When brakes are applied, the pad and rotor surfaces come into contact. Due to the surface roughness, the contact area on regular brake pads is very small with only extremities touching each other. However on pads with Titanium Stripe, the key properties of the titanium coating material are its high friction level, and its rapid interaction rate. When the brakes are first applied, the titanium moulds very quickly around the points of contact, rapidly increasing contact area as the titanium mates to fit the rotor surface as shown below.

For other brake pads the entire braking load of the car is carried by these point contact areas, causing them to heat up very quickly. The high temperatures, combined with the high contact pressure, cause poor braking performance. There is a serious risk of overheating the brakes, even in normal driving conditions. After about 50 stops, the pad surface wears to fit the rotor surface and the contact area increases. However, this could be as much as 200km. It also leaves the dust residue which is difficult to wash off.

However, it’s a very different and improved process with the Titanium Stripe. The titanium layer quickly adapts to mate with the rotor, achieving full contact between the surfaces of the pad and rotor after only a few stops. This avoids localised overheating, as the braking load is spread across the entire surface of the pad. As the titanium wears through, the parent friction material starts adapting to fit the rotor surface, while the remaining titanium maintains full contact.

Complete bedding-in can take 200 normal brake applications. Stopping once every kilometre, that’s 200km driving before the brakes achieve full surface contact and peak performance. The first 30 stops are critical, which is why mechanics are advised to perform a minimum 30 stop bed-in drive before returning the car to their customer.

With Bendix pads such as General CT coated with a Titanium stripe, full braking performance is achieved right out of the box. The normal driving of your customers will do the job of bedding-in. As the Titanium Stripe wears away the Bendix Ceramic Technology material is conditioned to achieve full contact with the rotor delivering consistent great braking performance without the dust.

IMPORTANT:

Titanium Stripe is NOT a substitute for machining rotors.

The Titanium Stripe ensures safe braking on brand new pads, without time-consuming bed-in procedures. The Titanium Stripe does not machine the rotors, and is not intended to be a substitute for good workshop practice.

The function of the Titanium Stripe relies on rotors being in good condition whether they be new or machined. On a microscopic scale, a scored rotor has higher peaks and deeper troughs than the machined rotor in previous diagrams.

Even with the Titanium Stripe, the brake pad can not achieve good surface contact with a scored rotor.