Akebono brake pads?
 

I've never heard of this brand. But they are in stock at my local Advance auto. Are these pads good or should I order something different online?

Its not a no name brand. They make OE calipers for several different manufacturers' new cars

Great. Is there a better choice for under $80 per axle?

There isn't any good choice for under $80 per axle in my opinion.

I've tried those low cost pads in a number of other cars before, and they are generall garbage. They don't take heat well at all, and even moderately low spirited driving turns them into greased ducks trying to grip your rotors. Even threshhold braking from ~60mph on a 2,600lb car glazes the hell out of pads like that.

You have a performance car with big brakes, it's going to cost you for anything appropriate, even for street driving. $150ish per axle is where most of the good options are.

I'm willing to pay the price for good quality. I'm used to smaller brakes that I could put cheaper pads on and get away with it. Any suggestions then?

What all type of driving are you doing?

My favorite street only pad is the Hawk Ceramic. Completely silent, zero dust, great cold performance. They won't hold up to track temps, but are plenty sufficient for spirited street use. And actually, I guess I have to correct my prior comment. BHR has them for $165 front+rear. black-halo-racing.myshopify.com/collections/rx8-brakes/products/hawk-ceramic-brake-pads He does get some good prices on stuff...

For the track, I don't like Hawk's options. I go with Carbotech's XP line, though they are really noisy and huge amounts of dust, so probably not what you are looking for. Stellar performance though.

Hawk's HP+ and HPS are, to me, the all season tire of the brake world. They are ok for the street and ok for the track, but not good at either. I didn't enjoy them.

I didn't like any of the EBC pads really, mostly a personal feel thing, some people love them.

I haven't tried any Porterfield pads.

And of course, OEM pads are good all around for any street and lower duty/heat track use. Mazmart has them for around $200 front + rear.

Thank you RIWWP. I won't be tracking it. Only regular daily driving with a bit of back road fun once in a while. Looks like the Hawk Ceramic will work just fine for me.

I'll be ordering those!

Any idea who manufactures the OEM Mazda pads? I assume Mazda sources them and rebrands them under their name.

The stock brands are made from Sumitomo.

They're pretty good!

I have Advance Auto's Wearever premium ceramic pads on the 8 and my WRX with no brake fade, no noise, very smooth, low brake dust and great stopping power for street driving with the occasional high speed stops.


Also, use promo code TRT30 for 30% off your order up to $50 off.