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Review - Duralast Gold Cmax/Brake Pads from Autozone

52K views 12 replies 6 participants last post by  Journeyman_steve 
#1 ·
Disclaimer: Please don't lecture me about why I should have gone with upgraded pads, I know all about the virtues of doing so, did so for rear pads, and will be doing so for the fronts in the future. Now for the review:

Back in early February of this year I installed Duralast Gold Cmax front pads from Autozone. They cost $54.99 before tax. At the time, I was not planning on doing much modding and I know that most of the upgraded front pads are in the $100-200 range for street and prices go up from there. All things considered, I must say that I am pleased with my purchase, in spite of some shortcomings. Here's why:

Price:
Well, it's hard to beat $54.99 for some front pads

Dust:
These are not dusty at all. In fact, it takes about a month after the wheels are washed for the dust to be plainly noticeable (driving 250ish miles per week)

Noise:
No noise whatsoever

Braking performance:
Initial bite is slightly reduced over OEM pads, but I'd still give it a good rating. I like to drive spiritedly from time to time and I find the initial bite is only slightly reduced. These pads will haul the car from triple digit velocities to reasonable speeds without any sort of fade, though they do fade eventually. I have had some moments where I cursed these pads, such as when braking from 80ish to 30ish repeatedly in quick succession, but after reading some recent reviews of other pads (Hawk HPS in particular), I feel that these are just as good if not better than many of the more expensive "Street Performance" or "Better than stock" pads out there. Sure, these are not fit for track duty and really don't work all that well for AutoX, but they sure do get the job done on the street 99% of the time.

Conclusion:
If you don't track your car or AutoX and don't get on the brakes hard repeatedly, these pads should be just fine for you and you'll save some dough in the process. Me personally, I will be upgrading them soon because I plan to crank up the number of AutoX's I participate in next season and while these pads were ok for the Novice class, I feel I should upgrade to be competitive in my class (Tire B-Stock) and I don't mind the noise and dust of a more aggressive pad.
 
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#2 ·
wow, no comments in 10 days. I thought there'd at least be some discussion. I guess I'll just bump this for the Monday morning crowd
 
#3 ·
I had these same pads on my car (only fronts) for 2 weeks because i desperately needed new pads, was going on a roadtrip and the the pads i wanted dint reach me in time (hawk HP+). Honestly, I really dint like them. YEs there was minimal dust and no noise (which i dont mind at all) but imo the initial bite and overal breaking power were quite down form stock pads. Glad they worked fine for you though and yes its mad savings...
 
#5 ·
When I first installed them, they did suck. Once they were broken in though, they improved to "acceptable" levels, for me at least. Either that or I forgot how the car is supposed to brake, lol. My main point was just that these might work just as well as some of the aftermarket street pads that end up not actually being an upgrade over the stock pads.
 
#7 ·
From Tommy Boy (via IMDB):


Tommy: Let's think about this for a sec, Ted. Why would somebody put a guarantee on a box? Hmmm, very interesting.
Ted Nelson, Customer: Go on, I'm listening.
Tommy: Here's the way I see it, Ted. Guy puts a fancy guarantee on a box 'cause he wants you to feel all warm and toasty inside.
Ted Nelson, Customer: Yeah, makes a man feel good.
Tommy: 'Course it does. Why shouldn't it? Ya figure you put that little box under your pillow at night, the Guarantee Fairy might come by and leave a quarter, am I right, Ted?
[chuckles until he sees that Ted is not laughing]
Ted Nelson, Customer: [impatiently] What's your point?
Tommy: The point is, how do you know the fairy isn't a crazy glue sniffer? "Building model airplanes" says the little fairy; well, we're not buying it. He sneaks into your house once, that's all it takes. The next thing you know, there's money missing off the dresser, and your daughter's knocked up. I seen it a hundred times.
Ted Nelson, Customer: But why do they put a guarantee on the box?
Tommy: Because they know all they sold ya was a guaranteed piece of shit. That's all it is, isn't it? Hey, if you want me to take a dump in a box and mark it guaranteed, I will. I got spare time. But for now, for your customer's sake, for your daughter's sake, ya might wanna think about buying a quality product from me.
 
#6 ·
I guess i dint have them on long enough then...
 
#9 ·
Disclaimer: Please don't lecture me about why I should have gone with upgraded pads, I know all about the virtues of doing so, did so for rear pads, and will be doing so for the fronts in the future. Now for the review:

...

Price:
Well, it's hard to beat $54.99 for some front pads
.....
I won't bust your nutz. Me, I run ASR's for the mileage/price calculus, and I have definitely considered cheap ol' pads while searching for pads the past year and a half. I'm not saying "no" (even though I loved the Tommy Boy dialogue post), thankfully I have some GS6's new I can use after I kill my second DD pads. I'm over 45,000 miles so cheaper pads aren't a bad thing. Then again, I guess it's pertinent I also have a track set of pads with rotors I use for that setup too. :$:
 
#10 ·
squeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaak getting a cup of coffee at the drive through
squeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaak finding a parking spot
squeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaak in my own freakin neighborhood, knocking squirrels out trees

Seriously. It takes 30 seconds to change pads. I'll put on race pads on for an Auto X / HPDE that day and then take them off. I'm running Duralast rears and OEM fronts right now. I'm ditching the fronts ASAP.
 
#11 ·
squeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaak getting a cup of coffee at the drive through
squeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaak finding a parking spot
squeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaak in my own freakin neighborhood, knocking squirrels out trees

Seriously. It takes 30 seconds to change pads. I'll put on race pads on for an Auto X / HPDE that day and then take them off. I'm running Duralast rears and OEM fronts right now. I'm ditching the fronts ASAP.
Yeah, for as easy of a change out as we have, its inexcusable to not have at least two sets of pads if you track/auto-x even occassionally or rarely... if you EVER run that spirited, you should change brakes, just so YOU know what the condition of your ride is in.
 
#13 ·
Yup my car squeals like a stuck pig and I can't take it anymore. I caught myself pumping the brakes coming to a stoplight just to avoid the sound. When I put on the Duralasts I realized how silly it all is. Jacking up the car takes 80% of the time.

And that "gentle technique" causes it's own problems with rotor material bedding -- I notice that with some intermediate "juddering" that comes and goes if I haven't been careful to abuse the brakes :)

Them brakes need to be steadily pushed or else the pad material becomes un-even.
 
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