We have all been down the road where we struggle to shop for the best brake pads without our town and to see which suits our car the most and would be the most efficient in brake pads and cost effective at the same time. Ofcourse without being anything said further, Genuine brake pads are the best and optimum choice for choosing brake pads for your vehicle as they are engineered to the most perfection as per our wheels, braking system and heat and dust generated from the car. But in due time, people to tend to want to choose some reputed aftermarket brake pads brands such as brembo, ac delco and further on. Let us dig deep down to clear out the jargons used for brake pads and see which ones means what to us.

A brief automotive brake system is made up of brake pads and brake rotors which work coherently together to ensure our safety.  Credit must be given to the first founder of brake discs Frederick William Lanchester who patented this technology and later rolled it out to many car manufactures globally which has not become wide spread.  It was the main evolution of the Formula one that gave birth to advanced braking systems with high frequency brake pads and rotors which has amassed a lot of interests with car dealers globally.

Types of Brake Pads

• Ceramic Brake pads

These are considered to be one of the best brake pads possible available in the market be it for genuine brake pads or aftermarket brake pads. They are considered to be very expensive as well and would usually last longer than any of those brake pads. The compound of the brake pad is made strong ceramic mix which comprises of copper and clay and are excellent conductors of heat which can endure strong and hard and severe braking even during times of emergency. Most of the racing teams are strictly using this brake pads which is why they are slightly expensive than regular brake pads. They create much less brake dust, less noisy and the life of the brake pads are much longer.

• Low Metallic Brake Pads

These brake pads composition tends to be little more noiser than the regular ceramic brake pads. Along with this, they do have a lot of brake dust wearing off during regular use. When it comes to the heat transfer capabilities, they are much better compared to the others which are available in the market. The brake pads comprises of 30% metal which could either be copper or steel.

• Semi –Metallic Brake Pads

The best of hybrid compounds which includes combination of metals and synthetic compounds and is considered second best to genuine brake pads. Infact, most the of the new models of the cars comes with these semi- metallic brake pads these days. They are very heard to wear off, produces much less brake dust compared to the rest and longevity in terms of driving miles. The friction between these brake pads are far better and as good as ceramic brake pads.  The composition is made up of 65% metal

• Non- Metallic Brake Pads

For the regular use of driving around the city, it is preferred to use these brake pads as they are made up of various compounds such as rubbers, resins and glasses. These are not suitable for hard or emergency braking as they tend to wear our very easily and brake dust is the most. These also require frequent changes due to fast wearing out. The reason they were made commercial was to tackle the toxic materials coming out of brake dust and to be more environmentally friendly.

• Non-Asbestos Brake pads

Amongst many other aftermarket and replacement brake pads available around the market, these are considered to be the best buy as they are the most resilient to braking and more efficient compared to many others. Some of the best advantages are the production of less noise versus the other materials and the composition of made of very strong fivers and high quality resins.

A quick overview below can also help in getting a better picture for all 4 brake pads before making any decision:-