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Akebono braking

Akebono is an original equipment brake supplier to several Japanese manufacturers, and its ceramic formulations are known for how little dust they produce. On a car with painted or polished wheels, that is the difference visible from across the street.

Dust is a formulation choice, not a fact of braking

Brake dust is pad material and rotor material worn away and deposited on the wheel. Semi-metallic pads contain steel fibre, they are aggressive on the rotor, and the dust they generate is dark, heavy and corrosive — it etches clear coat if it is left through a wet spell.

Ceramic formulations use ceramic fibre and non-ferrous filler instead. They wear the rotor less, the dust they produce is lighter in colour and quantity, and it does not bond to the wheel finish the same way.

The trade-off is real and worth stating: ceramic compounds take longer to reach full friction from cold and are less suited to sustained heavy braking than a good semi-metallic. For ordinary road use they are the better daily choice, which is why so many manufacturers now fit them as original equipment.

Akebono Brake Industry was founded in Tokyo in 1929 and supplies original equipment friction to Japanese manufacturers and to General Motors. ProACT is the name of its ceramic passenger range, formulated to reach usable friction quickly from cold — the specific weakness ceramics are usually criticised for.

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