Product - KVR Performance Brake Pads
Cost - $56 Front and $51 Rear (+ shipping)
Bought From - Alamo Motorsports(
Link)
Review:
I had these brakes on before I started demodding my car (and saving costs on brakes, etc.). I currently have NAPA pads on my car. Boy do I miss these.
They brake great once they get up to temp (about 3 minutes of driving and slight braking) and do a great job. They are quiet, and don't dust much more than any other pad I've ever used.
Pros:
- Seemingly Low Dust
- Quiet
- Not very expensive
Cons:
- Can only be bought online
By: Ilyak
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Product - Axxis Ultimate Ceramic Brake Pad Set
Cost - $95
Bought From - Ebay Motors
Review:
My OEM brake pads wore out completely and after doing some research and trying to decide between Hawk HPS, EBC pads, and Axxis Ultimates, I went for the Axxis. I chose these because based on what I heard the Hawk's make more noise and all around the Axxis pads were a good choice.I couldn't have been more happy with the purchase.
Noise
They apparently have an "integrated" shim, however I installed my old shims on top anyway and put a good amount of brake lube around all surfaces that contact the calipers. These pads don't so make so much as a peep. I was very surprised, they are as quiet as my OEM pads.
Braking performance
These pads are like night and day in comparison with the OEM's. Being a performance oriented pad, they claim these will have similar or slightly less initial cold bite as the OEM's. I have found this is not the case. Initial bite seems to be better, once they are warm, these pads bite VERY hard and it takes probably about twice as much heavy braking to get to the point of brake fade.
I recently took my car to the track (running the 1/4 mile). I showed up early and was able to get run after run in back to back without any cool down time, and after 4 consecutive 1/4 mile runs within 20 minutes, I had no problems slowing the car down from 100mph.
I do a lot of aggressive driving on steep mountain roads as well, and I assure you these pads make me a lot more confident and I can usually push them harder and longer, sometimes not even having to back off to let the pads cool where in contrast I would have to lay off after 5 minutes because I would cook the factory pads to the point of scary brake fade.
While these pads are fantastic and are very hard to fade, here is a word of warning. While the OEM pads fade very early and easily, you can feel the brake fade progressively building up. With the Axxis Ultimate's, they will go from being in their sweet spot to brake fade much faster, so while the point is much higher, you have less warning before fading them.
Installation and breaking in
These pads have a break in spot built into them that cleans the rotor/aids initial brake bedding.
Don't be alarmed, the first time you drive the car, the breaking performance will be ABYSMAL. This is normal and is part of the initial coating.
What I did was wait for it to be very late at night before I took the car out for the first time, and I gently rode and applied the brakes in varying pressures to slowly heat up the brakes and let the break in coating do its job. I did all this while constantly moving, never stopping the car. Once the brakes started to bite much harder, I then performed a standard bedding procedure, where once the brakes were warmed up, I accelerated to 65-70 very aggressively, and applied the brakes with about 60 percent force down to 15. Got on the gas hard back up to 70 again, applied the brakes with about 70 percent force this time, then repeated and applied the brakes with as much as I could without locking a tire or invoking the abs. It is very important not to lock a tire or invoke the abs because it defeats the purpose of brake bedding and will cause uneven build up on your rotors. I did this procedure until I could feel the very slight onset of brake fade, then drove the car on the highway for about 20-25 minutes without touching the brakes to let them cool. It is very important to not stop the car at all while the brakes are hot. This is the procedure I use to bed brakes that I find successful, and in no way am I or Maxima.org recommending this or responsible for any consequences resulting from attempting this.
Dust
The one drawback of these pads definitely is the brake dust. These pads dust heavily. I notice buildup on my wheels at the end of every day, varying on how much and how hard I drive.
Unlike OEM pads however, this dust doesn't seem to bake onto my wheels no matter how much I let it build up. I once let it build up for months to the point where my buddy thought I had painted my wheels gunmetal grey, and I could still just take a cloth or paper towel and wipe it right off. No scrubbing required.
Longevity
I haven't driven the car even a year yet with these pads on, nor have I taken them off the car and done any precise measurements on how much pad is left, but the impression I get from looking at them is that *I think* they definitely are wearing out faster than OEM pads, which is definitely to be expected for a performance pad like this.
Pros:
- Very good bite while cold for a performance pad
- EXCELLENT bite when hot
- High limits before experiencing fade.
- Silent
- Easy to bed
- Brake dust can be cleaned from wheels very easily
Cons:
- Dust, dust, dust, and more dust
- Not as much progressive warning if you do manage to fade them
- Possibly shorter life than OEM
Conclusion
- When this set wears out, I am purchasing another set straight up.
By: modenaf1
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