Brake pads R1 Concepts or OEM Mazda

i went with R1 concept as well as brakes pads. Night and day difference.

I bought the Mazda a while ago and hated it. I improved my skills and bought it again last night. It was a fucking blast. Have to be careful with the brakes and backend sliding but it is a straights rocket and has decent cornering without any assists.

I ran R1 concepts for my tc2 for over four years. An improvement over stock’s brake fading prone design. Not badly priced too

My 2011 2.5 has 220,000 miles on it and it is the most reliable car I’ve owned yet. I bought it used with 45k miles and I have only replaced the tires once, the brake pads once, one engine mount, all belts including timing, and that’s pretty much it. The transmission still shifts pretty smoothly.

I've had really good luck after swapping to R1 Concepts pads and rotors on my Taos. no brake dust and predictable stopping.

I took apart my fronts on my 2016 Mazda at 50k and was surprised that they were still at 50%.

Probably need to change the brake pads if they are uneven or glazed.

R1 Concepts Track Pads. I used them for my daily and occasional track. I am too lazy to swap the pads. Hella dusty tho.

Similar thing happened to me today, vehicle is 2023 cx-50, 25k mile, not even 2 year, in upstate ny with weekly car wash, gentle on gas and brake. They said front pads are 30%, rear pads are 50%, quoted me $600 to get new front pad & rotor, and rear brake service(cleaning, lubrication). Just 2 month ago from another mechanic's report (same delear), all pads are above 50%. I don't think it's that bad that both pad and rotor need to be replaced, so I denied the work,

Rockauto carries Dynamic Friction kits. People will say "Rockauto is cheap shit" and then recommend R1 Concepts. But Dynamic Friction OWNS R1 Concepts and all of their pads and rotors are the same. Only difference is R1 does drilled and slotting while Dynamic are just blank rotors. So you really don't have to spend the extra money on R1 stuff. Also, you don't need slotted rotors for everyday driving. Heck, even some track guys still use blanks just fine. Only thing to worry about for track is pads, which I wouldn't recommend any of the R1 stuff for. Had one of their pads claiming both track and street but their pad material on one of their pads completely disintegrated on track.