Quote:
Originally Posted by RM7
Not sure if you were here, but we proved on this page that carbon ceramic brakes are worthless.
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Wait, in general or on the Plaid? Because I have CCB on some cars and steel on others and I can guarantee you that CCB is better in every circumstance. On track it has the ultimate fade resistance - CCB’s don’t shorten stopping distance on one stop vs one stop on steel, but it definitely does on endurance (lap after lap).
As for street, it has virtually zero wear and zero brake dust. So you essentially never have to change your brakes if you don’t track.
Also, not sure if you’ve picked up a CCB rotor but it’s so lightweight it feels like it’s fake! So the unsprung weight is significantly reduced. Consider that the average weight saving would be about 40-50 lbs in total unsprung weight. That equates to losing 80-100 lbs of “sprung” weight from a handling perspective! That’s huge, and good for both street and track use. In fact not sure why Tesla didn’t fit CCB standard on the Plaid for the weight savings alone (an important factor in an electric car).
The only downside is cost for a track car (as replacement rotors are expensive and they will wear with track duty), but on a street car, over its lifetime, it’s pretty good for cost as they have minimal wear on the pads and none on the rotors (typically lasting 100,000+ miles).
Also, I’ve heard the whole “Porsche Cup race cars use steel so steel must be better” argument - but that’s not true either. The reason amateur race series require steel brakes is to equalize the teams. If not the “rich” teams would all run CCB’s and dominate the series because they just don’t care what it costs, which would disadvantage the financially challenged teams.
Lastly, Elon Musk himself mentioned CCB’s as being required for a fast Ring lap. This is because the driver who drove the Plaid had to back off on some straights, which has been presumed to give the inadequate brakes time to cool down. The brakes work perfectly on the street, but the Plaid was not designed for the track and hence would need CCB’s to not fade.
Thanks!
S.