[dynodon]

I have some experience with the Akebono pads. I put them on the front of a 540i 6-speed sport BMW a couple years ago at the recommendation of a friend of mine that runs a real good Import car repair shop in Peoria, IL. He recommends them for Porsche and BMW owners that do track days or are just tired of all that brake dust.

The pads on the 540i went through a two-day track day at Gateway International (2/3 of the NASCAR Oval and the infield road course) going from about 130 to 40 at turn 1-2 complex lap after lap. After the weekend, I could hardly tell there was any dust/dirt on the wheels.

Then I put them on my '96 SHO daily driver and they are working great, but they are dusting about like the stock Ford pads (they aren't as bad as OEM BMW pads for sure!).

My son put the same pads on his '95 SHO and loves them and they aren't dusting as bad as mine. I wonder if I just got a single bad pad, since one wheel dusts more than another?

Anyway, the Akebono seem to have very good resistance to fade. I also track my '96 SHO at Gingerman, Putnam and Blackhawk, all courses that need good brakes, and on the stock brakes, these pads work very well. Not hard on the disks either.

I have no doubt that dedicated race pads would stop better, but for a compromise street/track pad, the Akebono are very good, last a long time, are easy on the disks and not all that expensive. I got mine through Tire Rack.