What Are the Best Brakes for Cars?
Whether you have brake pads or brake shoes, maintaining them is a crucial component of driving a safe vehicle. So what are the best brakes for cars?
Written by Alexandra Maloney
Reviewed by Kathleen Flear
Your brakes are, arguably, the most important safety feature in your car. Faulty brakes can cause
car accidents
, car damage, and more, which is why keeping them up to standard is such an important part of car maintenance
. But, part of that task is making sure you have the best brakes available for your car, as well as knowing when it's time to change them out. Here, we’re going over all that and more, so you’ll be less likely to find yourself in a sticky situation when it comes to your car brakes.
What are the different kinds of brakes?
According to
Atlantic Tire Online
, there are four different types of brakes drivers should be aware of: disc brakes, drum brakes, emergency brakes, and anti-lock brakes. Each type has their own benefits and unique differences. - Disc Brakes: This type of brake has a brake rotor attached to the wheel, and are what you’ll likely see on new car models today. When pressure is applied to the master cylinder, it causes the brake calipers to squeeze the brake pads and the car to slow down.
- Drum Brakes: This type of brake has a brake drum directly inside the wheel, and are mostly found on large trucks or construction equipment. With drum brakes, when the brake pedal is pushed, it applies pressure that pushes the two shoe brakes together, and slows the vehicle down.
- Emergency Brakes: The emergency brake is your parking brake, and you can think of it as a secondary braking measure. While you can’t press down on it to slow down quickly, your emergency brake is operated by cables and often used to help a car stay in place after parking.
- Anti-Lock Brakes: These are a newer kind of brake found on newer car models. They prevent skidding in the event of quick braking by preventing the wheels from locking up.
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How do you know you need new brakes?
One of the best indicators you need new brakes is if you hear screeching, squealing or squeaking every time you press on the pedal. This likely means your brakes have been worn down to the point where they’re touching the metal in the tire, making the unpleasant sound.
But, as
Cars.com
points out, you might hear strange noises if your brakes have been coated with moisture, sleet, or rust. So, be on the lookout for these noises happening on a regular basis or getting worse overtime, not just a one time thing. It also might be time for new brakes if you have to apply more force than normal to the brake pedal, or if you’re noticing your car is taking longer to slow down than normal, because they’re likely worn out.
How to choose new brakes
Like we mentioned earlier, most new cars have disc brakes, which are equipped with brake pads, instead of brake shoes like drum brakes contain. That means, if you’re looking to get new brakes, it’s more than likely you’ll be looking for brake pads.
YourMechanic
encourages drivers to consider these factors when looking for new brake pads: weather performance, maximum operating temperature, pad and rotor lifetime, noise, and dust levels. The best kind of brake pads should be able to perform in any climate or temperature, last a long time, be at a reasonable noise level, and not be prone to collecting dust on your tire.
The Drive
recommends ACDelco and Bosch as reliable brands for brake pads. In terms of pricing,
The Drive
recommends spending between $25 and $65, because most high quality brake pads fall within this range. 
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