Brake Pads

A road pad works from cold, but past 500 degrees it starts to fade. A race pad bites weakly until it warms up and only comes in from around 200 degrees, so on the first lap it stops less than you expect. DBA, Ferodo Racing, CL Brakes and Pagid.

The compound decides everything

A pad has a temperature window in which it brakes the way it was designed to. Below it the bite is weak, and that is exactly why a competition pad is dangerous on a city car: on the first stop, cold, it does not pull the car up. Above it, the material gives up and the pedal goes to the floor.

How to choose

• Road: works from cold, little dust, little noise. The default choice if the car is driven every day.
• Road plus the occasional trackday: takes more heat and still brakes acceptably cold. The compromise people ask for most.
• Competition: high, steady friction at temperature, but they need heat in them. Only on a car that goes on track.

What else matters

An aggressive pad wears the disc faster: count the discs into the budget as well. New pads need bedding in, otherwise the material lays down unevenly and the pedal starts to vibrate. And if the pedal is soft, the cause is more often in the hoses or in old brake fluid than in the pad: fluid takes up water over time, and water boils far below the temperature fresh fluid boils at.