Bendix are currently trialing a new brake pad called the Premium. Designed to fit into the company's range between Standard and Metal King pads, the pad uses a non-asbestos Kevlar-based material similar to that being used as original equipment in late model European prestige makes. Bendix has distributed sets of the pads to a variety of workshops, encouraging the owners to fit the pads and then report on the results. We managed to snaffle two sets of the pads (thanks John Keen and Paul Keen!) and did some testing of our own. Both sets of pads were to suit the Holden VL Commodore.
Testing
We should make it clear that this is not a full comparison brake pad test - disc wear wasn't accurately measured and the new Premium pads were compared only with Bendix Standard pads - not with pads from other manufacturers. However, the results were very interesting, none the less!
Firstly, we provided a set of pads to AutoSpeed reader Chris Howard. He fitted them to a VL Commodore and tested them on a trip from Sydney to Thredbo (NSW) where he did some reasonably hard mountain driving. "The pads are quite good", he said. "They need a little warming for best performance but no brake fade was experienced under hard road driving." However, Chris commented that the pads shed a lot of dust onto the wheels.
We then tested the pads on John Keen's automatic transmission VL Commodore wagon. John (of the DAT workshop in Adelaide) was eager to see how good the new pads were and agreed to fit a brand new set of Standard Bendix pads with which to make a comparison. Both these and the new Premium pads were bedded-in for a week before testing took place. A G-Tech accelerometer provided by Leon Vincenzi of Awesome Automotive was used to measure the stopping distance from a speed of 100 km/h. The section of test road was slightly downhill but all tests took place in identical conditions.
An average stopping distance from three runs was made. With the Bendix Standard pads in place, John literally had both feet on the brake pedal to stop! The pads faded badly enough that John was reluctant to do a fourth stop. However, the typical stopping distance recorded was around 56 metres, with this stopping distance able to made consistently if a cool-down period took place in between the stops. In general driving, John commented that he could feel the Standard pads fading as he drove at normal speeds around the hilly suburb in which he lives.
The bedded-in Premium pads were then fitted. John immediately commented that they felt to have much better bite and that he couldn't detect any fade in normal driving. But what about crash stops from 100 km/h? Interestingly, the stopping distances were all longer with the Premium pads fitted! Distances were typically 10 metres longer than the stopping distances achieved with the Standard pads. What was happening was that John was unable to brake hard in the non-ABS car without locking a wheel. Even employing threshold (on/off braking) the bite of the small 185 tyres was overwhelmed by the bite of the pads!
The reality with this car and driver was that the stopping distances were approximately 18 per cent shorter with the Standard pads than with the Premium pads. The Standard pads simply wouldn't let a wheel lock, no matter what braking pressure was employed. This factor is a very important one to consider - stopping distances in an emergency are a combination of the driver input, the tyres' grip and the quality of the brakes.
John was enthusiastic about the Premium pads, commenting that they had much better feel that the Standard pads - not giving a hard, dead pedal and having good initial bite. Unlike metal pads that he has used in other cars, the pads did not growl during applications.
The pads' thicknesses were measured prior to fitting and then again after four weeks of normal driving. The thicknesses of the pads was 558 thou (14.17mm) when they were new, wearing down by 9 thou (0.23mm) after 1,872km. This wear is quite respectable, and inspection of the discs showed that the pads appeared to be only about as aggressive as the Standard pads.
Conclusion
The Premium pads are apparently going to be priced close to the Standard range. They will be available for Commodore, Falcon, Magna and Camry. For those wanting better stopping without the noise and potential disc wear problems of metal pads, they should make for a good upgrade over Standard pads. But whether your stopping distances are actually shorter will depend on lots of other factors!
Thanks to:
John Keen, DAT Racing turbokeen@aol.com.au
Paul Keen, Shell Port Road
+61 8 443 4189
Leon Vincenzi
Awesome Automotive awesome@adam.com.au
