I hope this doesn't start a flame war..............
Bazzle said:
The giant auto companies buy what is the cheapest to meet their spec. Nothing more.
Thats why people mod cars etc. Auto companies usually follow.
Bazzle
The key words there are "
to meet their spec.". The specs. are a lot higher then many people give them credit for. I worked in the testing departments of two different friction material companies (brake manufacturers) for 18 years, both
on the dynamometers (we had 23 of the automotive dynos) and in the field. The brake companies spend a lot of time and money trying to meet these specs, and yes, as cheaply as they can, (profit motive) but it's not as easy as you might think it is.
We had automotive dyno's that ranged from testing cars as small as Volkswagens right up to as big of a truck as there is. We also had two railroad dynamometers, one of which was the largest in the world. The point being that a lot of time, money, and effort goes into the testing of brake materials, and the car companies spend just as much, if not more, developing
balanced brake systems. To indiscriminately interchange pad materials without a clue as to what you are doing, is fool hardy, and in extreme cases downright dangerous. Most average pads run close to the same coefficient of friction because no one knows what you will replace your pads with downstream, but when you start going to the high performance, or specialty stuff, things can change fast, and that includes braking balance.
OJ mentioned the heat from his braking actually damaged the plastic hubcaps on his wheels.... does anyone here have a clue as to how much heat energy that requires? And all that heat comes from the brake pads, through the disc, through the wheel hub, and then though the wheel itself! Either OJ was exaggerating, or the grease in his wheel bearings is wasted, it's a good thing he has stainless brake lines 'cause the plastic/rubber coated stock ones would have melted, and very likely the brake fluid would have boiled at some point in time..........
When race teams change brakes they go to the big companies like Brembo, Willwood, and Girling, they don't pick and choose parts from here and there, the same holds true for brake materials. For a neophyte to try, and come up with a
winner, is PURE UNADULTERATED DUMB LUCK, and quite frankly I don't believe it.
Like I have said before, we're all big boys here, we can do as we wish with our cars. We had this same conversation a number of years back, and with almost the same comments. I think before this turns into a flame war, maybe some of us should do a little research before flying by the seat of our pants....