Even Batman relies on Brembo brakes

10/13/2016

Stopping a Superhero requires super brakes. That's why the car designed for the shooting of “Batman v Superman” is equipped with a super Brembo braking system. The bad guys have no escape when Batman is teamed up with Brembo

A superhero needs a supercar equipped with a super braking system.

For a blockbuster the likes of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice needed a Batmobile outside the box, unconventional. The idea was the brainchild of director Zack Snyder, art director Kevin Ishioka and the designer of the vehicles on the set, Joe Hiura. Dennis McCarthy was called in to make it real.

McCarthy is little-known by the general audience but for tuning enthusiasts, he is a sort of oracle. His company, Vehicle FX in Sun Valley, California, has modified or even built a good part of the supercars used in a huge number of automotive action films over the course of the last 20 years (the Fast & Furious saga, Tokyo Drift, Batman Begins ). On many of these, he installed Brembo brakes.

An interview with Dennis McCarthy where he explains why he chose Brembo for the Fast & Furious cars.

He made the same choice for the last Batmobile, which was tested over a long period of time in the California desert. The three models built, all single-seaters, stand out for their record stats: 20 feet in length (6.10 metres) and 12 in width (3.66 metres), a weight of 8,500 pounds (3.8 tonnes) and a maximum velocity that exceeds 205 miles per hour (330 km/h).

Every single wheel weighs 500 pounds (227 kg) due to the use of tires that were originally meant for farm equipment: the tires were smoothed out and shaped for a perfect fit on the supercar.

Braking a beast like this is not easy, not even for Ben Affleck in the role of Bruce Wayne. It needed a powerful system that could be trusted implicitly and was able to stop this mighty car while at the same time, would allow the stuntmen time to carry out all of the skidding and manoeuvres called for in the screenplay.

Which is why Dennis McCarthy opted for Brembo once again. On the Batmobile starring in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, a double Brembo braking system was installed.

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To stop the nearly 4-tonne Batmobile, McCarthy opted for a front-rear braking system comprising four 6-piston Brembo calipers that operate on four Brembo floating discs measuring 380 mm in diameter. This braking system derives from Racing components characterised by levels of technology and performance that are unprecedented on the market and offer the utmost in cutting-edge Brembo technology.

The use of fixed calipers on radial mounts and larger discs lends the brakes more braking torque and thermal capacity. This results in readier and more decisive braking, which can be perceived in normal street use conditions, but is exceptionally powerful and constant in the scenes repeated over and over in the filming.

For the more spectacular scenes, it was necessary to add a supplementary rear braking system comprising two 8-piston one-piece calipers is used exclusively for drifting. This allows the stuntman impersonating Bruce Wayne to pull up the two rear wheels simply by pressing a button. This simple touch activates an air actuated brake master cylinder whose pressure is supplied by a 1,800 psi CO2 tank that interacts with a set of two 8-piston Brembo calipers per wheel.

It is essentially like pulling on the hand brake while driving, but this solution is designed to be used repeatedly during filming without causing a decline in performance that might result when "inappropriately" using the hand brake.

This video includes a complete description of the Batmobile and the Brembo braking system.

Drifting in Gotham City has never been so fashionable.

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A chase can be thwarted by a braking system that is not up to speed Video games and action films have taught us that the one who has the upper hand in a road chase does not always have a more powerful car. The driver must be skilled and have quick wits. It is a confirmed fact that police officers have these qualities, but what makes the difference with cunning criminals are the structural characteristics of the vehicle, including the braking system.