Help Pick Brake Pads (Akebono): List Inside
 

2010 Sport/Touring with SS lines, ATE Type 200 fluid and brake booster brace. All else OE until needed due to wear etc.

Priorities are strong initial bite, zero noise, and low dust. Use is spirited street / mountain driving with an auto X mixed in. Don't care about rotor wear, it's not my primary form of transportation.

The following choices are out due to experience or the research I've done here based on the above priorities: EBC, Hawk, Carbotech, Ferodo and OE.

My choices:

Endle$$: NS97, SSM or SSY in order from most to least aggressive. No forum feedback on any of these only the MX's which dust too much. Info. Here. Forged Performance, LLC ::...

UPDATE 9/6. Read some reviews of NS97 about cold squeal, so they're out. Also read a handful of good reviews regarding no noise nor dust with the SSM & SSY so they're still in the running.

Project Mu: B-force only as the NS' have smaller coefficient of friction range. Good reviews on the B-force's here on the forum. Info. Here. Project Mu Co., Ltd. - PRODUCTS

Stoptech: Sport 309 (Same as old Street Performance and same pad supplied with their big brake kits). UPDATE 9/6 These are out as reviews indicate high dust.

Streets 308. UPDATE 9/6 Research indicates VERY low to "no" dust, high initial bite, low resistance to fading. Both choices are the most economical; however, I'm not afraid to pay to play. But if nearly the same performance can be had at 1/3 the price of the above choices, that's a win in my book! Very little feedback here on the forum about Them. Info here. StopTech Brake Pads

Powerstop: Trackday, haven't been able to find much on these other than hard initial bite. UPDATE 9/6, Out as they squeal cold. Info. At Power Stop | Extreme Performance Brake Systems

As of 9/6 it looks like Stoptech Street 308's lead the pack due to reviews and price, followed by Project Mu B-force, then Endless SSM & SSY.

Thanks for any insight you can lend! :tiphat:

It is up to you it appears. The Low dust part is the killer. Guess you forgot that is what soap/water is for. I would rather be able to stop with no issues than anything else.

It is up to me but I'm looking for feedback from users of the above. I'd also appreciate only constructive responses as we all know what soap and water are for. Some of us don't have the time, nor particularly want to be constantly cleaning wheels.

None of the brake pad options you have listed will meet your low dust requirement :twocents:

As far as I can tell, the OEM pads dust the least. I picked up some Centric Posi-quiets but they seem to dust just as much as the street Hawk and Stoptech pads. My next pads will be Carbotechs, but the Z may no longer be my daily by that time.

How low of a dusting level are you willing to accept? As you may already know, none of these can compare to the OEM pads...

Curious...you've stated this is for recreational use only, so you wouldn't be "constantly cleaning wheels" right?

Anyway, best of luck :driving:

I like my red EBC there are different colors for different styles of driving. :tup:

I got the hawk 5.0 street performance pads and I like them. check Z1 that's where I got em

Thanks for all the above comments. I've done EBC's as well as Hawks and hated them, definitely off the list.

From what I'm researching off the forums now, Stoptech Streets are extremely low dust. Endle$$ advertises all I listed as very low dust as well. We'll see, I'm going to keep at it awhile, then pull the trigger. I'll keep the thread updated with impressions etc.

There is no threshold for what constitutes low dust. Any manufacturer can slap on a low dust marketing statement to their brake pad advertising. It's very subjective.

I was just saying that the OEM pads are the only ones that don't turn my wheels brown after 2-3 weeks of daily driving.

I agree it's subjective that's why I'm gathering first hand experiences to make my decision. I've since updated post #1 after further reading which demonstrated the Endless SSM & SSY are little to no dust. :tup:

I absolutely love my Endless ME20's, but they probably won't meet your requirements. I would suggest the SS-M's, as they are focused on low dust and noise levels. Sure, their sticker shock is somewhat high. But if you call Bobby at Forged, they can work that out for you. Also, you can talk with John at Corner3 Motorsports for Endless products as well.

