DETROIT, (October 29, 2019) – Brembo, the world leader in braking technology, and the Ford Performance development team, have engineered a braking system that will provide maximum stopping power for the all-new Ford Mustang Shelby GT500, the most powerful street-legal Ford ever. Ford Performance chose Brembo to supply the front and rear brake calipers as well as the bespoke designed electronic parking brake (EPB).
The Brembo and Ford relationship dates back to the 1996 Mustang Cobra, when Brembo first supplied front brake discs and again in 2000 where Brembo calipers and discs adorned the Mustang Cobra R. Fast forward to today and Brembo now brakes the Mustang GT models with available performance packages, Mustang Bullitt, Shelby GT350 and Shelby GT500. Brembo brakes are also on the Ford GT super car and the Le Mans winning Ford GT race cars that have posted 19 wins and 23 pole positions.
The front calipers on the Shelby GT500 are an aluminum monobloc design with six pistons. The Brembo engineering team designed one of the largest calipers Brembo offers because of the vehicle’s stiffness requirements and in order to improve pedal feel and fluid consumption.
The staggered piston diameters (34 mm, 38 mm and 40 mm) assure consistent braking pressure across the brake pad surface for excellent stopping power. The integrated tie bar design creates the strongest overall caliper design offered by Brembo. The front calipers will carry 131.2 cm2 brake pads that will clamp onto 420 mm x 40 mm cast iron rotors. The rear four-piston Brembo calipers have 30 mm and 32 mm pistons and are also aluminum monobloc.
Leveraging Brembo’s reputation for performance and style, the Shelby GT500 brake calipers will be offered in red with a white Brembo logo. Brembo’s signature red color is a key design feature that communicates quality and performance perfectly framed by the Shelby GT500’s five-spoke aluminum, or exclusive seven-spoke exposed carbon fiber 20-inch wheels.
Brembo will also supply the GT500’s EPB system. The system is activated by the push of a button and clamps onto the rear brake rotor separate from the rear brake caliper. The EPB system helps to reduce overall vehicle weight and part count by eliminating the traditional driver activated foot pedal or hand brake cable system.
“We have enjoyed a 23-year relationship with Ford,” said Dan Sandberg, president and chief executive officer, Brembo North America. “The performance of the Mustang has increased exponentially since we first started developing Mustang brake systems with Ford in the mid-1990’s. We are proud to have kept pace with the aggressive development of the Mustang. The all-aluminum caliper on the Shelby GT500 is our latest design. The unique construction has slightly different diameter pistons to maximize brake feel and stopping power, giving the driver that initial confident bite when pressing the brake pedal, whether during a simple commute, or going into a hair-pin corner at a track day event. In addition to this impressive stopping power, Brembo’s red calipers are a mark of quality and performance that assure that the driver of this high performance Shelby GT500 will have the ultimate in stopping power.”
