Brake Pads: OEM, Premium or Ultra-Premium?

[00tec]

I ran the cheapest pads ($20 lifetime warranty shit) for EXACTLY 3 cycles. Took me 45 days.
The super cheapo pads may work if you drive like granny, but in my experience, they suck. New pads, rotors, calipers, lines, and master cylinder net me a total of less than 3 weeks on a set. (Resulting in cooking the rotors and caliper boots)
Granted, this was when I was a teenager, driving my sedan like Dale Sr.

I will run nothing other than good ceramic pads now. Wagner Thermoquiets are my choice. I switched to Wagners after the 3rd set on the same car I spoke about above. The pads lasted 8 years (and had 20% left on swap) before I went with a larger brake set.

Triple the price. More than triple the worth. Less brake dust on wheels, less sparks flying past windows, etc.

ETA: if the Wagners are not available for the vehicle I am working on (friend's), i will lean toward Autozone Duralast Gold.