Having a brake job (front) done and wondering about brands of pads. In researching this site I found a lot about types of pads (organic v. semi metallic) but not much on best brands to use.
I’m learning towards semi-metallic (longer lasting) and not ceramic (more expensive, noisy on bigger vehicles). I read about less dust with ceramic, but also ceramic less effective stopping power in some weather conditions or when cold).
But my question is what brands of semi-metallic pads are better (longer wear life) than others. I’m looking at CRMC pads (good, bad, just OK?).
Thanks for your input.
The difference in stopping speed for ceramic pads is negligible, unless you drive on the hairy edge every day and need those extra few inches/feet of stopping ability. Get ceramic pads for the convenience of longer life and less brake dust.
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thanks psanzone
Have you read this thread?
I use carbon metallics brake pads only.Great stopping power and pedal feel,long lasting.Ceramic brake pads are overpriced in my opinion.
I’m personally a fan of Porterfield R4S-compound brake pads. I find them to be less noisy, better at stopping, and longer-lasting than “normal” pads. They’re more expensive than normal pads too. But even though I don’t make a habit of putting most of my vehicles on race tracks, I like having that stopping power for when that moron suddenly pulls out in front of me.
Make sure you get the R4S, not the R4, as the R4 doesn’t work very well until you get it up to the kind of temperatures you see on a race track.
Thanks all.
have you considered ‘hybrid’ brake pads, which are a combination of ceramic and semi-metallic?
I’ve put them on two of my cars and they brake well, are quiet, and seem to have less dust
Here’s a boring idea - if the factory pads were ok, buy new factory pads from the dealer. Not cheap, but a known quantity.
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That’s exactly what I’ve done with some of my cars . . . I’ve had too many noise problems with aftermarket pads. It’s kind of embarrassing when everybody is staring at you when you’re applying the brakes and slowing down for a stop light . . .
Yeah I just ordered Oem pads because I was happy with the originals.
I’ve always used semi-metallic and never had any trouble . I buy the version which is mid-priced, not the least expensive, and not the most. Here’s some basic info about brake pads, good idea to be familiar with this before deciding. No every car and driver is alike though. If you’ve had trouble with brake pads before, making noises etc, buy the ones they sell at the dealership. Often they aren’t any more expensive than the others anyway.
https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/2012/12/brake-pads-what-to-look-for/index.htm