OEM Brake Pads ( does it matter )
 

MUCH confusion over what to do on this one.

I've got a 2001 ES 2.0, 47k LOVE IT ( except for the slight rattle coming out of the driver center pillar )

Recently at my mechanics shop to do my brakes, he told me his parts suppliers said no one made rear pads for my car yet, so I had to get them from the dealer. OUCH

So we did that, they're fine.

Now we go to do the fronts and the Bendix pads for my car, dont exactly match up to the OEM's.

The surface area of the Bendix is about 6-8% smaller, and the notches on the sides of the pads, bore slightly different inside grooves. Then again my OEM's have 47k on them....

The groove thing didnt so much concern me as the smaller surface area did. The pads fit fine in the caliper, slid right in, not too much play... Now the dealbreaker......

He says to me that he thinks the Bendix is a better pad, will stop better in spite of the smaller surface area, and its what he would put on the car. HOWEVER he's not sure if the OEM's are semi metallic, ( they have copper fibers in them ) and if they're not I wont be able to go back to organic pads again. Then again my roters are going to have to be replaced at 80-90k anyway.

I didnt feel comfortable, asked him to put my old pads back in, and left, to hopefully consult with those who might know.

Has anyone out there had good or bad experiences with Bendix pads on their ride? Should I spend the extra money on OEM's?

TIA for anyone who can offer some insight.

- Mike

did he give you are reason on why you "wouldn't be able to go back to organic pads again"?

you should have no problems with semi-metallic pads, i'll bet the OEM pads are semi-metallic. the bendix pads are probably just fine for your car.
if you are looking for exactly the same performance as it had from the factory then the OEM pads are the only ones that will give you that. installing aftermarket pads will change the way they feel. it may be better, it may be worse.

Many, if not most, new cars are now using ceramic pads as OEM instead of semi-metallic. Check out ceramicfriction.com for the Akebono pads and buy them from philsinc.com. They are probably as good as the OEM and cheaper too. In fact, it is possible that Mazda OEM pads ARE Akebono pads. They make pads for many older cars as well as I recently junked my Advance "Gold" pads on my '86 Corolla for the Akebono for $30. So far so good---exact fit, no dust, no noise. Check it out .
RH

OEM mfr is dependent on model and location. Akebono is a good choice and is one of the OEM manufacturers for Mazda. Mazda dealers seem to have replaced OEM brake pads with Mazda's Value Line pads. their selling point is cheaper than oem, better than aftermarket.

one problem with aftermarket fitment is some pads might share part numbers with other applications (and applications for other localities), so the amount of surface area may be more or less than what came with the car. an example is the 626 pad vs. the MSP pad. ideally you want to replace it with the exact pad that is spec'd to your model. the grooves are only a wear indicator. allows you to inspect the pad while still on the caliper.

you can change pad material all you want as long as you resurface the rotors (something you should do with each brake job anyway). a glaze forms on the surface of the rotor because of the way the pad mates with the rotor in the high temps. going to a different pad material is as easy as resurfacing or replacing the rotor with a new one.