Ceramic Brakes

[Dan]

Fran,

Have you looked into ceramic brakes at all? I saw this site, but not cost info.

movit - the brakes- CERAMIC BRAKES

I would definitely be interested in putting ceramics on an SLC, if they lasted long enough to help justify the cost.

 

[Den]

Take a look here
Welcome to Red Devil Brakes

Cheers
Dennis

 

[Bill D]

Ceramic brakes are not intended for street use. They need to get hot to be effective. And they are quite expensive

 

[Dave P]

Who here has an unlimited budget? I can't afford a bugatti Veyron or a Formula one car. Cast Iron disc brake systems have won more races and championships than any other type of system out there. I have personally sold many replacement brake systems to guys who have not liked the performance of the many supposedly high tech systems out there.
My advice to anyone is build within your budget and use proven parts.

Keep it simple

 

[scott]

Ceramic brakes are not intended for street use. They need to get hot to be effective. And they are quite expensive

This isn't true, they are fine for street use.
The F430 is going to ceramic only, not just as an option. Other Ferraris and Porsches have used them for years. The new Corvette ZR1 comes with them and this is the best possibility of a potential source for SLC ceramic brakes.
If we're lucky they will be less than $15K for a set.
I would love to have them on an SLC. They have a two-fold advantage: they don't fade, and they weigh much less.
Removing somewhere around 30 lbs of UNSPRUNG weight from an already light car is a big deal in my opinion

 

[Dan]

If we could get a good ceramic brake kit as an option from RCR we would save the cost of the standard brake setup, if it could be a 10K option from RCR I would be pretty tempted.

I'm sure that the standard brake setup Fran has selected is more than adequate, but this would be holding true to the SLC name!

Add some carbon fiber rims and your talking about loosing a LOT of unsprung weight. This defiently raises the total build cost of the car, but you could add these parts and still be out less than a high end GTR build.

 

[Paul Thompson 'Hooligan']

There is a member of this forum who is very knowledgeable on the subject and runs a company called System ST..

Carbon Ceramic Brake Upgrade Kits

I'm not sure if he still frequents the site but if he does, perhaps he'd like to comment on the thread.

 

[Arnie Webb]

Ceramic brakes offer little perfomance gain over steel. The difference reported by so many is to a greater extent down to caliper design, swept areas, fluids and such like.

A few seasons ago the FIA asked Williams to test an F1 car with steel brakes as opposed to carbon. The results were not very different at all.

Carbon & ceramic brakes are the domain of cars which are in general purchased by those knowing little about cars. Lets keep them on the the 911's and F430's only shall we.

Probably most, if not all on this forum, will learn more about gettting faster laps by learning to use the brakes less anyway.

 

[Dan]

I was thinking about them more for weight reduction, making the lightest possible SLC.

I agree there is little braking performance gain, and lots of cost involved.

 

[J. Salmon]

I was thinking about them more for weight reduction, making the lightest possible SLC.

I agree there is little braking performance gain, and lots of cost involved.

I have seen several indications that the reduced unsprung weight is really the benefit. In a heavy car, the heat tolerance is nice (like in a 3200 pound 430, or a 3900 pound Audi RS4). But in a 2000 pound car, the heat is not going to be an issue. I think it was an Evo article on the GT3 RS that mentioned they could feel the weight advantage of the CC brakes. I am not sure I could.

Ferrari going to all CC brakes is financial. It will reduce their cost to spec the brakes, and now EVERYONE will pay the full price (I think it is 20k) for the option. Plus, the pads and rotors will be hard to source elsewhere (unlike the iron brakes where you can get better aftermarket stuff for less) so you will have to come back to Ferrari to get your overpriced rotors and pads.

I will say I drove an '08 Gallardo with CCBs. They did not squeal, the stopped fine cold. I did not drive it enough to notice any weight difference. When I stomped on the brakes at "high legal speeds" I could literally feel my eyeballs wanting to pull out of my head!