Q: “You’ve talked a lot about the importance of braking a bit lighter into corners. And I strongly agree with this approach from both balance and learning perspectives. It has helped me a lot, and I’ve seen great success giving this advice to HPDE students as well. However, I’ve had trouble finding consistent advice about the impact of this on brake heating, fade, and wear. From what I have read, the conventional wisdom seems to be that harder braking means less time spent generating heat which means less total heat. So, you should brake late and hard if you want to conserve your brakes while aiming for the same pace. But some instructors say this may be an outdated idea. They think that all else equal, because you’re doing the same amount of slowing in total, heat generated is likely about the same when braking lighter. Or perhaps lighter braking might even lead to slightly less heat in total, as you’re decreasing the peak heat generation. What are your thoughts on this?”

A: I asked an engineer friend of mine about this, and his response was along the lines of lighter braking will cause less wear, all else being equal.

Braking is simply heat transfer, from the friction between the pads and rotors, into the air. The less heat you generate, the less there is to dissipate.

My own experience, both as a driver and coach, aligns with this. I’ve found that when I brake slightly lighter, even though I’m braking a bit longer, the brakes don’t fade as much due to overheating.