Ceramic Brakes

[JohnD1956]

It's coming time to do my 95 Riviera's brakes again. this time I was thinking of ceramic material discs as I heard there was less brake dust and they stopped better. Can anyone with live experience confirm this?

Thanks

and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

JD

[NTX5467]

I put "brake pads ceramic" into Google and it came up with a tech page from TireRack.com on ceramic pads and why they are considered better than other brake pads. It also explains the "no dust " and "quieter" situations. They also have some other "brake tech" pages in there too, which might be informative also. I know that ceramic pads have been oriented toward the high-end of brake pads for several years now. Of course, TireRack sells some too, as do other online parts vendors.

Further investigation of Google search results yielded some somewhat conflicting information, though. In one article, it mentioned that using ceramic-compound pads to replace normal pads and such were fine, but to not replace semi-metallic pads with ceramics (now, almost EVERY brake pad on a vehicle made in the past 20+ years has been "semi-metallic", especially domestic vehicles as OEM equipment). Yet there are several brands of ceramic pads that are built by companies that pretty much specialize and cater to the various racing "crowds".

It also seems that one of the brands that TireRack sells, Akebono, is an OEM supplier and also has been in the replacement marketplace with ceramic pads since about 2003. A page on their www.akebonobrakes.com website which has several downloadable articles on their ceramic brake products is www.akebonobrakes.com/aftermarket/in_news/index.html.

In one of the articles I found, it mentioned that (allegedly) there is not a uniform standard for how "ceramic" the pad composition might be. Therefore, using the products of an OEM supplier that supplies OEM ceramic brakes might be a plus. I've not used any ceramics pads just yet, as they were usually higher-priced than the normal semi-metallic (GM or CarbonMetallic) pads I used (for the old Chevy Nova Police 9C1 spec front brake pads, which were also later used on 1990s Cadillac limos for front pads). I haven't checked prices on any lately, though.

I'm listing these Akebono links purely as information ONLY. Going through their website can be informative. In their OEM comments, they do not mention ceramic brake pads directly, but mention their strong links to vehicle manufacturers (domestic and foreign) as suppliers for them. When you get into their aftermarket area, THAT's where the ceramic pads are mentioned per se. I didn't look through their online catalog, though. Again, using their website purely for investigative information and expanded knowledge.

Happy New Year!

NTX5467

[JohnD1956]

Thanks Willis, I'll check those sites. But I'm still hoping someone who has used them will chime in here and give a report based on their actual experience.

Meanwhile, HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!

[Steve B]

I have Hawk ceramic pads at all four corners on my Cobra. They tend to be a little noisier then the stock pads, but they do stop a little better then the stock carbon-matalic pads. There is the same amount of dust, but it is lighter in color. All in all, I did not think the improvement was worth the extra dough. But, then again, I dont autocross either.

[JohnD1956]

Thanks Steve, I don't plan to auto cross either and if the amount of dust is the same, then there goes a lot of my motivation. Thanks for the "report" Steve.

JD

[Gene Brink]

John,

Put on my '93 Park Av a couple of months ago and they do put out a bit less dust, no difference in noise (quiet) and do feel as though they stop better BUT as they replaced old pads that were worn down about 2/3d's of the way it is not a fair comparison. Cost was about ½ again so was not a whole lot more. Have not gotten the wheels really dusty yet but the dust does seem to be easier to wash off and is noticeably lighter in color. I'll stick with them from now on.

[JohnD1956]

Thanks Gene. I think I'll just get the better quality discs, not the ceramic.

John D