What are the benefits of CCM brake discs?

What are the benefits of CCM brake discs?

A new braking material is coming to the aftermarket, courtesy of Brembo…


Last year’s Automechanika in Frankfurt saw a range of product launches, a few of which we have been highlighting in the magazine in the succeeding months. One particularly interesting launch was less of a launch and more of a sideways introduction: Brembo announced that it was introducing its Carbon Ceramic Material brake discs and pads into the aftermarket. The products have been present in the market as original equipment items since the beginning of 2000, but the exclusive discs and related pads are now available in the aftermarket.

The main advantage of CCM is a 50 per cent weight reduction compared to cast iron discs. This reduces the car’s unsprung weight, which in turn contributes significantly to the vehicle’s handling on the road.

The second important advantage of Carbon Ceramic Material produced by Brembo is that, under all conditions, it guarantees a high friction coefficient, which remains stable during braking at all speeds and in all weather conditions. This allows the driver to optimise the pressure applied to the pedal and results in increased driving confidence.

The thermal deltas to which the disc is subjected during sustained and prolonged deceleration do not affect the friction coefficient of the ceramic composite material, which remains virtually constant and is difficult to achieve with conventional cast iron elements.

Besides, at high temperatures, the reduced deformation of Brembo CCM units guarantees perfectly planar coupling with the brake pads, specially designed for this type of application and available soon. This important quality is not found with cast iron discs, which tend to deform when repeatedly subjected to high thermal stresses.

Furthermore, the surface of Brembo CCM discs never corrodes, even in contact with water or the salt solutions deposited on some road sections during the winter season. This feature means that the wear resistance of Brembo CCM guarantees an approximate disc life of 150,000 km for road use and 2,000 km for extreme track use (e.g. Ferrari Challenge).

Compared to a cast iron disc, a Brembo CCM disc heats up rapidly during braking, but it cools equally rapidly afterwards. This characteristic allows repeated cycles at high braking power without significantly affecting the friction.

Brembo launched the CCM project in 1998 and after four years of research and testing the CCM discs were used for the first road application on the Ferrari Enzo. Brembo’s experience in developing CCR carbon discs for Formula One has been used to develop specific production technology for Carbon Ceramic Material brake discs.


Want to know more? For more information click here.

Related posts