I believe Akebono is not wanting you to bed in their pads because during the bedding process, there are longer braking distances. I did bed in my pads and while doing it, the pads got hot and smelly. I also got severe brake fade during this time where I, at some times, had to literally stand on the brake pedal to get the vehicle to stop. I thought this was going to be the nature of the pads and was ready to return them; however, after a few miles of bedding in the pads, the fading never returned. The Akebono pads have been excellent since and now have about 40,000 miles on them. When they need replacement I will use Akebono brake pads again.