By alley - Jul 7, 2017, 6:29 PM ET

SCCA: Brake pads built to order

Brake pads are arguably the most cost-effective way to improve braking for any car, especially SCCA competition cars. Simply swapping out your road-going pads for something that was designed for the task at hand is a surefire way to reduce lap times. But with so many choices, where do you start?

Don't assume that just because a brake pad is more aggressive it is right for your application – you need to evaluate a number of factors when selecting pads, like the kind of driving you are doing, the surface you'll be competing on and the tires on the car. Also, does your racecar have aero?

Another data point to know when selecting brake pads is the rotor temperatures you're achieving. Thermal paint can be applied to your rotors and it will give you an idea of where you stand.

Different brake pad characteristics should also be in the back of your mind. A brake pad with a very aggressive initial bite can be hard to modulate (particularly important if you don't have ABS), but a pad's release characteristics are equally important. How a pad behaves often changes based on temperature, so make sure you are in the right zone. Tire Rack offer great resources, such as its

Mu temperature chart for Hawk Performance brake pads

, which indicates a pad's friction coefficient at a given temperature, making it easier to select the right pad compound.

Even with all the performance brake pads on the market, some cars manage to fall through the cracks when it comes to an off-the-shelf application – but even if you have the most oddball of racecars, hope is not lost.

Vendors like Porterfield Enterprises can custom fit a pad to your application. Most brake pads have a Friction Material Standards Institute (FMSI) number assigned to them, which identifies the pad. Based on the FMSI number, Porterfield can find a suitable donor pad to modify to fit your application.

"It has to be in a compound that is available in a size that is appropriate to cut the pad," explains Porterfield's Wendy Charlier. "Many things factor in: thickness of the material, backing plate thickness and overall size. We do try to select the least expensive version that will work to help keep the 'custom' cost down."