Brake pads Akebono or Hawk Performance

I have Akebono ceramic pads on my Volvo, haven't really had a chance for any super spirited driving but they handle regular driving well and are fairly quite and dust free.

I installed Akebonos on my 2012 Mata and was happy with them.

The OEM pads on my R create more dust than my Hawk HPS pads on my GLI. I’d rather have pads that perform and are kind of dusty. Honestly the dust is easier to clean off than the stock pads so it’s a wash lol.

And yeah the 5.0 is the newer version. As per Hawk: Hawk Performance said: The HPS 5.0 compound is similar in application with a strong focus on improving the already great properties of HPS. This compound offers stronger fade reduction, increased stopping power, easier modulation, and a decrease in wear, noise, and dust. In short, this compound can take more abuse while maintaining great street friendly performance characteristics!

BRAKES : 312mm brake conversion Stoptech slotted rotors Akebono Euro Ceramic brake pads

Just replaced my PP pads & rotors. Hawk HPS & EBC RedStuff are both decent ceramic pad options. Shopped around quite a bit and never had the Brembos recommended. I went with Zimmerman blank rotors & Hawk HPS pads. No complaints + expecting less dust!

HPS 5.0 pads. Little less initial bite than the original pads but more overall grab.

I was pretty unhappy with the short life span/brake dust of the stock rotors/pads, so when it was time to change them I went with: Centric Cryo-Treated rotors, Hawk HP Street 5.0 pads. I got what I was looking for in terms of improvements to longevity and brake dust, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss the bite of the stock setup.

Akebono makes the pedal feel substantially softer. It still stops well, but the initial bite is much weaker than any OE/OEM pad like Textar.

I just put on Akebono ceramics and Zimmerman coated rotors and I hated them for the first few hundred miles. They took a very long time to break in, and this was after a) paying attention to the instructions that say no break-in is needed and b) ignoring that advice when the stopping distances were so bad initially that I bedded them in... and yet the pedal effort was so high that I could barely engage the ABS in the dry. So I'd recommend staying away from that combination.