Brake pads Akebono or OEM Mazda

In my opinion, the best stock replacement brakes you can get are Akebono Pro ACT ceramic pads and Advics rotors.

I got Mazda 2 2013 and just had a replacement for both front brake pads and discs - $330 for the parts. $120 for labour.

Im late to this but ill chime in anyways.

Mine is a 2008 AWD GT with every option. Mileage is 130k. And I run on Regular gas.

By todays standards its a gas guzzler, and even thirsty in 2008, but CRVs werent hugely better.

Ive done nothing to it. Still on original brake pads. And recently replaced the rear wheel bearings.

I dont know why im so lucky except that i do oil changes frequently.

One thing about driving older cars is they arent narcing your driving habits to Mazda. Good to know about insurance.

Since it is top line, it has the Bose system which is decent, but i replaced the head so i could get Bluetooth.

I sincerely believe this car has at least 5 years life left in it.

I went with the akebono pads with Zimmerman coated rotors (semi floating) from FCP on my 17’ 340i with msport/ track handling package. so far so good with the pads. Very little dusting compared to the original ones. Only issue I ran into is the coated rotors and the bed in on the pads. I had to get them resurfaced at an auto shop since they had some extra runout.

Brake pads and OEM tyres lasted more than 100 000 Km.

The OEM brakes have more bite, but there's so much brake dust. The Akebono definitely do not bite as much, but they perform well under heavy braking (mountain driving), have little to no noticeable brake dust, and lasted longer.

Brake pads I went with Akebono ceramic pads. I don’t even see the brake dust from these. Brake pads squeal once on reverse on cold days but no noise after that but this is pretty common. Great bite when braking hard. If I had to replace again I would go with these again.

I'm very happy with the Akebono pads that I put on all four corners of my FA5 a few months ago. No noise, low dust, and good bite for daily driving.

I have a brand new set of ankebono pads that I was going to install on my car until I drove a buddy's Jetta w these pads. I must admit that I do not like the lack of brake bite compared to OEM.

Akebono. Poor QC and horrible stopping power.