Why different Brake Pads front and rear?
 

I am trying to understand why one would place different compound brakes in front and rears.

I assume softer cold temperature and hard for at normal to high.

Can anyone chime in if they have done the same?

PO placed minimal dusting pads up front and very dusty pads in rear, any thoughts?

it's often done in an attemp to get more bias to one end or the other. Care needs to be taken to use compounds that have at least roughly parallel performance curves.

So is it recommend to mix the compounds?

I'm guessing that he replaced the front pads when they wore out, but the old rears still had life in them - fronts usually wear faster.

Only if it accomplishes something usefull.

I dought PO was a track guy and probably just changed the fronts.

Thanks guys, once again very helpfull!

The front usually worn before the rear. By the time he need co change the front, a certain pad was onsales :)

What Bill was alluding to was pretty important. Brake pads have a different coefficient of friction at different temperatures. This can be graphed, which produces the performance curves he alluded to. Realize that all cars have a certain percentage of their braking done by the front axle and the rest by the rear. This bias has been worked out by the engineers that designed the car, taking into account the weight distribution, center of gravity height, tire size and type and other characteristics of the car. The intent is to insure that in all cases (dry weather, wet, snow, whatever) the front brakes lock before the rears. This bias usually means that in many cases, the rear brakes are doing less work than they should. Cars with ABS introduce another level of detail to the problem and, although you can make the argument that they can deal with an imbalance, the truth is they are "tuned" to a given set of parameters. Not all ABS systems are created equal. Those for race cars are a little more aggressive and can yield shorter stopping distances.

If you run different pads in the front and rear, you can upset this balance. Worse, by picking pads with different curves, you can have one brake balance when they are cold and a completely different one when they are warm. This is something you don't want to find out when you are making a panic stop.

Yes, you can mix and match, if you know what you are doing and back it up with a little testing. Otherwise, you're possibly screwed. Not worth it, in my opinion.

JR

Whoa, Java Thanks!

That was freakin informative.

The fronts were not branded only "made in Canada"???. I assume metal type almost no dust.

The rears were Textars OEM, I assume. Very dusty.

Funny thing I notice my Sensors went off at 4 MM not 2 MM, boy that is such a waste. Maybe that's why some of you disconnected or moved them out of the way. Boy you live and learn.