F430 brakes, Steel--Ceramic

[MaxAndRuby]

Has anyone on here upgraded the standard brakes on their car to ceramics?

If so who did the work, and how much did it cost?

Thanks.

[steelej]

I think it's incredibly expensive to do, all calipers need to be replaced then there's the costs of the discs and pads themselves, supposedly around 17k, in reading other threads on the subject I think the expectations is not much change from 20k to change to Ceramics.

I deliberately looked for a car without ceramics, I don't track my car and the replacement cost gave me nightmares.

John.

[lambo_xx]

I've never heard of anybody doing it, although no doubt there has been. The thing is the standard brakes are brilliant anyway that unless you’re tracking the car A LOT then you’re probably won't notice a difference.

[nordshleife]

I have to disagree, the standard steel brakes are almost dangerously poor. 2 quick laps of Rockingham will see them fail completely.

Last time I checked (about a year ago) you could get the upgrade from Ferrari for 13.5k plus fitting. I know you can get the kit from Eurospares for about 8.5K but not sure if that includes the dash upgrade to monitor brake wear.

[kryten22uk]

nordshleife said:

I have to disagree, the standard steel brakes are almost dangerously poor. 2 quick laps of Rockingham will see them fail completely.

Let's retain some focus here. We're not talking about track professionals, and you'd need to be to have the guts/ skill to trash the brakes in a short period. Many leisure drivers track the 430 without brake failures. So they ain't dangerous. The more frequent tracker could no doubt benefit from ceramics. But for the average Ferrari driver steels are fine. And certainly so for road use.

Edited by kryten22uk on Monday 8th March 19:44

[rezzie]

I wouldn't say dangerously poor, but I agree with nordshleife that steels can fail in a couple of laps... I shot off the end of the runway going into the hammerhead at Dunsfold and had only been round a couple of laps that time out.

[Anjum]

nordshleife said:

I have to disagree, the standard steel brakes are almost dangerously poor. 2 quick laps of Rockingham will see them fail completely.

Last time I checked (about a year ago) you could get the upgrade from Ferrari for 13.5k plus fitting. I know you can get the kit from Eurospares for about 8.5K but not sure if that includes the dash upgrade to monitor brake wear.

Not sure if I'd say almost dangerously poor. But they are no match for the Ceramics. If you track your car - I'd recommend them over the steel brakes.

Just my 2 penneth...

[steelej]

nordshleife said:

I have to disagree, the standard steel brakes are almost dangerously poor. 2 quick laps of Rockingham will see them fail completely.

Last time I checked (about a year ago) you could get the upgrade from Ferrari for 13.5k plus fitting. I know you can get the kit from Eurospares for about 8.5K but not sure if that includes the dash upgrade to monitor brake wear.

As far as I can see every post so far mentioned that if you don't track your car steel's are fine. I'm pretty sure Rockingham is a track So if the OP wants to spend a lot of time on the track he has to weigh up the amount of track time vs the ridiculous cost of the brakes and see if it makes sense.

I've read a lot of track time can wear the ceramics quickly and it's recommended to change discs after every 2nd pair of pads, so you could probably replace your steel brakes 8 or 9 times for the cost of one set of Ceramics.

The steel brakes are far from dangerously poor.

John.

Edited by steelej on Tuesday 9th March 00:51

[Murcielago_Boy]

the steel brakes are hopeless. i felt they actually ruined the whole experience and were one of the key reasons I sold my car (as wasn't going to pay the £16k Ferrari wanted for the upgrade at the time).
They cant even cope with spirited road use. Crap.

[kryten22uk]

Threads mentioning brakes always devolve into ceramic vs steel discussions and to be fair to the OP, that isn't what he asked. We've all gone off topic.

As an alternative to the full Ferrari price, I have heard of people fitting second hand gear, ie from a salvage car or from someone upgrading the crap OEM ceramics to race ones ( ). Also seen non OEM setups go for cheaper.

[rezzie]

http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/1459894.htm ?

"A bit of adjustment"... as someone previously posted, I was told albeit a few years back that the wear warning light was the main issue on a straightforward switch from steels

[pistolp]

Call Dick Lovetts they have advertised doing the upgrade - then start haggling as I doubt many people are taking up the option of upgrading. I reckon it can be done for 10k

[MaxAndRuby]

Thanks for all the posts. I don't intend to track the car in the near future, but.........

Murcielago_Boy said:

They cant even cope with spirited road use. Crap.

After only a few outings in the car I thought they were fantastic, but then I gave it some serious stick on a tight road with lots of sharp bends requiring braking, and Murcielago_Boy's words ring true.

[MaxAndRuby]

pistolp said:

Call Dick Lovetts they have advertised doing the upgrade - then start haggling as I doubt many people are taking up the option of upgrading. I reckon it can be done for 10k

That's useful, thanks.

[ShakMan]

Can you not upgrade the steel items to better steel ones ? Maybe also look at the pads and steel braided hoses? On 911s I know people often upgrade to Alcons which do track work very well.

[MaxAndRuby]

ShakMan said:

Can you not upgrade the steel items to better steel ones ? Maybe also look at the pads and steel braided hoses? On 911s I know people often upgrade to Alcons which do track work very well.

I'm not sure. It's in for a big service at the end of the month, I'll ask about it then.

[ShakMan]

Ceramics are no doubt better than steels, but they are soooo costly to replace. On the 911 forunms, many who have worn out their ceramic discs opt to put on steels like Alcons, which do the job almost as good at a fraction of the price. Definately worth investigating alternatives.

[MaxAndRuby]

ShakMan said:

Ceramics are no doubt better than steels, but they are soooo costly to replace. On the 911 forunms, many who have worn out their ceramic discs opt to put on steels like Alcons, which do the job almost as good at a fraction of the price. Definately worth investigating alternatives.

I had PCCB on a GT2 which I did 14k on in a year, the pads didn't wear at all. They were out of this world.

[Murcielago_Boy]

MaxAndRuby said:

ShakMan said:

Ceramics are no doubt better than steels, but they are soooo costly to replace. On the 911 forunms, many who have worn out their ceramic discs opt to put on steels like Alcons, which do the job almost as good at a fraction of the price. Definately worth investigating alternatives.

I had PCCB on a GT2 which I did 14k on in a year, the pads didn't wear at all. They were out of this world.

Mate - buy a set of Brembo GranTurismo's for the front. That should sort it enormously.

[MaxAndRuby]

Murcielago_Boy said:

MaxAndRuby said:

ShakMan said:

Ceramics are no doubt better than steels, but they are soooo costly to replace. On the 911 forunms, many who have worn out their ceramic discs opt to put on steels like Alcons, which do the job almost as good at a fraction of the price. Definately worth investigating alternatives.

I had PCCB on a GT2 which I did 14k on in a year, the pads didn't wear at all. They were out of this world.

Mate - buy a set of Brembo GranTurismo's for the front. That should sort it enormously.

Thanks, do you know a good supplier?