Of course hydraulic disc is an upgrade from drum and certainly from manually actuated drum. The new kid on the block though is the enclosed wet brake as used by Kawasaki and of late, Suzuki. Because of conditions in which we use our machines this seems to be the best system so far but even it has its downfall. When they decide to make this system hydraulic controlled in order to prevent fouled cables and actuator levers due to ice, rocks, mud, etc., then we'll have something but for now disc (either wet or dry) is the best we have available for my use.