Armor All Wheel Protectant is the real deal

[jupiter]

I've been using AA for a year now and it does work, but the wheel has to be extremely clean before applying. If there's a little spot with brake dust on it, it'll just seal in the brake dust. If you have a wheel with lots of spokes which makes it hard to clean, I'd go with the ceramic pads. It'd be a hassle to clean those types of wheels and apply AA every few hundred miles.



AA isn't very good on chrome. It leaves an oily residue

 

[Bis]

For me it did not leave oily residue. Just a very fragile layer of protection and a foggy/hazzy look with stains that came of with a light dusting. I described it on the link I posted above.

My wheels were new and perfectly clean.

 

[TedFred]

TedFred- How's the braking performance with those pads?

Not as good as the stock pads for sure. The stock pads grab like the pads on a motocross bike, instantanios. The ceramic pads are not as sticky but the dust is non existant. If you race the ceramics are not for you. For my wifes daily driving more than adequate. I brake late and drive agressivly so they are maginal for me, but still acceptable. My wifes car has the handling package so I tend to drive it fairly fast and ceramics are OK. I never fade the brakes so I can't comment on that.

 

[Dan]

Not as good as the stock pads for sure.

Give them a few weeks to bed in properly and they'll bite a much better. I have heard some BMW guys saying they aren't close but for my MB and Audi, they were every bit as good.

 

[TedFred]

Give them a few weeks to bed in properly and they'll bite a much better. I have heard some BMW guys saying they aren't close but for my MB and Audi, they were every bit as good.

I think that they are getting better or I am getting used to them. Anyway they work good and no dust at all so far

 

[Accumulator]

Not as good as the stock pads for sure... For my wifes daily driving more than adequate. I brake late and drive agressivly so they are maginal for me, but still acceptable..

At the risk of sounding like a [jerk], and with your best interst at heart:



They're only "more than adequate" or "marginal" until that one moment when an extra few feet make all the (life changing) difference in the world. I sure wouldn't let dirty wheels override stopping distance.



OK OK, end of lecture Sorry, I'm touchy on this subject because "those few extra feet" have made all the difference on a few occasions.

 

[Bill D]

Accumulator,



Would you just recommend a given vehicle's OEM pads then?

 

[TedFred]

At the risk of sounding like a [jerk], and with your best interst at heart:



They're only "more than adequate" or "marginal" until that one moment when an extra few feet make all the (life changing) difference in the world. I sure wouldn't let dirty wheels override stopping distance.



OK OK, end of lecture Sorry, I'm touchy on this subject because "those few extra feet" have made all the difference on a few occasions.

I just have to put a little more pressure on the pedal to stop as fast. I tested the panic stop capability and it works well. I assure you that it will stop in half the distance of your Crown vic. The marginal aspect is that when I am driving in a spirited fashion the brakes are not as grabby as the stock brakes. I am sure that if I made repeated stops from 100mph the Akebonos would eventually show more fade, but I don't do any track time with the car. If I was going to take it to the track I would switch to the stock pads.



PS. I have a lot of experience designing braking sytems for varios vehicles. Primarily rides at Disneyland and such. I have also designed brake systems for Hot Rods and worked on varios Indy (lites) cars and Nascar vehicles. I was also a crew member for the Budweiser Rocket Car. I have experience with stopping fast vehicles, as well as designing saftey systems. Don't worry I wouldn't make a change that would jeopadize that most important thing in my life , my wife. Thanks for your concern and no offense taken:tongue2:

 

[Accumulator]

Accumulator,



Would you just recommend a given vehicle's OEM pads then?

No, unfortunately it's not as simple as that. E.g., the MPV's stock pads were simply *AWFUL*; I set it up with some terribly messy Hawk brand ones and the improvement was just amazing, even the Mazda dealership tech was impressed. Based on that, I switched the Tahoe over to Hawk pads when I upgraded its brakes and while they sure make more dust than the GM ceramic ones did they also stop better.



On the Crown Vic (another upgraded brake system), I'm running whatever aftermarket pads Reinhart always uses (forget the brand ), but I'll switch it to the ones VDI is testing if/when they get approved for retail distribution.



I am running stock pads on all the Audis though.