Akebono Pads (Is350)

[334mm]

Just to give my fellow 350 people a slight review on the product.

I got these installed not too long ago as a backyard job (but we know what we are doing, done many times before). They were very easy to install with the design of the mono block callipers of the IS350, up and down in just under an hour for front and back. The longest part was figuring out the pins on the rear callipers.

Start up: So I as soon as I took them out, i noticed that there was something not quite right. The pedal felt so completely weird. It was soft, spongy and went deep into the firewall. Now I don't know if its the fluid or the brake master cylinder design of the car, but I have never had this happen to any other car that i've put pads in. My mates thought my face was broken as I was pulling odd faces. And before anyone calls me a noob, I know the pedal feel should change due to setting of the pistons etc, but when I said weird... i meant it.

Rolling out: Under the advice of my mates, I took the car out and instantly the brakes began to fix themselves. I took it up the road and just park it, while we did some coil overs.

Bedding: So the bedding process was pretty much done like any other car I do (except this was in the *BLEEP*ty rain! fml). Drive a little bit down the road with the brake slightly on while also on the gas just to get them warm. Brakes instantly felt good, real good! Next was to get a bit of speed and hit the brakes hard and get some real heat into them. This was the great fun! Some face pulling followed by a smile.

On the road: From the impression i got from the bedding process I was happy. But when I drove normally on the road, the difference was clear. I didn't just get (apparently) dustless pads (haven't had them long enough), I got some bloody performance pads! They offered slightly better feel but a whole lot more instant braking force and bite. Amazing!

Part 2 was to go aggressive on the brakes with some hard hits. To be honest I couldn't tell a performance gain, but I'm not surprised. I've never been able to feel an improvement on the street under hard braking with any race/sport pad. and since I'm not going to track this family car, I don't really care about fade or the upper temperatures.

But going by the extra stopping power and feel on the lower end of the temperature spectrum, I would think they offer some improvement in fade and upper end performance.

And with regards to the weird feeling that it gave initially, not a problem anymore. Feel has improved!

At a price of under $200 from japan for a set of front and rear pads, for your $60k+ car, this is an utter no brainer. To the unlucky souls who didn't join the group buy and have nice wheels, I advise you get some!

[E910]

That's not how you bed in new pads

[334mm]

Tell me how

[E910]

Make 10 stops from 50-60 km/h down to about 15 km/h using moderate braking pressure and allowing approximately 30 seconds between stops for cooling. Do not drag your pads during these stops. After the 10th stop, allow 15 minutes for your braking system to cool down.

This is usually enough for standard pads, if you want to go further then make another 5 consecutive stops from 80 km/h down to 15 km/h. After the 5th stop, allow your braking system to cool before driving again. Avoid heavy braking during the first 500km as well.

[LEX51S]

im looking at getting a more comfy and grippy street pad. i like the sound of these and your review!!

Currently running semi hard. not great for just normal driving a few good stops or aggressive driving usually makes them awesome for quite a while. but still!! would like a nicer pad for street.

[334mm]

That's exactly what i did.

Let me clarify by saying the dragging was maybe less than 50 meters, cause it was raining. Then performed as above.

Why the dragging you ask. It's what they call priming brake surface. They do it in all sorts of motor sport. Not only that, some modern european cars do it automatically in the wet to prime the surface for proper braking.

[malibu]

I will be surprised if peformance is improved over standard for both low temp as well as hard braking high temperatures. Normally performance pads do not stop as well as standard street pads when cold.

Dust improvement sounds good.