Comparative Braking Performance of OEM, OE, and IAM Brake Pads on a Light SUV Under Loaded and Unloaded Conditions

Abstract

Brake pad selection impacts safety, stopping performance, and thermal behavior, especially when vehicle mass and usage conditions vary. This paper presents a controlled road-test comparison of three disc brake pad categories—Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM), Original Equipment (OE), and Independent Aftermarket (IAM)—installed on the same light sport utility vehicle and evaluated under two load states (unloaded and loaded). Each configuration was tested with five repeated full stops from a nominal initial speed of 90 km/h on dry asphalt, capturing stopping time and distance, peak brake-pad temperatures (front/rear), and peak hydraulic line pressures (front/rear). Results are reported as mean ± standard deviation and complemented with variability metrics. Across all tests, loading increased stopping distance and time, and relative performance depended on pad category. Under unloaded conditions, the OEM configuration achieved the shortest mean stopping distance (25.03 m) and time (2.00 s), while OE and IAM exhibited longer stops. Under loaded conditions, OEM and OE were comparable in distance and time, whereas IAM showed a larger degradation. The dataset supports a repeatable, instrumentation-driven workflow for pad benchmarking and highlights the importance of reporting dispersion—not only averages—when assessing braking components.