TMD Friction Develops New Hybrid Brake Pads

TMD Friction has introduced an innovative hybrid brake pad generation; the company’s engineers have succeeded in covering European, Asian and American market requirements with one material family. Production is scheduled to start in 2009.

Derek Whitworth, CEO of TMD Friction, says: “In addition to environmental compatibility, our customers profit from greater comfort, a longer service life and reduced brake dust.” Close global cooperation between the engineers of TMD Friction in Germany, the USA and Japan resulted in the development of this new friction material generation.

Brake friction products vary greatly around the world according to regional traffic conditions: while the Americans and Asians have low speed limits and attach great importance to comfort factors, the Europeans tend to have a faster driving style and therefore favour high brake performance over comfort. 70 per cent of all passenger cars in Asia and America use so-called NAO (non-asbestos organic) materials, often including substances with open environmental concerns, which have been forbidden in the EU for several years.

TMD Friction’s new material generation combines the comfort factors of the NAO materials with the use of more environmentally-friendly raw materials. This combination has provided TMD Friction with a high-performance product which serves as a benchmark in the industry. “No matter how you brake or where – TMD Friction now offers the widest range of brake friction materials available in the world,” Whitworth concludes.