What method to brake pads last a long time?
 

What method of braking in daily driving will make the brakes last the longest? Short and hard or long and soft. (Yeah, I’ll leave that one out there for you guys). I’m guessing I’ll get a lot of “depends.”

I guess conventional wisdom is super light on the brakes for a long time before stopping, but I’m not sure that’s the right answer. Too long and it seems more like you’re riding the brakes. Too hard and that doesn’t sound good either. I guess it’s like that bowl of porridge for the blonde chick? I’m just curious.

I have not done it but I've heard having the pads and rotors cryo-treated really increases their life span. Relatively inexpensive to have done. Apparently music places do it for guitar strings and some will do brakes for you.

As for technique I'd guess short and hard is the best.... Although I think the ladies prefer long and hard.

I'm not an expert, but I would think the physics of stopping a certain amount of mass from random speeds would require the same whether you do it harder over a shorter distance or easier over a longer distance. I suspect the difference is how different people use/misuse their brakes. There are lots of people who touch and ride their brakes unnecessarily. I'm suspicious that's what shortens brake life for many. I live in a rural area, and see people riding the brake at random times. I've also seen people in town doing the same. I think it's a matter of managing your braking to reduce the amount you have to do, like going around corners & curves at a speed and in a way you don't have to ride the brakes in the corner or curve for instance.

The calipers are the expensive bit. You need to really stomp on the brakes and get them really heated up to burn off moisture and prevent rust and them seizing up. Changing out the pads is the easy bit.

Sorry to sound like a kill-joy but I had to replace the calipers on my SC and it was a major PITA, whereas if I'd given them some death in heavy braking situations instead of my usually mamby pampy braking they would have been OK.

Just brake "normally" and don't worry about it.

If people behind you are freaking out and locking up their brakes trying to keep from rear ending you...Well, you are braking too late and too hard.

If people are honking and going around you, or if in your rear view mirror you see them throwing their hands up (gesturing) and it looks like they are road raging, you are braking too early and too easy.

And yeah, the brake pedal is not a foot rest.

Quality pads will last. Cheap pads are cheap..

Not really.

If you slow down over a longer distance, you give your cars natural friction/drag a greater percentage of the work.

If you want your whole car to last longer, drive gently.

But your shouldn't "think" about making your brake pads last longer. Sounds obvious but just use them!

Pads vs. rotors.
There are quality levels of ceramic/titanium/unubtainium for both.

Friction=heat=delamination=or?
One of the surfaces has to give way first unless it's 100% hybrid regenerative air gap.

As a basis:
BMW pads are especially messy and spray carbon all over expensive wheels.
Every single BMW high end car I've ever seen is covered with brake dust.

The first thing I did when I bought my BMW daily 13 years ago was get rid of the messy factory pads and replaced them with low-dust pads. I got 107,000 miles off the front pads and discs and 205,000 miles off the rear pads (rear discs still had plenty of thickness so didn’t replace). I even had one or two track days on those (low dust pads suck for track work, needles to say...). Low dust pads don’t have the same initial bite as the factory pads.

I just go easy on the brakes. I don’t do long, light applications which heat up your brakes and I don’t stab the brakes either. If I’m coming up on a light up ahead I touch the breaks briefly to start slowing the car down and let momentum bleed off (as Tervuren states above), Then as I get closer to the light I just brake normally. This method has gotten me long pad life on all the cars I’ve owned no matter the pad material.

I have been trying to get it in my son's head that when he can see the stop ahead sign to start coasting. It's a hard thing to get used to if you spend your life in a hurry but it's a lot easier on brakes.
As others have mentioned good quality pads make a difference.

I believe I read that if you lift off the pedal in the middle of a stop for two seconds, it will lower rotor temperatures substantially. Sometimes I will brake a hair early for a light on a 45 to 50 MPH road, then lift and brake again. I will only do this if I know I will be stopped at the light before it turns. The smartest thing you can do is anticipate a light. If you can adjust your speed and lift off the throttle really early when approaching a light, it may turn green before you hit it, and you may be able to coast through at 20 or 30 MPH. The contrast would be to race up to the light at 55, hit the brakes hard, and come to a complete stop just as the light turns green. Now you have heated your brakes, worn on the pads, and lost all your momentum, forcing you to waste gas just to get up to speed.

There are plenty of places where you know you are going to have to stop, like at the tolls and at signs, where you can easily get off the throttle and coast up for a long distance, while really maintaining a lot of speed, even as you slow down. If you drive the same route every day, you can soon learn where these places are, and how to take advantage of natural slopes and gravity. There is one toll I come up to where I can be going 60, coast for a half mile, and still be doing 50 as I start to come up to the booth. There is another place where I go down a long hill to a stop, and I let the car have its head, because even if I pick up speed, there is a hill rising up to the stop at the end. I can hit the brakes moderately hard for a short distance as I hit that rise, then let gravity slow me further before I apply my brakes again.

I think you have to anticipate, know your terrain, and look at the whole picture of using terrain, momentum and drag to get the best out of your circumstance. Like hypermileing or anything else, it is just a game to get your best.

Thanks folks. I'm not actually planning to change the way I drive to try to make my pads last longer. This is more of an exercise about what's more pad efficient when you are using the brakes. Or, what if you were on a 2000 mile road trip and the pads hit the wear indicator, and you wanted to try to get home to change them.

Heat is the enemy. Overheat rotors and they warp. Overheat pads reduces life. Don't ride the breaks and don't do panic stops at every light. I know some folks will use staying in gear going down a big hill to save on brakes. I'd rather do a brake job than a clutch or trans job.

I think what DanielDudley says makes sense. Give the rotors a rest for a touch in the middle of a stop. Even if it's a long wimpy light pedal stop.

Deal is with the 911 it's nice to have the big grab when you need it, optimally, when you are planning for it.:) If you change compounds, the same wear rules apply. Although, ceramic will last forever with compromised stopping power vs organic breaking down much faster with better stopping force.

I think factory pads are pretty hard (my fronts have lasted a long time). I upgraded to the Boxster calipers 10 years ago in front and those factory pads don't wear much either.

I am not Bill Verburg with respect to brakes, but on the upside, I am just rambling.:D

Hope you all had a good weekend.

{PFFFFT! Everyone knows you just throw several downshifts prior to any braking. Transmissions last waaaay longer than brakes.}
Green font intended.

Nothing to add other than I have always used quality rotors and pads and haven’t ever suffered poor brake life.

Down shift and engine brake.

Google 'Bedding brake pads' and follow the instructions.

Beyond that, why worry about preserving the cheapest part of your car?

I would never add clutch cycles to save my brakes.

manual transmission...'nuff said

^^^ That right there is what many say is the key to brake pad longevity. That and using a good quality ceramic/low dust pad.