430 Ceramic brakes on track

[petestorey]

Hi
looking at 430s and I would probably track it, but I've seen recently some people talking about how the ceramic discs are only designed to last a certain amount of time - if you track it too much they might wear out and need replacing at 10k a pop.... Not an appealing prospect (especially as that's a phenomenal Ferrari markup on the actuals items as I'm led to believe).
Is this the case? I'm not talking about masses of track work admittedly as I'm already racing an Exige, apart then from a look POV what's the point of them at all? Very happy with the steel items on my Gallardo but seems a waste to have a 430 without them?
Pete

[neil-f]

Ceramics are fantastic compared to steel brakes on the road and track. You get the wear mearured by SD2/3 reading it will give you the % of wear on the discs (i have been told by another source that the most accurate way to measure the life span is by getting them weighed).
On track you will get through the pads these are more expensive than steel brake pads about £1000 for a full set.
F430 have ceramic brakes from 2007my on as standard.

[petestorey]

Thanks. I suppose what I really mean is, do Ferrari think that they are a consumable item or are they supposed to last? I remember some cack about them "lasting the lifetime of the car" but this seems both unlikely and hard to prove?

[petestorey]

Thanks. I suppose what I really mean is, do Ferrari think that they are a consumable item or are they supposed to last? I remember some cack about them "lasting the lifetime of the car" but this seems both unlikely and hard to prove?

[neil-f]

No they wont last life of the car they will wear out.
When I was looking for a CS the % of brake wear ranged from 6% to 40% and the 40% car had the lower mileage!!

[petestorey]

Yup that's what worries me, don't fancy a 10k bath after doing a couple of track days..... How easily do they wear out though, that's the key?

[ScottL]

Fact is if you track the car anywhere near it's limits, sooner or later you'll kill the discs.

If you don't plan on keeping the car long term, perhaps take the ceramics off and box them up - then buy a good steel disc setup such from Brembo or Performance Friction etc..

If it is a keeper, then just replace the ceramics as above (or like for like) when they eventually wear out.

Also worth putting some decent rubber on it. Corsa System, Corsa R or R888's. Will be close to Scuderia performance.

[petestorey]

Yup so then the obvious point/thing is to not buy a car with ceramics in the first place - basically wat's the point of having them at all if they're useless?

[neil-f]

petestorey said:

Yup so then the obvious point/thing is to not buy a car with ceramics in the first place - basically wat's the point of having them at all if they're useless?

They are not useless they are fantastic just expensive to replace. All good things come at a price!
Go and drive a car with them see what I mean,I would never have anything else in future.
You will find that cars that don't have ceramics will be cheaper to buy and main dealers are not interested in them without at trade in time.

[kryten22uk]

neil-f said:

You will find that cars that don't have ceramics will be cheaper to buy and main dealers are not interested in them without at trade in time.

The fact that there are very few threads discussing the refitting of CCBs, means that very few people have got to the end of the life of the discs yet. Which means you might find that the used cars coming on to the market with CCBs now, are coming to the end of their disc life, and you'll get stung before long. This will have a negative effect on such cars with CCBs, as evidenced by the OPs concerns as a potential customer. These concerns will only become more significant as the cars get older, and the replacement cost becomes a greater proportion of the value of the car.

Dealers might find that they are having to completely refit CCBs on part-ex cars (due to the requirements of the Ferrari Approved scheme) which either means that the used prices for CCB cars are significantly higher in order to recoup the costs, or they might be more careful of taking in CCBs as trade-ins.

[andy355]

as someone on the look out for a f430 myself the ceramics do not appeal. yes im sure they are great but dont fancy the replacement costs or paying extra for a car that has them