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Views: 27 Author: Site Editor Publish Time: 2025-08-11 Origin: Site
As a core component for driving safety, automotive brake pads directly impact braking performance and the driving experience. Brake pads of varying materials and structures are suited for significantly different applications. Choosing the wrong type can lead to unusual braking noises, premature wear, and even safety hazards. This article will detail the most common brake pad types to help you choose the right one based on your vehicle's needs.
Resin-based brake pads are the most common type used in family cars. They are primarily composed of organic fibers (such as glass fiber and aramid fiber) as a backbone, mixed with a resin binder, friction modifier, and other materials.
Key Features: These brake pads offer a moderate coefficient of friction (typically between 0.35 and 0.45), a wide operating temperature range (-40°C to 250°C), minimal wear on the brake disc, and can effectively extend the overall life of the brake system. Due to their softer material, they generate less noise and dust during braking, making them ideal for moderate driving scenarios such as city commuting and daily commuting.
Target Audience: Family car owners who value comfort and economy, especially those driving Japanese and Korean models that prioritize smooth ride quality.
Precautions: Resin-based brake pads are prone to thermal fade under extreme driving conditions, such as continuous descents and high-intensity braking. This significantly reduces braking performance and is therefore not recommended for aggressive driving or heavily loaded vehicles.
Semi-metallic brake pads have a high metal content, typically containing steel fibers, copper powder, iron powder, and other metal components, accounting for 30%-60%. The remainder is organic binders and friction additives.
Key Features: The addition of metal components significantly improves thermal conductivity, resulting in superior thermal stability compared to resin-based brake pads. The operating temperature can be extended to around 350°C, and thermal degradation occurs later. Furthermore, semi-metallic brake pads offer enhanced wear resistance, extending their service life by 20%-30% compared to organic brake pads, making them suitable for frequent braking conditions.
Target Audience: Drivers who frequently drive in mountainous areas and require frequent braking, or those driving heavier vehicles such as turbocharged vehicles and SUVs.
Potential Disadvantages: Metal materials increase braking noise and dust generation, and also cause relatively greater wear on the brake discs. Long-term use may require earlier brake disc replacement.
Key Features: Ceramic material offers outstanding high-temperature resistance, operating at temperatures exceeding 600°C, making thermal degradation less likely even with prolonged and intense driving. They also offer a stable coefficient of friction (0.4-0.5), linear braking response, and minimal dust generation during braking. The dust is mostly light-colored, resists adhesion to the wheel hub, and is easy to clean.
Suitable Applications: Drivers seeking a high-performance driving experience, luxury car owners, or those who frequently navigate challenging road conditions such as highways and mountain roads.
Price Advantage: While ceramic brake pads have a higher initial purchase cost, their even wear and long lifespan (typically 1.5-2 times that of resin-based brake pads) make them more economical over time.
4. Sintered Metal Brake Pads
Sintered metal brake pads are performance-grade products. Sintered metal brake pads are formed by fusing metal powders such as copper, iron, and nickel with wear-resistant materials through a high-temperature sintering process. The metal content is over 80%.
Key Features: Extremely stable in extreme environments, with an operating temperature exceeding 800°C, it can withstand the high-intensity braking demands of racing cars and off-road vehicles. Its high coefficient of friction of 0.5-0.6 provides powerful braking force, making it suitable for applications requiring instant braking.
Suitable Applications: Specialized vehicles such as professional racing cars and off-road modified vehicles, rarely used in ordinary family cars.
Significant Disadvantages: The hard material results in excessive braking noise, severe wear on the brake disc, and poor comfort in daily driving. Furthermore, the braking effect is poor in cold temperatures, requiring preheating to achieve full performance.
The core advantage of composite brake pads comes from their unique material combination. They are typically constructed with an organic fiber (such as glass fiber or carbon fiber) as a base, combined with an appropriate amount of metal particles (such as copper and aluminum), ceramic powder, and a high-performance binder. This formulation retains the comfort of organic materials while incorporating the stability of metal and ceramic, achieving a "1+1>2" performance improvement.
Key Features:Compared to single-material brake pads, composite brake pads offer better balance. Their friction coefficient remains stable between 0.4 and 0.48, and their operating temperature range extends from -30°C to 450°C. They maintain reliable braking performance, whether starting from cold temperatures or under moderate to high-intensity braking. Thermal fade is significantly less pronounced than with traditional resin-based brake pads.
In terms of durability, composite brake pads offer a service life exceeding 30% longer than pure organic brake pads. Furthermore, because the metal content is kept within a reasonable range (typically 20%-35%), they incur only 60%-70% of the wear on the brake disc compared to semi-metallic brake pads, effectively reducing overall brake system maintenance costs.
Furthermore, they inherit some of the advantages of ceramic brake pads, generating less noise during braking and producing far less dust than semi-metallic pads. This significantly reduces wheel cleaning complexity, offering a balance of practicality and aesthetics.
Suitable Applications: The versatile properties of composite brake pads make them suitable for a wide range of scenarios. For drivers who frequently commute between urban and suburban areas, they can handle the demands of frequent stop-start and moderate-speed cruising. For drivers of heavier vehicles like SUVs or family MPVs, their stable braking performance provides added peace of mind. Even those who occasionally engage in light mountain driving will find their reliable performance under continuous braking. However, it is important to note that while composite brake pads offer balanced performance, they still lack the high-temperature and wear resistance of professional metal sintered brake pads in extreme racing scenarios or under long-term heavy-load conditions.
Significant Disadvantages:Extreme performance is insufficient, high-temperature and high-intensity braking is prone to thermal attenuation, and is inferior to metal sintered brake pads; the initial purchase cost is higher than that of ordinary resin-based brake pads; it is not well adapted to some older models, and may cause abnormal noise or braking delays.
In addition to the material type, consider the following key points when purchasing brake pads: Prioritize reputable brands that comply with the national standard (GB5763) and avoid inferior aftermarket parts. It's recommended to replace the entire vehicle uniformly to ensure even braking performance. New brake pads require a 200-300 km run-in period, avoiding sudden braking.
Different types of brake pads have their own advantages and disadvantages; there's no absolute "best," only the most suitable option. For family cars focused on comfort and economy, resin-based brake pads are recommended. For frequent mountain driving, semi-metallic brake pads are recommended. For high-end performance, ceramic brake pads are the first choice. Choose your brake pad based on your vehicle's usage and regularly check the pad thickness (generally, if it's less than 3mm, it should be replaced promptly) to keep your braking system in top condition and ensure driving safety.If you don’t know how to choose a suitable and durable brake pad,you can visit our website ：https://www.evfriction.com,or you can contact us by +86-13363216781
