Brake pads Brembo or Hawk Performance

Ric also got Renault to use Brembo brakes when he was racing for them.

Hawk Blues are the best I’ve driven on a street driven 930 being used on the track. Thousands of laps with different compounds. Or HPS+ if you’re not that aggressive.

I use Hawk Blues on-track and street pads off. Pads are so easy to change on our cars that it is only a 30 minute job to swap before each track day once you have some practice. The Blues are very abrasive and will clean any bedding material off the rotor if you just lightly ride the brakes for a few minutes while the pads are cold. The Blues have plenty of stopping power when cold on the street, but squeal a lot and eat through rotors very quickly. On-track they have been fade-free for me with excellent modulation using ATE TYP200 brake fluid.

I really liked the Hawk HPS 5.0s on my WRX. Good enough for the track and plenty comfortable for the street

Couldn't answer your first two questions, but the last question about Brembo being reliable is a very solid "yes".

Brembo directly supply Mercedes with their brakes.

The camaro SS uses brembo pads which are really good hence the price tag (imo the quote you got is pretty reasonable). If you want a more cost effective alternative, hit up MSW autoparts and ask for Zlatko. They have EBC brake pads which are also really good aftermarket pads.

I put Hawk Performance drilled and slotted on my 2017 STI. Ceramic pads. Have saved my car a couple times when assholes decided to jump the line and do a U-turn in front of me.

I have Hawk HP+ on my NA, and while the bite is good, the brake dust is pretty significant

Brembo low dust pads and oem rotors on my 330ci. Rotors tend to warp easy on these so I figured I'd stick with bmw.

So akebono also makes original mazda brake pads. You see the stamp on the box and brake pads it self. Brembo sucks for normal cars. Had brembo and with in a year less than 15k miles, they need to be replaced.