Carbon ceramic braking systems are set to make the leap from supercars to sports and luxury models as Italian brake manufacturer Brembo and German carbon specialist SGL kick-off a new partnership aimed at automating production.
Supercar-type carbon brakes...
Although carbon brake discs offer significant advantages over steel, the manufacturing process is currently labour-intensive using several manual and semi-automated process steps, says the new joint-venture company Brembo SGL. As a result, although carbon ceramic brakes were first offered in 2001 on a commercial basis, they have remained expensive. Today, Brembo and SGL carbon ceramic discs appear mainly on models from the likes of Aston Martin, Bentley, Bugatti, Daimler, Ferrari, Lamborghini and Porsche.
‘Despite the present slow-down in the automotive mass market, the significant untapped growth potential for carbon ceramic brakes in the premium segment offers a potential triple digit million Euro market,’ says a statement from the new company. ‘Efforts will therefore continue to develop and launch new products based on automated processes suitable for larger scale production. Ultimately, these developments aim to significantly reduce manufacturing costs to a level that justifies future investment in a new large scale production facility.’
...coming to your hot hatch soon?
Compared to traditional cast iron discs, carbon ceramic discs offer significant weight reduction – up to 50% – and therefore lower fuel consumption. They are also more environmentally friendly, aiding lower vehicle CO2 emissions, and also offering a longer life span, greater corrosion resistance, avoidance of fine particle dust and performance advantages. They also provide a very high level of thermal stability – for which read fade resistance, and the reason we should really care!
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