My experimentation with pads has resulted in: Organics wear faster with lots of dust, good stopping. Semi-metallic fair wear lots of dust, good stopping, eats rotors for lunch. Ceramics wear longest, low dust, great braking, dissipates heat best. YMMV

Most vehicles made ion this century use ceramics from the factory.

My driveway is 100 ft. long on a pretty good grade. I always made a point to slam on the brakes 2 times on my way out in the morning. I had to do at least 1 click every oil change to keep them adjusted.

If the self adjusters were doing anything it was not enough. This was on a 2008 and a 2011, they have different set ups. The 2006-2009 have European style universal spring and the 2009-2011 have the more American spring on a post hold downs. They changed over sometime in 2009, some 2009 models have the 2010 style.


2006 -2009, this is the way to remove them

2010-2011

 

Have done a bit of research on brake pads. Organic is out of course, but when comparing the semi-mets to ceramic it appears to come down to what you are after. For what I'm looking for, semi-mets appear to be the best choice. One article I just read got pretty much straight to the point. "Ceramic brakes are less effective heat sinks (than semi-mets), not absorbing heat well, they almost act as insulators". It goes on to say "if you go to the racetrack or on a spirited mountain run, semi-mets are the clear choice".

 

I will say this about semi-metallic pads, do your research. They are not all equal. Some are VERY dusty, some don't more last than 15k miles, and some like DonBrew said, eat rotors for lunch. But not all of them are bad. The brand/models and formulations change often so I can't recommend anything specific. I have never had a set that was overly dusty or chewed up my rotors, and most generally last 30-45k. The one constant I have had using semi-metallic pads is that they are far more likely to squeal.

 

Evidently you find sources that are absolutely opposite of the ones I find.

I have had semi-metal pads absolutely disintegrate in normal driving. If you can afford new rotors every 15,000 miles go ahead.

 

 

There is some sort of problem with the link Oldblue.

 

 

As with everything it seems, you can find opposing points of view if you want/look long enough. Don't they use ceramic as an insulator in many applications? Anyway, I'm assuming my HHR currently has ceramic pads, based on the lack of dust and how well the rotors look. Don't know if I'll be able to tell once I remove them. But whatever they are I'm going to try some semi-mets on the existing rotors and see how things go. That with a better eye on the drum brakes might be all I need. I have installed many and sold even more semi-met brakes in the past. Totally aware of how they may squeal & go thru rotors. That all pales compared to experiencing brake fade.
It occurred to me that the brake 'kit' I found on eBay (the one with slotted & drilled rotors & ceramic pads) could fall in the 'show & no go' category.

 

Something else just occurred to me. They apparently put some copper in ceramic pads. Perhaps that is to help with countering the insulating properties of the ceramic? Another thing occurs to me. Perhaps some brands of ceramic pads use more copper than others? Just thinking out loud here.

 

As I said, a bit of research. I've had the same issues as you. I thought ceramic was the answer. Not when towing a trailer! Fade is scary when you've got 4500# behind you and you have to make a quick stop. My rotors generally last 60k+, and replace pads every 30k or so. I've tried Napa Adaptive One but have had mixed results. Great braking on my Sierra but crazy amounts of brake dust. On the HHR they pulsated badly after 10k miles. Other manufacturers are trying the same thing, a hybrid of ceramic and semi-metallic.