There are many areas of braking system that can have friction and cause loss of clamping power:

1. CABLES are biggest culprit and friction source. Unbolt cable from caliper and "floss" inner wire back & forth by squeezing lever with one hand and alternately pulling it out with other hand. How smooth is the action? Modern teflon-lined cable & housing makes a HUGE difference in braking-power.

2. CALIPER PIVOTS is next area. While the cable is off, squeeze the arms together, do they spring back easily? Disassemble centre bolt and grease arms and washers. I think this or was it the SuperbePro that had ball-bearings between the arms?

3. BRAKE-PADS is the final area to do last. If 90% of your squeezing-power is lost before it even gets to pads, upgrading pads will result in minimal gains. Select a pad that's compatible with your rim-material. I've used super-soft sticky pads for great braking-response. But they ended up melting all over the rims on a fast twisty downhill. Next time around, I went with a harder-pad that needed a little harder-squeeze at levers.

Ultimately, if you have enough clamping-power to generate sufficient friction to toss you over the bars or lock-up the front-tyre, then your braking-system has more than enough power to overcome maximum friction between front-tyre and road. Softer tyres will generate more friction and allow you to brake faster... if you're able to control the bike smoothly.