I got into a discussion about *street* driving with OEM vs. cheap parts store pads vs. aftermarket upgrade pads. I don't think aftermarket pads stop the car any faster, assuming they aren't overheated.

The way I see it, in a straight line panic/emergency braking situation, they are all capable of stopping the car at the limits of the tires. All of them are capable of producing enough bite to lock the wheels at any time, which means the difference in stopping distance comes down to the driver. I can see the difference in feel making it easier to threshold brake in a non-ABS car, but I can't see it stopping you quicker.

I can't say I've ever been on the street in my daily driver and tried to lock my wheels at 60mph to prove that my OEM pads can do it, but if you have, or can explain why my thoughts are off the mark I'd appreciate it.

Dave

 

Most oem pads are quality parts. The cheap parts store pads are crap due to most them being glued together. When these cheap pads heat up the glue is released causing your rotors and pads to glaze. This process allows your brake components to overheat very quickly and you will lose quite a bit of your braking ability.

Your OEM and high end pads are press bonded instead of being glued. This method is far superior than the gluing method. These pads are also composed of higher grade materials that disapate heat better. This allows for much better braking even after the components are hot. You will experience signiicantley less brake fade and also more initial braking force with high end or oem pads.

 

you are correct dgeesaman
assuming fade is not a factor

tires stop car
pads stop the wheels from turning

if stock pads can lock brakes at all speeds
and aftermarket pads can lock brakes at all speeds
the only improvement in stopping is the quicker response to getting to max braking (i.e. negligible)

 

Let me tell you from first hand expierence that Cheap parts store pads are DANGEROUS when pushed any harder than one hard stop.

I have done Numerous High speed braking in different cars with pads raning from Stock to Porterfield to Oreilly's pads.

On MY SVT I they replaced the factory pads under warranty after stress cracks developed in the rotors after 1 year. The replacement factory pads did not stop anywhere near as well as the originals. I replaced with EBC Greenstuff and street and AutoX performance was noticably better. I also cracked the new rotors in 1/4 of the time.

I replaced the rear pads in my RX-7 with pads from Oreillys to track down some brake noise. On the street they worked fine no problem. Took the car to Hallett and lost almost all brake force after 4 laps. Fronts were Hawk HPS. I put my old set of Hawk HPS on back on the rears and no more fade or brake problems.

I will agree with you on paper that as long as the pad will lock a wheel then the maximum clamping force is reached and a better pad is not needed. However from expierence driving with a variety of pads I know better. Also, no matter what car I have ever driven I have never locked a FRONT wheel at more than ~50mph. If you do, then you have a Rotor problem not a pad problem.

 

It does take some instant of time for the pads to heat the rotor and lock the tire.

Race pads tend to have a higher friction coefficient so the instant you push the pedal the brakes will come on slightly quicker. This is a very small increment of time though and wouldn't create a measurable reduction in braking distance except from very high speeds.

On the other hand since race pads have such a friction coefficient it doesn't take as much brake pedal pressure to lock the tires. To the driver this makes it seem like the car stops quicker because he doesn't have to work as hard.

 

Thanks for the responses. The scope of the other discussion was for street driving, and someone asserting that aftermarket pads were *safer* on the street. Safer meaning that you could stop quicker in an emergency situation. Of course, I call BS on that, because even cheap pads can produce enough braking torque to perform basically the same as fancy street brake pads. Once, at least. In a true emergency, you shouldn't care about what happens to the tires or pads in the process.

Generally it seems my reasoning was on the mark; except that I'm sure that at some higher speed a lower friction pad will result in a slower initial bite due to the higher wheel rotating inertia.

That's where I think a lot of people are misled - they find themselves stopping harder with a more aggressive pad. They have no idea the reason is simply because they had never figured out the limits of the OEM pads - and now using the same pedal pressure, the grippier pad has put them closer to the threshold. They walk away thinking 'wow those pads can really stop the car!'

Dave

 

You probably already know but the opposite is in fact true. A real race pad can be downright scary before it heats. In a panic stop on the street the best you could hope for is the car would actually slow a little before slamming into what you were trying to avoid

 

Yeah, when I'm talking about aftermarket pads, I was referring to the streetable 'performance' pads, not real race pads.

Those folks simply had no concept of the limitations of braking and the difference between racing brake setups vs street setups.

Dave

 

Yep. You don't want those on your street car.

 

generally proformance pads work at sligtly larger temp ranges. meaning they can stand a little track use or auto x and street use. where stock pads will die verry fast on the track.

 

They may not specifically stop it faster, but it will endure more high speed stops without glazing, or excess fade.