[quote=“dmoffitt,post:504,topic:26320"”]
You are correct re: going fast(er)… BUT - the heat-transfer DOES also differ in hard braking vs soft/slower braking. Think of it another way: braking “longer” also means that not only are you transferring more heat thru the pads into your calipers/fluid from that big heat sink we call a rotor - but ALSO it’s less time in between braking applications for everything to cool down! Hence my comment re: getting your braking done as hard/fast as safely possible w/o upsetting the car. Obviously there are exceptions where you just brake to settle the car / get more weight on the front wheels (example, Lime Rock on the downhill before the bend into the front straight), but most of the time I feel this holds true.
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You are thinking opposite of reality. You generate higher temps braking short and hard not long and soft, because the brakes are dissipating heat while slowly braking, while braking hard they do not have time to dissipate heat. It’s still the same amount of heat or energy, just dissipated differently.