Brakes are by far the most important part of a car. The ability to stop your car smoothly and quickly is very essential. This becomes more important if you have done other major tuning like engine swapping to increase the performance of the car.
The basic way they function is by converting the speed of the car into heat. When the brake pedals are pressed the servo is started, this in turn causes the increase in pressure of the fluid in the brake lines. However as the fluid does not compress this pressure is passed to the brake pads which press against the brake disk thus producing friction. This friction is the reason why the car stops.
Maintenance and checking of this liquid is essential. Many car makers ask it to be changed once a year while others require it to be checked to make sure it is still effective. These pads are made from material which can take huge amount of friction and hence can tolerate high temperature.
The sports pad will give you effective braking even at very high temperature and heavy usage however they take some time to reach their effective temperature and hence are not good for a daily driver. However the standard brakes are pretty good in cold braking situations but become less effective at higher temperature.
On the other hand the job of the disk is to dissipate the heat produced by this friction. Hence if they have larger surface area it helps. Grooves in the disk will help to remove the gas which might be build up. The vented disk are also good as they have enough space between the two different contact sides. This helps in giving twice the surface area.
Different Types of Brake Pads are:
1. Budget pads: They are the NON-OEM replacement brakes which generally guarantee longer lifetime. However they are able to achieve this by reducing the friction area. If you are driving a performance car it is highly advised not to go for these pads.
2. OEM pads: They come directly from the car manufacturer and have specific rating for different models. Lots of R&D has been done on them and they have a good balance between the time it takes to wear and the friction produced. It is preferable to go with these pads.
3. Performance pads: They come in different grades. They might be different for different requirement like for driving on fast roads to track racing. Using the standard pads on track days might even cause them to catch fire within a few laps. However you should not put these pads on a daily driver as they take a considerable amount of time to reach their peak performance and without it they give really poor braking which can be dangerous. You need to look for the exact requirement and then put the pads which best suit.
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