Brake pads Akebono or OEM Mazda
Akebono ceramic brake pads on RockAuto. Done, easy. They're an OG Japanese OEM, so you can expect consistency in quality. They're expensive but they're good and if you're going to get down on your knees and pop the wheels off you might as well do it right and get powerful and silent braking power for your trouble.
On these cars Akebono is as good or better than OEM with far less dust.
2016.5 CX-5 with 89,000 miles. So far I've had to replace the belt tensioner, accessories belt, water pump belt and breaks (technically I only needed pads and front rotors but I chose to just do them all in one shot since it made a negligible price difference since I was already doing the back pads.
Brakes - about to get them changed for the first time.
I am partial to the Akebono ProACT ceramic pads. Akebono is OEM supplier for a lot of brands, and they make good quality stuff. I've had their pads on a number of cars, and never a problem. Quiet, low dust, stop well.
Akebono ceramic pads are pretty fantastic and low dust. EBC has a number of options. Don’t go out and buy some high performance spec pad and expect it to work on your daily driver. Some higher end pads meant for sport use are designed to be used such that they need to be heated up more for full performance. On a street car that’s not getting driven hard enough, the pads never heat up enough and you can get brake pad deposits on your rotors which ends up “feeling” like a warped rotor. TLDR: more expensive and higher performance isn’t always better for your application. Get the pad you need for your application.
I've heard good things about Akebono pads, but I'm curious how they compare to other options (Bosch QuietCast, PowerStop, Raybestos, etc.)
Put on all new pads and rotors after the last guy cheaper out, it’s a huge difference. Almost not brake dust and they have a good pedal feel.
From what I remember, On my c63, just the pads were $460, but the install was only $150. I brought them Akebono pads, and they said … oh these are the wrong ones. Funny my mechanic put them on just fine.
Depends on what you mean by 'best'. I own a repair shop, and have had the opposite experience with Akebono. IMO, they're junk. They don't stop worth a damn.
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