D905 Brake Pads: Bosch vs. Centric vs. Akebono

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Follow up from this thread: https://www.bobistheoilguy.com/foru...bosch-quietcast-bc905-brake-pads-6mm-new

I ordered three different sets of D905 sized rear brake pads. My application was a 2010 Nissan Altima V6. The D905/D1288/D1393 size fits many Nissan/Infiniti vehicles.

Some observations:

- The Bosch had 6mm of material, Centric had about ~7mm and the Akebono was probably 7.5mm. The Akebono's were a hair thicker than the Centric. For my application, the OE spec is 8.0mm for new.

- Only the Akebono's had 2 pads with wear indicators. The other pads only had one.

- Both the Centric and Akebono's had stainless steel wear indicators but the Akebono's felt thicker (identical to OE).

- Bosch was copper free, the others were low copper.

- Bosch was $24, Centric was $25 and Akebono was $38.

- Note: the pictures of the pad are listed in the same order as the boxes. First picture is Bosch, then two pictures of the Centric and the last two pictures are the Akebono's.

On paper, the Centric's are probably the best value. Without any meaningful comparison tests it is hard to say which pad performs better. But in terms of features and dimensions, the Akebono's seem to be the closest to OE.

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My experience wit 2 of 3 of your choices.

The Akebono ProACT were the smoothest, nicest pads(by a small margin) that I've ever used on a Lexus RX, had good OE bite but didn't last more that about 2+ yrs

The Centric Posi-Quiet were decent with only OK bite, lots of dust(easily washed off) and lasted 7 yrs on a Mazda 3

The Akebono & Centric that you post pic of(I can't see the Bosch) show to have a Coefficient of Friction(CoF) of FE which should give some decent stopping bite at when cold and really good at speed/hot.
 
After reviewing your first post about the Akebono now coming with hardware, I can see that these pads are CoF of FF not FE as I first thought.

And the Bosch from your other post are a CoF of GG in which I am not a fan of. Many members like the GG but, I have never had a set of pads with a CoF of GG that I like yet(I have not tried every brand). There is NOT enough initial bite for me when cold nor hot. It just always feels like I'm not going to stop the way I like to w/o putting my foot harder into the brake pedal.
 
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Ive had both Akebonos and Bosch on my 07 Corolla, and the Bosch had much better bite and durability. Guess it depends on the application.
 
If you get bored go to NAPA and look at a set of StopRite pads. They are $25 and the last two sets i got were both GG and looked great. I currently have them on the front of my Suburban and after 1500 miles of towing i cannot tell a difference from the Raybestos EHTs i had on before. I had a caliper get stuck so i toasted my EHTs...and had to get a set of pads fairly quickly so i tried these. Nobody talks about StopRites but i think they are worth a look.

Here is the link to your pads.

https://www.napaonline.com/en/p/SRBSR905
 
Another Captain Obvious post from me. Thank you Sir Critic for the evaluations. It supports the fact that brake pads are all over the place and it is extremely difficult for the lay person to comparison shop. While The Critic notes the Akebono's appear closest to OEM, he has also expressed luke warm feelings for Akebono performance in the past. How do we know that in spite of their thinness, maybe the Bosch has a superior formulation that might last as long as the thicker ones? I imagine most here would rather have a minimum of FF vs. FE. Search our site for anecdotal recommendations and there is almost no consensus on even what's considered the cream of the crop.

Sigh. For those of us with traces of OCD it makes life interesting, LOL. My son spent a half hour choosing his recent Kia Soul pads from Rock Auto. I spent months (intermittent) before I finally pulled the trigger on EBC Ultimax 2's and EBC rotors.
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Originally Posted by atikovi
Why didn't you buy 4 sets so you could use one pad from each for your testing? Or do you have some other plans for them?

I normally do not buy three sets of pads for a brake job. The reason for this exercise was because the Bosch pads measured abnormally thin (compared to OE) so I bought the Centric's to compare. Even the Centric's measured a bit thin compared to OE pads so that prompted me to order the Akebono's. It was somewhat surprising to find some obvious differences between these three brands for an extremely popular application. With that said, I am not sure if these differences are truly material for the average person, but something seems "off" about installing new pads that are thinner than they are supposed to be.

Originally Posted by doitmyself
Another Captain Obvious post from me. Thank you Sir Critic for the evaluations. It supports the fact that brake pads are all over the place and it is extremely difficult for the lay person to comparison shop.

Aftermarket parts these days...

Originally Posted by Donald
Could you evaluate the machining and painting around the pad ears of each set.

From a fitment standpoint, all of them seem to be comparable but I did not install any of them. However, the Bosch pads had a rough finish that is similar to Duralast pads.
 
Try the Akebono Street Performance pads in the yellow and black box, all the benefits of the normal Akebono's but GG rated.
 
I've installed the Auto Parts Alliance rebox of those Bosch pads on a friend's Subaru before he traded up and they seemed to work good. I've had hit or miss on Centric pads, once on an old Lexus. They stop good in the dry but get them wet and they grab/chatter until the brakes dry off. However, a co-worker says they are fine on his beater. I haven't used the ProACTs on anything yet, they are similar to the old Toyota TCMC pads which are meh - good life but chatty.
 
Originally Posted by atikovi
OK, I assume you were going to do an actual on the car comparison. So what do you do with the 2 extra sets? Keep them for the next brake jobs?

Undecided.
 
My experience with Bosch is, even though the pad material is less, they last forever. I've also never installed a set of Bosch pads that I didn't have to grind the ears down, sometimes a lot. Therefore I only use them on the rear of my cars. Now the quietcast rotors imo are some of the best. The finish is beautiful and they will throw you through the front windshield with quality pads.
 
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