Lecture Hall on Car Modification Knowledge - Brake Pads
Many car enthusiasts will modify the calipers when modifying and upgrading the brake system. Brake discs are very conspicuous and not cheap brake components. It may be easy to overlook the brake pads hidden in the calipers. . However, in fact, countless facts and money have proven that the performance of the brake pads directly determines whether the overall performance of the braking system can be fully exerted. At the same time, modifying the brake pads, to a certain extent, is the least expensive and most effective. Good modification plan.
So, next, let’s take a look at the performance measurement indicators of brake pads and the brands and models of related modified parts.
Braking System
Brake pad classification and performance technical indicators
There are a total of eight indicators to measure the performance of brake pads, which are:
1. Initial braking performance: whether the braking force output is linear during the braking process;
2. Wear resistance: the life of the brake pad;
3. Friction coefficient: The friction coefficient of the friction material in the brake pad. The friction coefficient is proportional to the braking force;
4. Disc wear: the amount of brake disc wear in the brake pads;
5. Thermal attenuation: the high-temperature critical failure point of the brake pad, that is, when the temperature exceeds a certain temperature limit, the braking effect of the brake pad will decrease rapidly or even fail;
6. Dust amount: the amount of wear debris generated by the friction between the brake pad friction material and the brake disc;
7. Noise amount: the noise produced by the combination of brake pads and brake discs;
8. Controllability: continuous braking control performance under high intensity.
Generally speaking, there are two performance indicators that we are most concerned about when modifying and upgrading brake pads:
1. Friction coefficient determines the strength of friction;
2. Thermal attenuation determines the ultimate braking performance of the brake. The higher the thermal attenuation temperature, the brake can adapt to more extreme environments and ensure longer braking performance.
The types of brake pads currently on the market can be divided into the following three categories based on their use:
Category 1: Original brake pads/original replacement brake pads
It refers to the brake pads installed on original mass-produced vehicles, and is also the brake pads recommended by the car manufacturer for replacement, maintenance and installation;
Original brake pads
This type of brake pad pays more attention to several indicators such as high wear resistance, low disk consumption, low dust volume and low noise. The performance settings are suitable for daily environment use, but in terms of braking force and friction coefficient (original factory Friction coefficient is about 0.3), thermal attenuation (generally below 300°) and other aspects are not satisfactory;
Category 2: High Performance Street & Track Day
Refers to high-performance replacement brake pads that meet the technical requirements of the original manufacturer or have performance indicators that exceed those of the original manufacturer. The performance of this high-performance brake pad generally exceeds that of the original parts.
High performance brake pads
The performance of high-performance brake pads can exceed that of the original factory in all aspects, and is higher than the friction coefficient of the original factory (around 0.3~0.40), bringing more linear and powerful braking force without increasing the amount of disc consumption, dust, and The amount of noise is excessively increased, and at the same time it can improve the thermal attenuation resistance (the thermal attenuation temperature is about 450°~600°), providing a safer guarantee for daily driving, and occasionally playing Track Day.
Category 3: Competitive brake pads/track brake pads (race)
Refers to competitive brake pads suitable for use in track and other field events. The technical performance indicators of this type of brake pads are completely different from the first two types of brake pads.
Racing brake pads
Competitive brake pads are not suitable for daily use, and their technical indicators are completely different from the first two categories. This type of brake pad has a high friction coefficient (friction coefficient is about 0.45~0.5), which makes the braking force extremely powerful and has high resistance to thermal attenuation. (Thermal attenuation temperature is about 750°~1000°), the vehicle has higher controllability; at the same time, the shortcomings are also obvious, it is extremely not wear-resistant, has a large amount of disk consumption, and has a large amount of dust and noise.
The initial temperature of ordinary brake pads (that is, the temperature at which braking action begins) is generally 0°, that is, braking force can be generated at room temperature, while the initial temperature of competitive brake pads is generally 200°, and cannot be generated between normal temperature and 200° Braking effect, so this type of brake pad is only suitable for track use and is prohibited from road driving.
