Usually, we don't think much about our car's brakes. We step on the pedal and the car slows down or stops, and that's it. Consider, though, that a driver steps on the brakes tens of thousands of times in a year's worth of driving. Sometimes it's going to be a light tap on the pedal, and other times a hard stop.
Considering that brakes wear slowly and can last 60 000 to 90 000 kilometres according to your driving style, it can be hard to really know when they're wearing down to a point where they need replacement. That's why it's important to have a good understanding of how your brake system is designed, and how it works.
Disc Brakes
Disc brakes are similar in principle to the handbrakes on a bicycle. Your wheels are bolted to smooth steel discs, called rotors. The rotors then have a calliper that encloses them and holds two pads of hard ceramic or semi-metallic friction material. When you step on the brake pedal, hydraulic pressure from the brake...
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