The static and low cycle fatigue properties of four pearlitic grey iron alloys intended for brake discs are investigated. The effect of alloying a base composition with 0.1 wt% and 0.3 wt% niobium is compared to a 0.3 wt% addition of the more conventional alloying element molybdenum. The results show that the static properties remain unaffected for an Nb content of 0.1 wt% while an addition of 0.3 wt% Nb or 0.3 wt% Mo increases the strength compared to the base alloy without Nb and Mo. The fatigue life on the other hand remains more or less unaffected by the alloying, although the stress levels are substantially higher for the compositions with 0.3 wt% Mo or 0.3 wt% Nb. Thus, the experiments show that graphite is very important for the low cycle fatigue life. It is also seen that crack propagation controls more than 90% of the life. Full scale brake dynamometer crack tests also gave a similar fatigue life of the different brake disc alloys independent of the composition.