Brake pads POWER STOP or Carbotech

For brakes, I have Power Stop on all of my cars. But I've heard nothing but good things about Akebonos too.

I have Power Stop all around on my daily driver - a Pontiac Vibe base. Z17 Ceramic pads in front, Geomet-coated rotors (note that the coating will wear off quickly where the pads contact, but it does keep the rest of the rotors from getting rusty), and OE-style semi-metallic shoes in the back. Stock calipers. Not sure how they do with more spirited driving, but I think they work very well for my daily. No noise, no noticeable dust, good braking power.

I'm REALLY picky about brakes... I've been down this road more than a few times and finally settled on Powerstop Evolution pads... they bite really well, warm or cold weather, and they don't eat the rotors alive either I think they are the best street pads I've found to date.

I had a set of the Carbotech fast road/track day pads in my AW11 before I had to scrap it and they were amazing.

If your just daily driving then OEM is fine, if you're looking for a slight upgrade then I recommend Carbotech 1521 Bobcat pads. I have the Carbotechs and they are nice.

Powerstop Evolution from rockauto.com. As quiet and dust-free as OEM, but with a bit more stopping power. They’re also much cheaper than OEM.

When I had my mini cooper, I ran the 1521s on stock rotors and never had any issue in the rain.

I have personally used centric rotors and powers top ceramic brakes for years with no complaints.

I have run the Carbotech 1521 on the street and can confirm they are low dust and noise, but not the most performance oriented.

I just changed my pads and rotors at all four corners asI was always very unhappy with the stock pads and rotors; mostly because of noise in the cold and the amount of brake dust the pads made. Upon inspection of my rotors, with barely 30k miles on them, there was a startling amount of material removed and channeling from the pads. I would totally recommend you replace the rotors at the same time. I too went with the ECS slotted and drilled rotors with Carbotech 1521 pads and love the setup. Very quiet, very little dust and good performance.