After calling Honda parts and getting a quote of $62 for front pads, I decided to try Durolast Gold pads from Autozone for $35. I put them on this weekend and this is the first time I'm putting other than Honda pads on the car.

I've always been satisfied with the OEM pads, but every time I've replaced them the price has continued to spiral upwards. I could have gotten them online for ~$39 + shipping, but I had been running on the low brake indicator for a couple of days so I decided to do it asap.


I did my normal bed-in afterwards and I have to tell you these ceramic pads felt very different from the OEM pads. Usually after bed-in, the replacement Honda pads felt normal. These felt much different. The following day I went for a 100 mile trip and upon return the brakes finally felt normal. Do ceramic pads take longer to bed-in?

Anyone else using ceramic pads rather than semi-metallic and notice a change in the braking performance?

According2me:

I have used aftermarket pads/rotors on my trusty '86, several times. While they worked reasonably well, they didn't last near as long as OEM, and I found them quite noisy.

AutoZone makes many fine products, to be sure. Their "C-Max" pad set is a very good choice, on the basis of cost + warranty. Just that you should remember that the 'Zone lifetime warranty exists for a reason...since you will likely have to replace them far more often than Honda OEM. (Expect about a three-to-one ratio, depending upon your particular driving habits.)

Most Honda pad kits are ceramic composition (circa 1990 and up, as memory serves). OEM Honda pads for my trusty '86 are asbestos + sintered metallic. In conjunction with OEM Honda rotors, they perform far better and last far longer, than any aftermarket pad/rotor combos I previously tried. IMO, HMC uses an excellent pad composition that is carefully suited to rotor material composition. (You use Chinese-made or India-made rotors? Results will be dubious, at best, regardless of what vendor name is on the packaging. Arbitrarily mixing and mingling pads-rotors/shoes-drums, is practicing "bad science," far as I'm concerned.)

The "Biggy" concern about (the older) asbestos pads/shoes is basically environmental. Millions of vehicles throwing asbestos (particulate) contamination into the atmosphere IS conducive to cancer. (Asbestos is a known, proven carcinogen.) And ceramic-composition pads may likely keep your wheels cleaner. Just that simple.

What is the objective function of your "brake equation?" Safety? Performance? Longevity? Cost? :dunno:

I choose brake components, using the highest standard of care, as it is MY A$$, in MY car, going down the road. Compromising any brake system hardware is an exercise in sheer stupidity, far as I'm concerned. In doing so, you threaten yourself and your vehicle, along with the lives and property of others. (Being an engineer, SAFETY is always my first responsiblity.)

My '02 had 'Zone DuraLast Gold pads, running against OEM rotors, when I purchased it. After briefly considering a set of 'Zone "C-Max," I instead went with a full set of Honda OEM. My total cost was $94.38. Performance is FLAWLESS. :yes:

Wardenr...There's nothing wrong with the performance of these pads now that they are fully seated, but to my experience, they took a while longer to do so.

I've had pretty good luck with autozones semi_metallic pads on my sons '95 Altima. During College years, he delivered pizza as a part-time job in N.O. Lots of stop and go driving and he usually got 40-45K per set. The free set at exhaustion was a bonus. BTW they still call there lower price pad a semi-metalic pad, but I doubt it has asbestos in the composition now.

Based on this experience I decided to go with the ceramic composition on my Accord. I've been averaging about 45K for the last 3 OEM pad replacements, I'd be very surprised if these didn't approach that.

I know all about the asbestos history in automotive pads, my dad was an independent mechanic for 45 years. During my early teen and high school years, my weekend and summer job was doing tuneups and brake jobs at his service station.

I'm not replacing my OEM rotors yet, even with the worn pads, there was still no pulsation in the brake pedal and the rotors show little wear and no ridges in the braking area. With the new pads, smooth as silk and not a peep to be heard. I am curious if this new composition pad will cause faster rotor wear, but at 204K it's already had a long life. When and if I need to replace the rotors, I'll probably go with Brembo blanks.

So my original question stands, has anyone noticed longer bed-in with other than OEM pads?