Federal-Mogul’s ThermoQuiet Boosts Sales 32 Percent

Federal-Mogul Corporation has accelerated its sales growth in the pivotal automotive brake products aftermarket with a new technology that delivers powerful, reliable and quiet stopping in today’s domestic and import passenger vehicles.
Wagner ThermoQuiet) one-piece brake pads from Federal-Mogul have increased Federal-Mogul’s replacement friction sales by 32 percent since their July 2001 introduction, and the Wagner brand’s share of the North American replacement friction market has jumped 3.5 points over the same period. “Clearly, Wagner ThermoQuiet is a home run in the eyes of our ultimate customer, the professional technician,” said Jay Burkhart, vice president of marketing for Federal-Mogul. ThermoQuiet was designed as the first friction technology to truly tackle all three leading brake-performance characteristics — durability, stopping power and quiet operation — in a single product.
Wear- and noise-related issues rank among the leading causes of brake service comebacks for today’s vehicle dealerships and aftermarket service providers. ThermoQuiet pads combine Wagner Brake’s most effective, application- specific friction formulations in a patented one-piece design.
This unitized configuration replaces conventional shims, which can complicate installation and are often ineffective in dampening brake noise and vibration. In fact, post-installation shim movement, or “migration,” has been identified by technicians as a leading cause of brake-noise complaints.
The patented single-piece ThermoQuiet design replaces shims with Federal- Mogul’s patented IMI Sound Insulator technology, in which an advanced, vehicle-specific friction material is extruded through, rather than riveted or glued to, the backing plate, forming a unitized component. Extensive laboratory and field testing has proven that this design spreads out and absorbs heat and energy over a much larger surface area for longer pad life and quiet performance. Each ThermoQuiet pad’s friction material also is post- cured for significantly faster break-in, virtually eliminating the squeaks and vibration often associated with new brake pads. Federal-Mogul engineers also developed revolutionary testing protocols demonstrating the performance characteristics of the new Wagner technology in a full range of applications and operating conditions.
“ThermoQuiet is benchmarked against government-mandated original equipment manufacturer (OEM) standards,” Burkhart said. “We invested in this extensive testing to prove the dramatic noise-reduction, stopping performance and fade resistance benefits of this breakthrough product. ThermoQuiet exceeded our expectations in every area.”
Wagner ThermoQuiet recently received the 2002 Frost & Sullivan Product Innovation Award. The product also is a finalist for the prestigious Automotive News PACE (Premier Automotive Suppliers’ and OEMs’ Contribution to Excellence) Award.