Carbon ceramic brakes question.

Hi all,

I am about to purchase a new M4. Are the carbon ceramic brakes worth it?

Just kidding.

evo magazine has an interesting article this month comparing braking performance of traditional cast iron brakes to that of carbon ceramic, on otherwise identically equipped Jaguar F Types. The results were not surprising, but what was surprising is that they said the carbon ceramic brakes would likely last the lifetime of the car.

It was also surprising that an otherwise comprehensive article didn't mention anything about brake pads. So here is my real question: do the fancy brakes use a different type of pad? Or are the brake pads compatible between the two different systems. As far as I understand it is the rotor that is different. Not the caliper.

Thoughts?

lots of info here … lots of BS to wade through … and it's about an Aston Martin not a BMW … but still … carbon ceramic ….

http://www.roadraceautox.com/showthread.php?52588-Carbon-Ceramic-Brakes-some-questions&highlight=carbon+ceramic+brakes

Don't follow lateapex911's second link in the thread unless you have a strong immunity against pretentiousness. I thought the OP in the linked thread was being sarcastic/funny when he said "use shampoo and conditioner on the wheels"... but reading the thread, to my horror, ir realized that these guys were serious. I bet they pay $300-500 to get a car wash just so they can get some buzzwords thrown in.

we have a customer with a 997.1 GT3 with Porsche Carbon Ceramic Brakes. now we've only used oe spec pads, i think TRW made them but i cant recall exactly, but he's been tearing through pads faster than i would have thought. much faster than another iron rotor GT3 customer, specifically the rear brake pads. these cars wear out the LSD pretty quickly and this PCCB car's was toast so the rear pads were working overtime as an eLSD backup. his rotors are pretty much fully intact but i cant imagine that'd be the case if the car wore the pads into the metal backing plate. we're going to be swapping his brakes to floating iron discs and race pads.

i've talked with other GT3 guys and with a lot of track time they did eventually need to change the rotors as the surface started to get 'fuzzy' feeling so apparnetly they do wear out though i'd wager on the street the rotors are very long lived. silly expensive when they need to be replaced. they do feel absolutely terrific though.

this from a guy that works for OG Racing

Notes from the brake nerd… Carbon brakes WOOOOWWWWW. They Shure do look sweet don’t they? Big-o-nasty carbon rotors on your Gt3 or Corvette. What is the deal? Car journalists rave about them. If you have read my previous articles you know my feelings on car journalists (Chris Harris excluded). Let’s take the ravings of the un-qualified out of this. So let’s answer 3 common questions that commonly I get “What the heck is it”, “Are these things worth it”, and “I see a kit for my car, should I buy it”?

So is it worth it? Right, Should I as a consumer buy the $6000 option? An Iron 13” rotor will generate higher TQ output then a 13” Carbon Ceramic rotor. That’s the problem with Carbon Ceramic. A Carbon ceramic rotor will be lighter, last longer, and dissipate heat exponentially faster. In order to get the same braking TQ as the Iron rotor you’ll need a 15% larger Ceramic rotor. That’s why you keep seeing gigantic rotors and 19” wheels on these OEM cars. It’s not because they look cool, it’s because that large rotor is needed. Anyone that has bought race tires for 19” wheels knows #TheStruggle. For a Club racers I would avoid running the Carbon Ceramic rotors. Tires will be expensive, the rotors will be $10k/axle. I find it hard for a cub racer to justify the performance increase for the price. Street car, Hell go for it. You only buy Tires once a year anyway. On the street a Carbon Ceramic rotor might outlast the life of the car. Carbon Carbon rotors are the opposite or carbon ceramic. A 13” Carbon Carbon rotor beats the 13” iron rotor every time. If winning is the difference between a $12mil/year sponsor, and… well… not having any money. Then you’ll need the best. I see a kit for my car, should I buy it? Lately I’ve been seeing kits made by no name manufactures and wildwood. These kits replace your OEM brakes with a Carbon Ceramic rotor. Before you get too excited remember the lowered TQ output of a Carbon Ceramic vs iron rotor. It might look cool, and be relatively inexpensive @ $5000. These kinds of kits can have an undersized rotor, which can hurt the performance of the car. Plus a rotor that is undersized will reach end of service life faster. You don’t want to be swapping out Carbon Ceramic rotors like underwear, unless you feel like a 2nd mortgage for car parts is a good idea. When Looking at these kits think that a carbon ceramic rotor will need to be 15% larger then an iron rotor to reach the same level of brake Tq. If you’re buying an OEM upgrade (i.e. you got a corvette base and want the Zr1 brakes). Then that should be fine. GM engineered the brakes to the chassis. Don’t think you can add 1200 lbs to the party, swap them on your 1969 Hemi charger. You’ll have the same problem because your rotors are too small and yea 800hp needs a different approach to brakes. In conclusion, Carbon Ceramic and Carbon Carbon are massively different. Take the racing you’re trying to win into consideration when buying a kit. If your dead set on a Carbon Ceramic kit make sure the kit’s rotor is 15% larger to have the same level of performance.