It can be confusing when you look at an advertisement or the side of a brake pad box. Taken at face value, one would think that there would be no more brake noise, precise stopping distances and that brake pads last forever. As a technician, you know this is not true.
In order to make the right selection, you must do your homework while still remaining skeptical. There are two questions you must always ask after a after a manufacturer makes a claim:
1. “Compared to what?”
2. “Does that include every application in the line?”
The reason why some claims are broad and ambiguous is it leaves the company and customer to apply their own context.
“Better” means one item is superior to another in some way, while “best” means it is superior to all others in some way. However, some brake pad manufacturers fail to list the way in each they are being compared. In the case of “better,” to what they are comparing (a competitor’s product, an earlier version of their own product, or nothing at all). So, without defining how they are using the terms “better” or “best,” the terms become meaningless.
An ad which claims “Our brake pad is better” could be just saying it’s an improvement over using no pads at all.
To see the full list of what to look for when buying brake pads, read the full story on Brake and Front End