engin_ear

iTrader: (1)

Upgraded my stock rotors with EBC pads to Rotora slotted rotors with Axxis Ultimate kevlar/ceramic pads (from Steve). Just completed my break-in period of 1K miles, went really easy on them. They are VERY smooth now, very Lexus-worthy. I'd say that the pad bite is not as much as the EBCs were - the EBCs had a very even bite as soon as they touched the stock rotors, but ate themselves alive in 10-15K miles and spewed carbon dust all over my car (if you've seen my other posts). The Axxis pads are smoother, they squeal a bit at times (I had absolutely no squeal out of the EBCs), but provide good bite if the pedal is pressed down a bit more. The Rotora rotors are awesome - very well machined and trued, no vibration whatsoever at high speeds (like I used to have with the stock rotors), much better braking than stock, no fade. The slots begin to cause a growl if the pedal is pressed harder - I assume this is due to the slot edges biting into the pads, so I'm hoping this doesn't wear the pads out super quickly. Two thumbs up for the rotors.

johnee78

iTrader: (4)

Thanks for the write up...

engin_ear

iTrader: (1)

Forgot to mention that I'm finding that the dust is much less (less than half) than what I had with the EBCs, and is grayer in color (which is normal if the pads are not overheating). Can't tell if this is because the stock rotors were causing the EBCs to overheat, or whether the pads are less prone to dust, or whether the easy break-in and resulting smooth surfaces are creating less dust (I doubt that, because of the slots). I'd love to put EBCs back in to see if the rotors are what's making the difference, but it's just too much work....I may try it when the Axxis Ultimates wear out.

engin_ear

iTrader: (1)

Ok, here's an update: Within the last couple of weeks, the pad squeal from the Axxis Ultimate pads has gotten worse. All 4 wheels!!! It's bad enough now that I would not recommend these pads to anyone that's sensitive to squeal. I may actually swap out the pads for another new set of EBC's. For background, I used all NEW Toyota anti-squeal shims and clips on all 4 wheels, and used disc brake grease on the backs of pads and shims as prescribed to minimize brake pad squeal. I may try the CRC Disc Brake Quiet stuff, but I didn't want to use it initially so that I could see what the pads did. I got my answer, and I don't really expect it to get any better as the pads wear.
The pads squeal on EVERY light braking, but barely squeal on heavy braking, since there's more pressure. If I easily approach a stop light so that there's nothing but light braking required, the car sounds like a truck. Driving me nuts to the point where it looks like I'm going to reluctantly have to re-do pads, again.

redgs4

I swapped out the axxis ultimates from my car for the same reasons. They squeal unless the brakes are warmed up and the brake dust was horrendous. You try keeping 4x 14" drilled rotors warmed up in stop and go traffic, it's not possible. And what used to be a month's worth of brake dust the ultimates spit out in a single afternoon of driving. However, I was very pleased with the ultimates under agressive driving conditions.

Think I went down to the metal masters or equivelent and have been happy with the compromise. Much less dust, almost no squeal and 90% of the stopping force.

D2-AUTOSPORT

Same here, when i got my pads/rotors installed, it was in the winter so windows were up stereo was on, never heard a squeak. Once the spring hit, I was driving downtown with my windows down and I kept wondering where that God awful squeal was coming from, it was my car!

If you guys think you have it bad, try driving around Meto New York with them, where everything is low speed light to light manuvers! Not to mention the looks you get!

I am going to change pads as well.

HKGS300

I have the Axxis Ultimate pads as well with the stock rotors. I have these since 12 months and have droven about 10,000 miles.

Like most of you, initially during the first 500 miles or so I did not have had any squeel, but got a squeel after the brake-in.

However, after about 3000 - 4000 miles, i had to do a few emergency fullstop and gone was the squeel.

I now have about 5000 miles or so without any squeel. I suspect that you once in a while need to brake real hard, in order to 'align' your Axxis Ultimate brake pads.

I am also washing my wheels every week, since the major weakness of these pads is the large amount of brake dust.

PHML

iTrader: (33)

Note to self.....stay away from Axxis Ultimates.

Neo

iTrader: (3)

And if you want to take it a step further, you an go for the Axxis Deluxe Plu. When I got my StopTechs, I swapped out the Ultimates (which it comes with) for the Deluxe plus. Since these are softer, they don't bite as much. They do squeal but very little. They priduce an acceptable amount of dust and are still pretty linear in feel for daily driving. Since they are softer, they are also more gentle on the rotors. Since I don't drive overly aggressive ALL THE TIME, these have been good. I know that going with the Ultimates would make braking great, I do not feel the need to make the other compromises though.

On a side note, StopTech told me that the Ultimates are good for aggressive street driving. If I was ever to take it to the track, they would recommend other pads and save the Ultimates for the street. One of the reasons I wanted the Ultimates was to have an aggressive pad that can go street and track. I was mistaken. It made the decision to go away from the Ultimates much easier.