I'm running Carbotech AX6 pads and they are great. They bite hard and progressively bite harder. The downside is that they generate a decent amount of brake dust. The upside is that they don't make a lot of noise.

https://www.z1motorsports.com/brakes...nt-p-5352.html

Carbotech AX6

The AX6™ is specifically engineered for Autocross applications. A high torque brake compound delivering reliable and consistent performance over a very wide operating temperature range of 50°F to 1000°F + (10°C to 537°C+). The advanced compound matrix provides an excellent initial bite, high coefficient of friction at lower temperatures along with very progressive brake modulation and release characteristics. Many drivers use the AX6™ for street driving as well, even though Carbotech™ doesn't recommend street driving with AX6™ due to possible elevated levels of dust and noise. AX6™ is NOT recommended as a race compound in most applications.

I have a friend who has the AX6 pads on his car, and they make more noise than the XP10/8 setup I had on the Z lol.

I'm running the StopTech 'Street Performance pads w/ StopTech 2-pc. Aero Rotors...no dust issues at all and they work great.

Weird. Mine are not loud.

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I don't have dust issues with stoptech pads.

Then again, you learn not to complain about dust after you run XP12/10

Thank you kindly for the valuable info!

Excellent, thanks for the 1st hand experience. You're the first I've found here on the forum to give Stoptech experiences! Is the part number for your pads 308 or 309? From what I've read what you have are now called "Sport" and are the 309 material. They're what Stoptech includes with their big brake kits. The "Street" pads are now 308 material.

10-4 on that after running HP+'s on my last platform. Which Stoptechs are you running?

StopTech (309) vs. Powerstop (Z26)
 

I am in a similar situation. I am switching to Z1’s 2-piece rotors and brake lines to firm up the pedal as well as changing fluid. I am looking for more bite but don’t want the noise for street use and low-dust is desired. I am looking at the StopTechs Sport (309) as they seem to fit what I am looking for. This thread has been informational and my personal research has me down to 2 different pads. The StopTechs and the PowerStop Extreme (Z26). They seem to be very similar pads. The Akebonos are not bad. I just want more for the street.

Street Performance.

Gotcha, FYI Stoptech refers to them as Sport now and they're the 309 compound. Streets are now 308 compound.

From what I've read here and researched on my own you'll want the Stoptech Sport over the Z26's if dust is a worry.

I'm good on the OE pad initial bite but the harder I push the brake pedal (after initial grab) the brakes don't apply any more stopping force. I'm glad the thread helped you as well. I figured the options herein needed to be discussed more and is my reason for posting.

I'm running what they now call their 'street performance' pads

I agree, the Stop Techs seem to be the choice. I am planning to spend more time on the track next year so if the Stop Techs don't hold up, I will do the "pad switch" thing and run Carbotech 12/10 on the track. I just did not want the noise of the Carbotechs on the street. I was also looking at EBC red or yellowstuff pads but if the performance of the Stop Tech pads is on par, I will save the money.

EBC pads are junk. I had a set of Yellow's on my old car, and they were destroyed in 9k miles. And they dust a **** ton.


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Well that answers the EBC question.

So you want to have a pad good enough for performance driving but you want it to be clean like the stock pads. Your going to need to think hard and deep and decide which one you want, good brakes or clean brakes. That will be one rich brake company that figures out how to do both. I used performance friction carbon metalic a long time ago. I remember them as being pretty clean, but that was a long time ago. They were a little louder than the XP8 I'm using now. The XP8 have been amazingly quiet for me.

Resurrecting this thread. Has anyone run the Porterfield R4S pads? I've not used them since my RX-7 days years back but they were a very, very solid brake pad. From what I can remember, they took a stop or two to heat up but once up to temp, they offered excellent initial bite (not over the top) and great modulation.

