Anybody here had experience with the Akebono ceramic brake pads vs Duralast ceramic pads from Autozone? The Autozone pads are about $20 cheaper AND I wouldn't have to wait for shipping. They also include rubber shims and the hardware.

Any thoughts?

I've only used the Akebono ceramics. They are good. They don't wear out fast and they have little brake dust. I haven't measured stopping distances but they are fine, subjectively.

I picked up the Duralast pads so I could end my squealing brake torture this Tuesday, so I'll let everyone know how I like them.

Nothing, NOTHING drives me as mad as squealing brakes.

I just put Akebono pads on when I did a complete brake overhaul. The rebuilt calipers I chose came loaded with Centric 104 pads which were supposed to be pretty good, but I had a lot
of Saab friends recommend Akebono Ceramic, so I used those instead. My installation was flawless, the car stops just fine and literally no brake dust. The shims are built into Akebono
pads and after speaking with technical support about installation, you don't need to do anything with them when installing, (no grease on the back side of the pads). The decision cost
me more $, but I'm happy with the results.

+1 for Akebono ceramic. I'm not an aggressive driver but very happy with stopping and even more so the decreases in brake dust over stock.

Just finished installing the new brake pads. They feel fine and stop very smoothly. Also bled the front brakes, which was apparently done not very long ago, as the fluid was pretty clean and still sort of honey colored.

The guy who machined my rotors did say that one side was within 1/1000 of tolerance and the other at 3/1000, so I'll be replacing my rotors next time, too.

Replacing the pads themselves was incredibly easy. The only part that gave us trouble was fitting that clip over the caliper. Any special tools or recommendations for making that simpler next time?

I use nothing but Akebono on all my vehicles.... The best pads, hands down...

I'll probably get the Akebono pads for my wife's Mini Cooper S when those need replacing. See how I like them, then.

Thank you all for all the input!