As a rule of thumb I try to avoid autozone replacement parts for my vehicle. With the brake pads though, I couldn't really see a legitimate reason to go with something else for DD uses. At about $50 for the front pad set, I feel they're more than reasonable for what you get. They're ceramic, so tend to handle heavier braking a bit better, and they have plenty of stopping power. They come with the metal shims to install them, which is nice if your old ones have seen some 195,xxx miles, as well as a packet of grease for them. They fit right into the calipers, I did not need to do any filing what so ever, just be sure that when it comes to the inside pads with the wear indicators, slide the top in first.

Best of all IMO is that through some arcane sorcery autozone offers them with a lifetime warranty, which even protects against wear. I'm happy knowing that I won't have to pay for another set of pads for my car again. :emthup:

Braking power: Great
Dust Production: Had them on for a week, very little so far
Noise: According to the design, it incorporates some rubber shim into the pad itself to help reduce noise, so they've been quiet since installation.

EDIT: I've had these pads on for well over a month now and I have to say I am really impressed with the amount of brake dust they create(very little compared to my last set of ceramic pads). I went from having my white rims turn grey then black in about two weeks, to them only being slightly grey after over a month. I do get my heavy braking in too. These are really continuing to impress me considering I wasn't expecting this much from the duralast brand. :emthup:

Sweet! I've been lookin for a set of pads with a warranty like that. Nice review too, thanks.

Edit: I'd rep you but I have to spread it around first. Boooo!

woot! i work at Autozone and those are some great pads. i only buy those for my lude now until i get a better upgrade but its hard to pass up a warranty like that for sure lol

Final update! It's been a couple of months and I'm still impressed on the brake dust situation! My old ceramic pads would require a scrubbing with a brush to remove all of the brake dust. The dust from these duralasts came off in an automatic car wash I used to melt the ice off my car! :silly:

That's good stuff. :emthup:

the gold series is pretty good also

Easy brake dust removal is a plus. Spending a hour cleaning just the rims sucks!!

Are you guys using these with the Brembo blanks? I need to do my brakes AGAIN, for the 3rd time in 4 years. My fronts are warped to ish, I'm sure it's because of my bad setup. I have cryo treated rotors (which are super hard) and Raybestos pads which are simi-metallic. Ya I know, worst $200 ever spent.

I've been researching and looking up every brand for 6 months and cannot come to a solid conclusion. I've used the stock Nissins (sp?) and stock rotors and it just doesn't do it for me, my pedal gets soft after a few stops and they don't bite at all. I don't mind spending a little extra to get a better setup, I'm just tired of having to change them every year.

BTW, I know my master cylinder is good lol.

I can say that on stock rotors the braking difference between the stock pads and the duralasts is night and day. I don't have slotted rotors yet though, but I imagine the benefit will only continue to increase.

I can say that on stock rotors the braking difference between the stock pads and the duralasts is night and day. I don't have slotted rotors yet though, but I imagine the benefit will only continue to increase.

Yes, thank you. I've somehow convinced myself that my lude is the only one that has crappy brakes because every other 5th gen I've driven has had amazing stopping compared to mine. I'm going to try the Brembo blanks with the C-Max pads.. Hey what can go wrong with a lifetime warranty lol.

Also, have you had any issues with warping rotors?

Nope, and I do like to brake pretty hard lol. Occasionally find myself going from 110-45ish for an exit. Takes no time at all. I hang out with another luder (Darthanis) occasionally and he says my lude brakes much faster than his, the only difference is I have the c-max pads.

Nope, and I do like to brake pretty hard lol. Occasionally find myself going from 110-45ish for an exit. Takes no time at all. I hang out with another luder (Darthanis) occasionally and he says my lude brakes much faster than his, the only difference is I have the c-max pads.

I trust you so much I will in fact buy brake pads from autozone lol. I have never put anything from autozone on my car except wipers lol.

Haha only cleaning products here. The price + warranty + performance can't be beat.

Here's a more in depth review on an Evo forum.

http://forums.evolutionm.net/evo-tires-wheels-brakes-suspension-sponsored-tire-rack/377687-review-autozone-duralast-gold-cmax-pads-ceramic-brakes-daily-driver.html

I never really understood why people bad on duralast pads. They do their jobs just dandy, and the Cmax's are just fuggin awesome Except sometimes they don't come with a complete hardware kit.

I've put these pads on cars from grandma dd's to vigilant auto x's and never had a complaint.

Me either. That's all that I use on my cars. Can't beat 'em.

I never really understood why people bad on duralast pads. They do their jobs just dandy, and the Cmax's are just fuggin awesome Except sometimes they don't come with a complete hardware kit.

I've put these pads on cars from grandma dd's to vigilant auto x's and never had a complaint.

They bash on them because the general accepted rule of thumb: you get what you pay for.

Unfortunately because the C-Max's are so cheap, they earn a reputation of being having sub-par performance for their category. There are sometimes items that perform really well and are priced remarkably competitively, and as such people pay them no attention or are more willing to dismiss anyone's claims about their value because of the price.

I can understand people not trusting duralast parts with their lives, it's the type of product it is. It's meant to be cheap, and built cheap, and are subject to quality defects because of the cheap construction.

Fortunately for us, this is not the case with the C-Max pads.
Couple their great performance/price with the lifetime warranty/free replacements and it's amazing. Think about it, you spend appr. $60 once and have free replacements for as long as you want. It's win win.

that is great warranty cant beat that

Yes I put a set on a much heavier car n looking to put them onto he prelude but right now I have rear caliber problems so I guess by necessity the rear will be dreplaced first

yea their warranty doesn't cover regular wear I thought. I was under the impression that the have a limited lifetime warranty. The guy at my autozone, kept telling me people come in all the time saying they want their new set of pads cause theirs has worn down after normal use.

yea their warranty doesn't cover regular wear I thought. I was under the impression that the have a limited lifetime warranty. The guy at my autozone, kept telling me people come in all the time saying they want their new set of pads cause theirs has worn down after normal use.

As long as they give you the right size for your car they're ok. IF they give you the right one.

wow, im glad i read this review now i know what brake pads to get! thanks for the review fallacy

swweety,off to autozone,

got so excited got a speeding ticket on the way there.;[

How do you manage that?

man that sucks, ghotta take it easy on the gas pedal

Not a bad set of pads for the price. And the warranty is unbeatable. I had doubted that they would replace my worn out CMAX gold pads for my TL-S, but I just took them in, gave them my phone #, and exchanged the old worn out ones for some fresh new ones. So far, so good. No complaints here. And for a DD, stopping that huge pig of a car, they do really well. CMAX gold, F&R.

Just put them into a big Tacoma. They work well. As always I run them in my lude. They're going into the tl and the corolla soon.