a $50 off coupon from Advance Auto for a while, so I decided to use it before it expires. But since I don't have anything to spend it on, I figured might as well try new pads even though my existing pads are near-new. And so this led me to the Akebonos. They ended up costing me $22 after price matching Amazon and then taking off the $50.
I've had them on for 2 weeks and I must say they're great. No squealing whatsoever since day one. Brake dust is very, very minimal now, probably say 95% reduction from the ATE semi-metallics. I would say even less dust on the fronts than the rears now (which have the ATE ceramic pads).
As for stopping power, I definitely noticed a slight reduction from the ATEs I had, both cold and after warming up. The ATEs performed much better than the factory pads, so I'd say the Akebonos are on par with the factory pads, so not a big deal.
All in all, love the pads, and love my clean wheels and squeal-free drive.
Advance Auto has them for $120. Amazon $72. Rockauto $80 something.
Last edited by spielnicht; 08-29-2012 at 09:12 AM.
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MRomanik (08-29-2012)
#2
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speilnicht, the next time you are looking at pads, look on e-bay. You can get 2 sets of ceramic pads and 2 sets of rotors (cross drilled and slotted) for around $200 delivered to the house. A lot of members have gotten these and the stopping ability to me is far superior than the factory setup. I'm afraid of pushing the front bumper into the ground during a hard braking.
If you ever need any assistance with your car, I'm south of you by about an hour. I'm always working on peoples jags. Had a member over last weekend as we did his brake system. We would have gotten all 4 wheels done if it wasn't for 2 lugnuts getting rounded off inside the caps on us on the last wheel. C'est la vie. I do a lot of different things to cars.
If you ever need any assistance with your car, I'm south of you by about an hour. I'm always working on peoples jags. Had a member over last weekend as we did his brake system. We would have gotten all 4 wheels done if it wasn't for 2 lugnuts getting rounded off inside the caps on us on the last wheel. C'est la vie. I do a lot of different things to cars.
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Lcgi (08-30-2012)
#3
Thanks Thermo, I'll definitely keep that in mind the next round of brake replacement.
Dang it, I wish I had known you were that close to me. I would have definitely asked you to help me out with the front suspension work that I got stuck on myself (compensated of course). I ended up paying a shop to do it, but I'm not happy with their work at all. You'll definitely be hearing from me in the future.
Dang it, I wish I had known you were that close to me. I would have definitely asked you to help me out with the front suspension work that I got stuck on myself (compensated of course). I ended up paying a shop to do it, but I'm not happy with their work at all. You'll definitely be hearing from me in the future.
#4
I've had the Akebono Euros front and rear for two years now. Still no noise, the least dust I have ever seen, great wear and sufficient stopping power. The only thing I have noticed is that they are about a 1/4 inch smaller than the factory pads so there is always an annoying rust ring on the rotors of 1/8" or so on the outer and inner edge.
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