The brake pads are vital for safe driving and one of the car maintenance items you should probably check on. The system works like this: pressurized fluid is introduced through the brake lines into a caliper at each wheel, which push on the brake pads, pushing them against the discs in each wheel, and then the brake discs gradually bring the wheels to a stop. Always the middle man, the brake pads will get the most heat, pushed between two different components. That's one of the first things we should think about when it comes to choosing brake pads, and the most common we'll run into in today's automotive market are organic brake pads and ceramic brake pads.
These days, drivers have a lot of options and since it's critical to your driving, you'll want brake pads that can handle the friction and the heat. Aside from organic and ceramic options, semi-metallic pads are another type of brake pad on the market, and they're great for high performance, able to handle a range of temperatures and driving conditions. When it comes to organic and ceramic brake pads, the real issue is, compared to all of the benefits ceramic pads can offer, they can wear down and crack your rotors much faster. This makes them an expensive risk, but is it one worth taking? Let's take a look at some pros and cons of organic and ceramic brake pads.
Organic brakes pads are said to be the most commonly found brake pads on vehicles today, but in reality, they cover maybe 67% of all vehicles on the market. As is the name, organic brake pads are made of naturally occurring materials, such as carbon, Kevlar, glass, and rubber, all mixed together and bonded with resin to form a compound that becomes the brake pad. They're inexpensive, quiet, and well-suited to deal with the heat created when bringing a vehicle to a stop. Great for everyday driving, they don't put a lot of stress on the brake rotors, which is great, because these can be a headache to replace, not to mention costly.
Ceramic brake pads are like the new kids on the block, but have yet to make it big. Why? They're expensive. Made to be more durable, ceramic pads are made from a dense ceramic material similar to what one would find in pottery, but much stronger, mixed with copper fiber. They have a long lifespan and some say they're even quieter than other brake pads on the market. Designed to deal with friction and heat management, ceramic brake pads are great for a wide range of temperatures and weather conditions.
We talked about the pros, but how about the cons? Organic brake pads, while inexpensive, you get what you paid for. They wear down much faster, are less effective in high temperatures, and drivers will have to really push the pedal to the metal, quite figuratively and literally, to come to a full stop. Not meant for performance driving, due to their narrow temperature window, organic pads are good for the everyday commute and errands, but nothing else.
Ceramic brake pads may seem like the winner, but unlike like pottery in a kiln, ceramic brake pads can't handle extreme temperatures either. They also take a while to warm up, leading to low performance of the braking system early on in your drive. And because they don't have great heat absorption capabilities, this can cause the heat generated from braking to bypass the ceramic pads and damage the rest of the braking system. Ouch.
Organic brake pads may wear out more quickly than ceramic brake pads, but unless the latter are made of high-quality materials, they will wear down the rotors excessively. If you're driving a performance car with ceramic brake pads and drilled and slotted rotors, you might see your rotors crack faster than you'd like. Because they need time to warm up, ceramic pads also perform poorly in cold weather conditions. You'll have to replace them less often than organic brake pads, but is the price hike and probability of doing more harm than good really worth it? We don't think so. If you really want to upgrade your brakes, perhaps looking into a big brake kit might be of interest to you.