Read these two articles on brake pads
http://ricksfreeautorepairadvice.com/bra...
http://ricksfreeautorepairadvice.com/bes...
I find that the cheap ones do just as good a job of stopping the car as the expensive ones. Any brake pad can apply enough friction to lock up your tires, excepting ABS. That's really the only thing that's important.
Expensive pads might last a bit longer than cheap ones, but at 5x the price, who is that helping? Also, some of the more expensive pads may dissipate heat better, which is helpful for those with a commute down a mountain road or such. 99% of drivers would never know the difference either way.
It depends on the specs. For average daily use, just go for the cheaper one. Unless you plan to put a lot of stress on your brakes, basically for racing applications. Using racing brakes on a commuter car can actually be bad, because some of the high end pads need to be heated up to work right. Which won't happen in a commute.
Ceramics can dissipate heat better but they eat up your rotors faster.
Yes, they have better stopping power & wear ability.
I'm wondering why some ceramic brake pads are more expensive than others. Some are over $100 such as http://www.amazon.com/Hawk-Performance-HB545Z-564-Ceramic-Brake/dp/B001UED2OG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1402429904&sr=8-1&keywords=Hawk+Performance+HB545Z.564+Performance+Ceramic+Brake+Pad
Others are in the 20s such as http://www.amazon.com/Power-Stop-16-815-Ceramic-Brake/dp/B003YOELXQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1402429878&sr=8-1&keywords=16-815+power+stop
Both are for replacing OEM pads. Why is one a lot more expensive than the other? Are you just paying for a name brand, or is it actually a lot better performance-wise? Thanks.
