5. Hawk Performance pads incorporate technology gleaned from its parent company's extensive experience in aerospace, industrial, and military arenas. The High Performance Street (HPS) pads shown here utilize a Ferro-Carbon compound that advertises low dust, high friction at any temperature, almost no noise, longer pad life, and longer rotor life--all while providing improved performance.
No longer do brake engineers talk about "hard" or "soft" pads; instead, they measure pad material's compressibility. More compressibility means less "feel" at the pedal, and vice versa. Most brake manufacturers are also heavily focused on tribology, which is "the study of the design, friction, wear, and lubrication of interacting surfaces in relative motion." (Thanks, Webster's.) The result of this research is that most high-performance pads generate a transfer film onto the rotor during the bedding-in process. (Most hi-po pads require heat cycling before they're ready for serious use--for example, this writer's aftermarket pads were smoking during the prescribed bedding-in ritual.) The transfer film creates adhesive friction, i.e., pad and rotor adhere to each other during stopping, in addition to the abrasive friction created when the pad is forced against the rotor by the caliper. At the same time, this layer acts as a buffer, since the pad isn't actually contacting the rotor. Response, wear, feel, and consistency are improved.
All that, and we haven't even gotten into brake pad materials. The classifications "metallic," "semi-metallic," and "organic" used to suffice; now they seem a bit limiting. With one exception, the pads we're showing you here can generally be classified as semi-metallic pads, which contain less than 75 percent metallic content. This is where innovations in pad technology are happening, because the non-metallic content can consist of just about anything: carbon, ceramics, Kevlar and other undisclosed unobtaniums. The proprietary formulas are nearly endless, though new classifications such as "carbon-metallic" and "carbon-ceramic" have come into vogue. For example, Hawk Performance's Ferro-Carbon High Performance Street pads are made up of organic, ceramic, metallic, and carbon fiber materials. All the manufacturers shown here have their own witch's brews that provide wicked >> stopping power along with civilized street manners.
Now, we know many of you still run drum brakes, especially on the rear of your Chevys. The simple fact, though, is that drum brake innovations are far and few between. The Master Power big-drum install you'll find elsewhere in this issue utilizes high-tech matrix ceramic shoes; Praise Dyno Brake (www.praisedynobrake.com, 972/ 636-2722) cryogenically treats its drums and shoes, a process they claim makes brake material more dense than stock material, which improves dissipation of heat, therefore increasing performance and extending the wear. Disc systems, however, are the present and the future of high-performance braking, so that's what we've concentrated on here.
We've thrown a lot of engineering gobbledygook at you in a short space, but here it is in a nutshell: never have so many companies invested so much time, money, and research into enabling performance enthusiasts to stop faster, better, and more consistently. One of the manufacturers featured claims 20-40 percent more stopping power with high resistance to fade; another quotes consistent 12-feet reductions in 60-0 stopping distances over OEM pads. Better brake performance, and all the benefits that come with it, may be no further away than a simple pad change away.
6. Performance Friction Brakes uses Multi-Layer Technology in its street-going pads. Beneath the carbon metallic or ceramic compound friction material lie two layers that combat brake noise, and an Ionic Fusion attachment layer that ensures the pad and the stress-relieved backing plate remain a one-piece unit. Visco elastic shims further reduce noise--PFB claims a 95 percent reduction in noise, along with faster stops, extended pad and rotor life, and a firmer brake pedal to boot. | 
7. SBS (Scandinavian Brake Systems) pads for the street come in two versions: the ceramic compound Pro Touring version, and the carbon-ceramic compound Pro Track type. Both claim to eliminate brake fade, keep rotor wear low, and have rising friction levels toward the end of a stop. Pro Touring pads keep the dust and noise low, while Pro Track pads feature a high level of initial bite. Advanced technologies in the areas of pad retention, pad degassing, and material blending are also used. | 
8. Wilwood is one of the newest entrants in the performance brake pad market with its PolyMatrix brand. These pads claim a "unique balance" of abrasive and adhesive friction elements to provide superior stopping power without undue rotor wear. Wilwood's Nucap Retention System consists of hook-like steel projections on the backing plate that are molded into the friction material to create a virtually one-piece unit. Compounds "E", "D", "Q", and "T" are appropriate for various types of performance street use. |