What I personally like about the stock Akebono pads is the initial bite and modulation in mild conditions (under 90 degrees). I find in the Texas summers, once the brakes warm up, the initial bite is gone. The good initial bite returns when the temps cool down. But when hot, the pedal requires more travel for the same braking force. I'm also due for a brake fluid change so who knows.

I'm basically looking for something that maintains the good initial bite in hot temps for street only. Are the Nismo pads any better than the Akebono pads? Otherwise I may try the Porterfields again.

I would recommend Endless MX72's for what you need. They are awesome from cold to hot, and you can take them to a track day and not worry about going past what they can handle.

Appreciated. I've not used them in the past. I'll take a look!

A friend of mine is currently running them on his Z. Having driven it a few times now, they are some of the best pads out there for a daily driven sports car like the Z, and he has somewhere around 50k on them, with a couple track days as well. I am personally running the ME20's from Endless, but they are a couple steps above the MX72's.

For availability, your best bet is to talk with John at Corner3 Motorsports out in California. He goes over to Endless USA quite often.

They sound great but I also looked at the price for the full set and I have to admit, $500 is too rich for my blood on a consumable like brake pads.

When they last twice as long as other brands that are half the price, you see the cost benefit. There has been cost comparisons done by Z guys out west, and Endless always ends up being cheaper in the long run.

In the end, I just couldn't justify $500 on the Endless pads (I couldn't find the cost comparison study) so I'm going with Stoptech 309's (Sport) which I can get, front and rear, for less than 1/3 the cost. I was borderline on the 308's (Street) but wasn't sure they'd offer any additional benefits over the stock Akebono pads honestly. And they come with all new hardware.

The 309's seem to have good initial bite, even when cold and do dust more but I think I can live with that. I've put a protective coating on my wheels as a preemptive measure since they're satin black.

If I were tracking out at Circuit of the Americas on a regular basis, I'd jump on the Endless pads or something even more aggressive. But for street driving, they just seem to be overkill.

Edit: I scratched the Stoptech pads based on some conversations I had and ended up with the Nismo/Ferodo pads which I've since installed with the Z1 two-piece rotors. I know they'll dust but it seems to be exactly what I'm looking for and going by my initial impressions, I hit it on the nose.

Im super late to the party but for anyone who read the thread and cant decide what to get/were to go im going to chime my 2 cents in and you can pick what pad works best for you, look at the material of the pad istead of the brand/what the company is feeding you cuz its usually bs
Street application: 2 options i would consider
1- semi-metallics -these spot better/harder then ceramics IF the pad you buy is reputable, semi-metallics always bite harder and stop harder then ceramics of the same price, sometimes cheaper semi pads can stop better then ceramic pads that cost $50+ more, the issue is INSANE break dust, i had white wheels, drove 20 minutes with semi's and had black wheels lol, but their street kings.
2- ceramic/carbon ceramic- ceramics are usually quiet, generallly last longer and have lower break dust, they do not stop as hard as semi-metalics but if you want a pad that u dont want to change every so often/are lazy, pic ceramic, carbon ceramics are tight because they have the same property's of a ceramic pad, BUT the carbon ceramics bite is better when its in its operating temp, aka, doesnt like the cold, will hear squeeking usually, lower dust then semi, but higher then ceramic, also carbon ceramics are usually harder on your rotor
Now you decide lol, ebc has each material im pretty sure, so does stop tech and Hawk, Project Mu B-force will be my next pad, because im a spirited street driver (:

StopTech Streets on all 4 corners, MC Brace, SS Lines and Castrol SRF Fluid:

Definitely better than the stock pads (sports package). Dust is about the same. No squealing. Works great when cold, gets better with a bit of temperature. Used to fade the OE pads and ATE fluid during highway off ramp stops from only 80 mph. Very rotor friendly. Would probably buy them again.

Are OEM pads the Akebonos pads like what you can get at Pepboys? Has anyone experienced those pads or is it best to just get brake pads at the dealer?

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