Just been working on my old Hope Enduro 4 brakes and noticed that I've still got the original white seals in them. That's got to be at least ten years old now.

Got me thinking, are new brakes any more powerful?
Doesn't it boil down to a few simple things?
Disc sizes are pretty much the same
Pads haven't varied a huge amount in size or material
The brake comes down to simple mechanical advantage be it the lever pull to piston movement or the mater to slave cylinder. Start to finish, it's how far the lever pulls to how far the pads move.

Has any of that changed? Levers seem to pull about the same and I'm sure my pads couldn't get any closer to the rotor without becoming a 'mare to keep drag free.

So, where does the extra power come from or is it simply a case of "new must be better"?

Dunno, buy some new ones and see.

Avid Elixir CRs are nice. 😉

see, I really like the look of the Hope X4. I was reading somewhere that all the pistons are now the same size! yeah, I thought, just like they were in the Enduro 4 I have.

I dont know, becuase I haven't been MTBing for long enough. But Shimano's new(ish) trick is the 'servo-wave' lever. Essentially the pad moves quicker at the start of the lever stroke and slower at the end, giving more pad clearance but not at the expense of power. Some people don't like it, mind you.