


Organic, or non-metallic, brake pads are generally the softest (and thus have a short lifespan). Stopping distance will increase when brake pads are operated outside their intended heat range, even if it’s because the pads are too cold. This material takes longer to warm up to optimal operating temperature so it may actually not be best for a daily driver. For most drivers, the expense doesn’t justify the gain in performance. The temporary loss of braking ability due to overheating is called brake fade.Īlong the many benefits, ceramic brake pads have the highest cost. Each pad material is carefully manufactured to have the right friction coefficient so if the temperature is outside the intended range the material behaves differently. It’s very important for brake pads to dissipate heat effectively since overheated pads don’t work well, if at all. These are great for aggressive driving as the ceramic dissipates heat very well and they wear slowly. Synthetic or ceramic brake pads are made of mostly ceramic with some filler material held together by a bonding compound. These are sometimes used in performance driving and work well as long as the car has ample time to warm up since the material works much better when it’s warm. These cost-effective parts really shine when they’re used to stop heavy vehicles, though they’re great for road cars as well. Metallic pads are used in most vehicles because there is a great cost to benefit ratio. Using these may wear your rotors faster than you’d like. They are quite tough, so usually the rest of the brake system wears before the pads do. Metallic brake pads, sometimes called semi-metallic pads, are made of a mixture of materials such as steel, iron, graphite, and copper held together with an organic resin.
BEST BUDGET BRAKE PADS HOW TO
Related: How to Measure Brake Pad Thickness Metallic/Semi-Metallic Here are the three main brake pad materials in use today. Of course, we now know that asbestos can cause severe illness when the dust is inhaled, so alternatives quickly became the norm. Older vehicles used asbestos to make brake pads due to its superior ability to rid itself of heat. When brake pads do their job, they turn the kinetic energy of a moving vehicle into thermal energy (a lot of heat), so the pads must be made of a material that dissipates heat well.
