Brake pads Raybestos or OEM Mazda

You got this. Just did the brakes on my wagon myself for the first time and it was breeze. Rock auto had a really good deal on raybestos brakes when I did mine. Worked amazing

I’ve had Powerstop Z36 Impression: just average

Hawk LTS. Impression: very good

Raybestos Element 3. Impression: similar to OEM

Now I run Raybestos “Truck & Medium Duty” front & rear. They’re very good: low dust, low noise, good performance & pedal feel.

So far I've spent 400€ on brakes, 100€ new battery, 1200€ on axles and other components related to them and maybe 150€ on oil and filters (2 oil changes so far)

I always recommend the Raybestos Element3 EHT pads and rotors. We use them at work and have very little comebacks. Low noise, low dust, great pedal feel.

I usually get aftermarket Raybestos pads if/when available.

I have Raybestos AT's(96087) on my front, and Hawk HPS HB418F.646 pads. Don't think Hawk makes the HPS pads anymore though. I'm at about 2.5 years on mine, got 4 years out of the last set, after putting up with the OEM's for 4.5 years. Still on the factory rear drums.

Far better than OEM.

So I don't work for Raybestos but I do install a ton of them. Those EHT are really good for normal vehicles. The price is right, dust is low, pedal feel is great, friction is about on par with OEM and in some cases better. They will survive about 10-15 medium effort stops, and about 3-5 Hard ABS stops. I wouldn't put them in anything bigger than a 7-Seater V6 Crossover, and the weight of those is on the limit of what the pads can do, but over all very good.

The brakes I got from them are the Raybestos Element3 pads and rotors. Working great so far!

The bigger brakes are strong, but the gearbox is obstructive. Steering response is instant and - to your eyes anyway - the MPS corners flat and hard. But wide, high, soft part-bucket seats send the opposite message to your brain , giving the uncomfortable impression the car is rolling in corners.

In my experience the OEM Mazda Miata "Value" brake pads have absolutely horrible initial bite characteristics and require much more pedal pressure to achieve a given level of deceleration than aftermarket performance oriented brake pads.