No typical brake pad available on the market today suits any car or driver in particular more so then another - there are many factors involved such as your vehicles braking design, original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and your needs and desires, for example - a track heavy vehicle with a heavy footed driver will need / want a completely different brake pad setup than a city driver who has a soft foot, again in turn it changes again to a person who uses their car mostly for highway commuting.
We will explain the various types of brake pad materials and compositions on the market today and their benefits.
Semi-metallic brake pads are readily available and relatively cheap, they contain about 65% metal and 35% is a mixture of carbon and other inorganic materials. The advantage of these type of pads is the ability to efficiently transfer heat, but the drawback is an excessive hardness which causes premature deterioration of the brake discs. However, semi-metallic brake pads are the best choice for sporty style drivers.
Low-metal brake pads design differ again from Semi-metallic brake pads as they are made majority of organic materials. With less than 30% metal material, they still provide good thermal efficiency while proving to show less wear on the brake rotors / discs while still maintaining a efficient braking performance. However, due to the composition of materials, low-metal brake pads typically cost almost double than their semi-metallic counterparts.
Organic the most widely adopted brake pad fitted to vehicles from vehicle manufactures. The base composition of these brake pads are Kevlar, glass and carbon while no more than 15% metal is used. These are soft and ultimately quieter brake pads but come at the cost of increased / accelerated wear in such they are usually the cheapest of the brake pads to produce and manufacture so manufactures typically install these to their new vehicles.
Ceramic brakes are made of ceramic fibres, synthetic rubbers and other non-ferrous metals and materials. These pads are much less abrasive to brake rotors and other components then their counterparts, the braking performance is usually enhanced and due to the less friction materials - typically produce a much lower brake dust than all their counterparts, however due to their composition, and they are ultimately the most expensive option.
If you would like to know even more about your car brakes please see our related articles;
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