Brake pads Akebono or OEM Mazda

I run the Akebonos on my B8.5 S4 for my daily. I also had them on my A4. Great daily pads with minimal dust.

The most budget+quality friendly package we offer is Akebono Brake Pads and Brembo Brake Disc.

Akebono ceramic pads, they’re amazing.

Akebono gets my vote. Tried bendix and it grooved my rear rotors. Brembo pads are noisy and dont bite when cold. Only downside with akebono is the dust they produce.

Akeebono on my Armada have been great.

I hated the way my 2019 Highlander braked, no vibrations, just inconsistent and not like any other vehicle I've ever driven. I put Akinobo brake pads on the front and it completely transformed my brakes. Now it brakes normally.

Just did my wife’s Lincoln MKX. Pads were Akebono (Amazon or Walmart online) and about $130 for both axles. Rotors were $320 for all four, I bought through advance auto and offered 20% off for online orders which brought it down to that. First set took about an hour figuring out the set up. But after that 30 minutes per brake set taking my time.

I put on new oem front rotors and Akebono ceramic pads and it’s like im driving a different car. No more sloshing noise in the morning and almost no dust on my wheels. Those oem pads are trash, for 100$ the Akebonos are fantastic.

I'm in the "Akebono are not better" camp and I have done some extensive testing.For a ceramic pad, yes, the Akebono are better than ceramic competitors. However, they do not have as much bite as the semi-metallic pads. This is something that can't be debated, they can't bite as hard as the semi-metallic compound.I too hate brake dust and tried the Akebono pads on my wife's VW and I immediately noticed that they didn't bite as hard as the OE pads. That same week, I ordered the OE pads and it fixed the problem.I've also tried the Akebono on an E350 and I came to the same conclusion. I actually think the EBC Red ceramics may bite a little more (when new) than the Akebono. However, the EBC reds always left this weird deposit on rotors that would make it feel like they were warped and they would need to be turned down.

Mazda. Brakes. Suck. I’ve owned 2 6s. A 2018 and a 2021. Both needed brakes at around 20k. DO NOT REPLACE WITH MAZDA OE BRAKES. Or you’ll just be in the same boat again. Buy a set of PowerStops and be done with it.