Let's talk about rotors and brake pads for a minute.
Now I'm going to be reviewing the brake pads and rotors that I chose to go with after I
switched from a different brand. Now for the brake pads I chose the Akebono Pro Acts. These
are their ultra premium ceramics. For the rotors I decided to go with Brake Performance
black zinc coated drilled and slotted rotors. Now, I have been using them on my vehicle
for a while now because I really wanted to test them out. I didn't want to just let first
impressions dictate how I felt about this setup because I had just come from a different
set of pads and rotors that I really didn't like.
If we go over here, you can see what I was using before. Now, these are unused. They
were sent as a warranty replacement. I decided not to go with them. These are Power Stop
drilled and slotted rotors and they came with their Z23 carbon fiber ceramic brake pads.
I'm not going to bother with it. Now, instead of guessing on about the old
rotors and pads and why don't like them, yada-yada, I'm just going to talk about why I chose the
rotors and pads that I have on right now. If you do want to see me guess on about the
old rotors and pads, it's already in another video. Go ahead, just click the card that's
above my finger. Let's talk about why I decided to go with the brands for the particular products
that I did. First off, let's talk about the rotors. They
come from a brand called Brake Performance. They are machined here in the United States.
They've been around for well over 20 years. They have a lifetime warranty against warping
and cracking on their higher tier rotors, which are either drilled and slotted, or they're
dimpled and slotted. They've got thousands of reviews from everyday
customers. From what I have heard when it comes to warranty replacements, it's pretty
painless. When you call them, and I have called them, there's no menu tree, you get connected
directly to a person here in the United States, which is refreshing to say the least, and
they genuinely do care. I like that about them.
I've gotten to talk with them a few times and I don't think I'm going to have a problem
with them but only time is going to tell. That being said, the rotor did come with a
black zinc coating. I'm going to play for you a video of when I was installing the rotors
and the pads. Now, before I put my calipers back on all
the way, I just want to talk about the new pads I'm putting on. These are from Akebono.
These have a friction coefficient rating of FF. It's just put on right there. These are
really nice. They're powder coated or something, all the way around, up until you get to the
actual pad material. Now we've got the new rotor on too, with the black zinc coating.
The black zinc coating will wear off once everything is broken in properly. It's a good
visual indicator. It's been a while since I filmed that little
part of this video. I've had some time to really get to know these rotors and pads.
I can say that it's definitely an improvement over my previous situation because I had come
from a warped rotor. Obviously, any rotor that's new shouldn't be warped, it's going
to fix the vibrational issues you have with a warped rotor.
Now, time will tell how well these last, but once again, lifetime warranty, something that
can't be said about the previous company that I was using. In the event that something should
happen, I'm covered, which is a great amount of reassurance, and so far they seem to be
working really well with the pads. Let's talk about the pads real quick.
I'm not going to take the wheel off to show you the pads but I will show you the box they
came in. These are the Akebono Pro Act ACT866. I'm sure you can discern all that from what
you're seeing right here. They're made in the United States, not made in China. They
are an OEM manufacturer, so there are vehicles out there that come with brake pads from this
company straight out the gate. These are the ultra premium ceramics. Now
the nice thing about having a company like Akebono, which is pretty well known, is the
fact that they disclose certain information. Legally, I'm pretty sure most companies, all
of them have to disclose, not the formula or how they're put together, but the materials
that are used in the brakes. I think that has to do with hazardous material regulations.
I could be wrong on that but I do know that Akebono does provide that information.
Now, let's talk about how they work here because in conjunction with the rotor, it's a much
better situation than what I was in before. Before I had sponginess. These, there is no
sponginess at all. The bite is exact, immediate, and every time I press the pedal, it is completely
predictable how the vehicle is going to act because the setup is very, very consistent.
This vehicle does not have ABS, doesn't have traction control, stability control. If I
put the car in sequential shifting mode, it doesn't even have over rev protection, or
under rev [chuckles] protection for that matter. What I'm getting at is I need predictability
because without it you're kind of up a creek in a vehicle that really does not give two
flying-[Advertiser friendly content] How you as a driver are. Good tires, good rotors,
good brakes all very important because at the end of the day slowing down is more important
than speeding up, because it's not the speed that kills, it's the abrupt stopping that
does. Now, when it comes to bedding in the brakes
I did contact Akebono about that to ask what the proper bed and procedure is because for
every brake pad there is a different formula and it's always a secret how it's comprised.
Every company will tell you the best way to bed in their particular brake pads. Now in
this case, Akebono said with these brakes there is no bed in procedure, you just put
them in and go. Great. The rotors with their black zinc coating--
Well, the coating is supposed to be there, and it is supposed to be worn off by the brake
pad. Instead of the shipping oils and stuff that are normally on a brake rotor to prevent
rust, you've got the black zinc coating. I chose the black zinc instead of the clear
zinc coating, or I guess it wouldn't be clear, but it's the same color as the rotor because
I like the visual indication that something has and in fact been done.
Throughout the rotor there still is zinc on the rotor, just not where the brake pads meet
with the brake rotor. It has been driven for at least half a month now. It has gotten a
few hundred miles on it at least. I'm happy to say, but the combination works really,
really well. It is a low dust formula with these particular
brake pads. I don't care about the dust. I don't care about the noise. I just care about
how they perform, and they perform really well.
It makes me feel confidence when I press the brakes that what I am doing is something that
I can predict, calculate, and make happen repeatedly, reliably. That's something that
can't be said about the previous set of rotors and pads I was using, which is exactly why
I switched. I'm glad I did, and I'm sorry I'm not showing
you a video of me going out into the wild here and doing a performance test. The fact
of the matter is I don't want to put a camera unattended to record that, and any place that
I could do that with any reasonable expectation of my equipment not being stolen is a residential
area. There's no way in heck I'm going to do a 60 to zero test in a residential area.
That's just not safe. That would go against the complete philosophy of all this, which
is safe driving. At the end of the day it's about making sure
that everything I do in this vehicle is working the way it's supposed to so that my life,
and the lives of people around me are in good hands. With that being basically the extent
of what I can show you, besides giving my testimony about how these work, that's really
it. That's the video man. They work really well. The brands are good. The brands are
well-known. The products are of great quality. They're made in the United States.
When you call someone, you get someone in the United States. They are good products.
I definitely recommend them at this point. If something should change, you bet I'm going
to make a video about it, but as of right now everything seems to be going really well.
Thanks for watching. Thanks for bearing with me. I know I guess on a bit here, but I think
more people should know about brake performance simply because it's not a company that I had
heard of before I did some research, and it doesn't seem like a company that it doesn't
have the brand recognition that Brembo or EBC or some of the other really well-known
manufacturers have. Giving them a shot I think is worth it, especially
with that warranty. Then Akebono, come on, anyone who's done reasonable amounts of research
knows that they make good pads. [chuckles] If my review means anything to you, they are
good pads. For everyday driving, I definitely recommend this setup. It's working good